Approximately 250 candidates from some 50 countries sent in applications for the 2010 competition. Applications for this year’s competition have so far been received from Russia, Indonesia, Greece, the Netherlands, France, Italy, Spain, Belgium, the USA, Latvia and Poland. Preliminary rounds have already been held in Amsterdam, out of which 16 singers have been chosen to go forward to the quarter-finals. Further preliminary rounds will shortly be held in Riga and ’s-Hertogenbosch. Candidates living outside of Western Europe can also apply by sending a DVD or submitting a YouTube video. The IVC was very pleased with its YouTube auditions in 2010, with two singers who had auditioned through YouTube gaining prizes in the competition itself.

This year’s international jury will include the renowned singers Nelly Miricioiu, Peter Schreier and Sergei Leiferkus as well as Hein Mulders (Head of Casting De Nederlandse Opera Amsterdam and Intendant of the Aalto Theater & Philharmonie Essen from 2013), Arnold Alons (Casting Toulouse and Santiago de Chile) and Peter de Caluwe (Intendant of La Monnaie in Brussels). Chairman of the jury is Dr. Ioan Holender, who retired after twenty years as Intendant of the Vienna State Opera in 2010 and was the longest-serving Intendant of the institution since its founding. He is now one of the most important international opera consultants, currently advising the Metropolitan Opera and the Tokyo Spring Festival. He is also artistic director of the George Enescu Music Festival in Bucharest.

This year’s total prize money amounts to €45,000. There are also engagement prizes offered by the Netherlands Opera, Opera Zuid, Rotterdam Sinfonia, the Nederlandse Händel Vereniging, the Residentie Orkest and the Vrienden van het Lied.
As well as the main prize there are also prizes for Opera, Oratorio, Lied and All-Round. There are prizes for young talent, an audience prize and a press prize. There is also a junior jury that awards its own prize. There is a prize for the best performance of the obligatory vocal work; this year’s piece was composed by Jeppe Moulijn and based on texts from poetry about Bosch and Breughel by Pé Hawinkels. Extracts from Hawinkel’s poem about Hieronymus Bosch’s painting The Garden of Earthly Delights were translated into Latin and then set by Moulijn so that the words could be sung by candidates of all nationalities. The commissions for the compulsory vocal works from 2012 – 2016 are linked to the 500th anniversary of the death of Hieronymus Bosch.

Extra events during the 49th IVC will include not only the Laureates’ Concerts, the first of which will be held on 6 October 2012 in De Doelen in Rotterdam, but also the Elly Ameling Lied Course, to be given this year by baritone Wolfgang Holzmair. Master classes will also be given by members of the jury. The Finale with piano accompaniment will be held on 29 September and the Finale with orchestral accompaniment on 30 September; the orchestral accompaniment will be provided by the The Brabant Philharmonic Orchestra (Het Brabants Orkest) under the British conductor David Parry.

The orchestral Finale will be broadcast live by Dutch broadcasting companies Radio 4, NTR Podium and BravaNL.

All events are open to the public. Ticket sales start 15 May 2012 via Bosch Ticket, telephone: +31(0)900-33727233 or www.theateraandeparade.nl.

Alongside its competition that is held once every two years in September, the IVC now presents a series of Laureates’ Concerts in collaboration with various organisations, these including Operadagen Rotterdam, the Grachtenfestival, the Peter the Great Festival, November Music and the Stabat Mater Festival.

The IVC also attaches great importance to the Discovery, Development and Delivery of talent in the field of classical vocal music, in which not only opera but also oratorio and Lied play important parts. Emphasis is also laid on 20th century and contemporary repertoire.
Discovery, through the IVC’s preliminary rounds and the competition itself.
Development, through master classes during the competition and also through the Elly Ameling Lied Course that will be held this year for the second time. The IVC has also begun to organise summer schools, the first of which was devoted to bel canto technique and took place during September 2011. A summer school devoted to the works of Richard Wagner in the Wagner anniversary year of 2013.
Delivery, through the IVC putting its singers in contact with the music profession through agents, concert managements, casting directors and organisers of chamber music.
The IVC also provides much useful advice on repertoire, career possibilities, media management and audition tips.

Program:
W.A. Mozart, Requiem | Completion Duncan Druce

Lenneke Ruiten, soprano
Margriet van Reisen, alto
Joshua Ellicott, tenor
benjamin Russell, bass

Brabant Koor
Magogo Kamerorkest
Louis Buskens, dirigent

Free entrance.
The hall is open from 7.15 pm.

Barber – Dover Beach
Torke – Mojave
Liszt – Petrarch Lieder
Shostakovitch – Piano Quintet

Winners of the three international music competitions from the Netherlands gave an unprecedented concert during the World Expo 2010 in Shanghai. Because it was such a wonderful concert, the musicians repeat their performance on 15 April in the Netherlands. The program includes the Petrarch Lieder by Franz Liszt and Dover Beach by Samuel Barber.

The International Vocal Competition ‘s-Hertogenbosch (IVC) is delighted to announce the appointment of dr. Ioan Holender as chairman of the jury for 2012 and 2014. Dr. Ioan Holender retired after twenty years as Intendant of the Vienna State Opera in 2010 and was the longest-serving Intendant of the institution since its founding. He is now one of the most important international opera consultants, currently advising the Metropolitan Opera and the Tokyo Spring Festival. He is also artistic director of the George Enescu Music Festival in Bucharest.

Dr. Ioan Holender | IVC press meeting

The 49th session of the International Vocal Competition ’s-Hertogenbosch will be held from 21 through 30 September 2012; it will be an International Ten Day Festival of the Voice. Young talented singers will perform Opera, Oratorio and Lied; glamour, competitiveness, tension, meeting and exchange are the ingredients that complete this unique event. The IVC was founded in 1954 and now enjoys an extremely high international reputation.

The international jury will include the renowned singers Nelly Miricioiu, Peter Schreier and Sergei Leiferkus as well as Hein Mulders (Head of Casting DNO Amsterdam and Intendant of the Aalto Theater & Philharmonie Essen from the summer of 2012), Arnold Alons (Casting Opera Toulouse and Santiago de Chile) and Peter de Caluwe (Intendant of La Monnaie in Brussels).

This year’s total prize money amounts to €45,000. As well as the main prize there are also prizes for Opera, Oratorio, Lied and All-Round. There are prizes for young talent, an audience prize and a press prize. There is a prize for the best performance of the obligatory vocal work; this year’s piece was composed by Jeppe Moulijn and based on texts from poetry about Bosch and Breughel by Pé Hawinkels. Extracts from Hawinkel’s poem about Hieronymus Bosch’s painting The Garden of Earthly Delights were translated into Latin and then set by Moulijn so that the words could be sung by candidates of all nationalities. The commissions for the compulsory vocal works from 2012 – 2016 are linked to the 500th anniversary of the death of Hieronymus Bosch.

There are also engagement prizes offered by the Netherlands Opera, Opera Zuid, Rotterdam Sinfonia, the Nederlandse Händel Vereniging, the Residentie Orkest and the Vrienden van het Lied. Extra events during the 49th IVC will include not only the Laureates’ Concerts, the first of which will be held on 6 October 2012 in De Doelen in Rotterdam, but also the Elly Ameling Lieder  Course, to be given this year by baritone Wolfgang Holzmair.

Master classes will also be given by members of the jury. The Final with piano accompaniment will be held on 29 September and the Final with orchestral accompaniment on 30 September; the orchestral accompaniment will be provided by the Brabants Orchestra under the British conductor David Parry.
The orchestral Final will be broadcast live by Radio 4, NTR Podium and BravaNL; Omroep Brabant will also provide extensive coverage of the competition.

49th IVC 2012
21 – 30 September 2012
’s-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands

2 categories
Opera
Lied & Oratorio

The renowned competition for classical singers has been held in
the historic city of ’s-Hertogenbosch in the Netherlands since 1954

Members of the jury:
Ioan Holender | president of the jury
Nelly Miricioiu | soprano
Peter Schreier | tenor/conductor
Sergei Leiferkus | baritone
Arnold Alons | casting Opera Toulouse and Santiago de Chile
Peter de Caluwe | intendant La Monnaie Brussels
Hein Mulders | casting Dutch National Opera Amsterdam/ intendant Aalto-Musiktheater Essen as of 2013

Preliminary Rounds
31 May 2012 • Riga Opera, Latvia
17 – 19 September 2012 • De Toonzaal ’s-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands
Candidates resident in a country outside Western Europe can also submit their application for the Preliminary Rounds by YouTube or DVD recording.

Age limit
born after 1 January 1978 (male voices), born after 1 January 1981 (female voices)

Deadline for application
1 July 2012

Entry fee
€ 130

• Prize money: a total of € 45,000 combined with engagements
• Special prizes for art song, oratorio, opera, young singers and Dutch composition
• Prizewinners’ concerts will be arranged
• Travel expenses refunded to a maximum of € 400 for semi-finalists and € 700 for finalists
• Board and lodging can be provided at host families
• Master classes and feedback from jury members
• Final with symphony orchestra (Het Brabants Orkest, conductor David Parry)
• Casting directors and impresarios present at every round

All events are open to the public
Ticket sales for the Competition start from 8 May via Bosch Ticket
Tel: +31(0)900-33727233 | www.theateraandeparade.nl

Laureates’ Concerts

 ’Made in Holland’
15 April | 15.30h
Muziekgebouw Frits Philips Eindhoven, Netherlands
Falko Hönisch, baritone • Vitaly Pisarenko, piano
Alexej Gerassimez, percussion • Heath Quartet
In collaboration with the International Franz Liszt
Piano Competition & TROMP Percussion Competition
Tickets € 17,50 to € 22 | Muziekgebouw Eindhoven

Baritone Falko Hönisch | Lied Prize 47th IVC 2008

Dutch tenor Hein Meens studied piano and voice at the Conservatory of Maastricht, gaining national recognition with his interpretation of the Evangelist in Bach’s St. Matthew and St. John Passions. He was awarded the Prix d’Excellence for solo performance and won the International Vocal Competition in ’s-Hertogenbosch in 1973. He also received the Zilveren Vriendenkrans from the Amsterdam Concertgebouw. Hein Meens worked as voice teacher and oratorio coach at the Conservatory of Amsterdam. He made his debut as a conductor with the Amsterdam Bach Consort in 2002 and conducted Bach’s St. Matthew Passion with the choir and orchestra of the Conservatory of Amsterdam in 2005 as well as being guest conductor for Haydn’s Die Schöpfung in 2006. Hein Meens was appointed conductor of the Westerkerk Choir and the Bach Orkest in Amsterdam on 1 October 2005. In 2006, he sang the main role in the world premiere of Alzheimer, a music theatre piece by Chiel Meijering and Bert Keizer.

Despite the unfavourable economic climate and threatening reductions in subsidies, the IVC is flourishing as never before. Thanks to extensive media coverage from NTR Podium, Vrije Geluiden, BravaNL, Omroep Brabant and Radio4 the IVC has been able to make both its objectives and its work in developing the potential of young singers of the first rank much more widely known.

Alongside its competition that is held once every two years in September, the IVC now presents a series of Laureates’ Concerts in collaboration with various organisations, these including Operadagen Rotterdam, the Grachtenfestival, the Peter the Great Festival, November Music and the Stabat Mater Festival.

The Stichting also attaches great importance to the Discovery, Development and Delivery of talent in the field of classical vocal music, in which not only opera but also oratorio and Lied play important parts. Emphasis is also laid on 20th century and contemporary repertoire.

Discovery, through the IVC’s eliminatory rounds and the competition itself.

Development, through master classes during the competition and also through the Elly Ameling Song Course that will be held this year for the second time. The IVC has also begun to organise summer schools, the first of which was devoted to bel canto technique and took place during September 2011. A summer school devoted to the works of Richard Wagner in the Wagner anniversary year of 2013.

Delivery, through the IVC putting its singers in contact with the music profession through agents, concert managements, casting directors and organisers of chamber music.
The IVC also provides much useful advice on repertoire, career possibilities, media management and audition tips.

IVC 2012
The 49th session of the International Vocal Competition ’s-Hertogenbosch will be held from 21 through 30 September 2012; it will be an International Ten Day Festival of the Voice in the Theater aan de Parade. Young talented singers will perform opera, oratorio and Lied; glamour, competitiveness, tension, meeting and exchange are the ingredients that complete this unique event. The IVC was founded in 1954 and now enjoys an extremely high international reputation.

Approximately 250 candidates from some 50 countries sent in applications for the 2010 competition. Applications for this year’s competition have so far been received from Russia, Indonesia, Greece, the Netherlands, France, Italy, Spain, Belgium, the USA, Latvia and Poland. Eliminatory rounds have already been held in Amsterdam, out of which 16 singers have been chosen to go forward to the quarter-finals. Further eliminatory rounds will shortly be held in Monaco, Riga and ’s-Hertogenbosch. Candidates living outside of Western Europe can also apply by sending a DVD or submitting a YouTube video. The IVC was very pleased with its YouTube auditions in 2010, with two singers who had auditioned through YouTube gaining prizes in the competition itself.

This year’s international jury will include the renowned singers Nelly Miricioiu, Peter Schreier and Sergei Leiferkus as well as Hein Mulders (Head of Casting DNO Amsterdam and Intendant of the Aalto Theater & Philharmonie Essen from the summer of 2012), Arnold Alons (Casting Toulouse and Santiago de Chile) and Peter de Caluwe (Intendant of La Monnaie in Brussels)

This year’s total prize money amounts to €45,000. As well as the main prize there are also prizes for Opera, Oratorio, Lied and All-Round. There are prizes for young talent, an audience prize and a press prize. There is also a junior jury that awards its own prize. There is a prize for the best performance of the obligatory vocal work; this year’s piece was composed by Jeppe Moulijn and based on texts from poetry about Bosch and Breughel by Pé Hawinkels. Extracts from Hawinkel’s poem about Hieronymus Bosch’s painting The Garden of Earthly Delights were translated into Latin and then set by Moulijn so that the words could be sung by candidates of all nationalities. The commissions for the compulsory vocal works from 2012 – 2016 are linked to the 500th anniversary of the death of Hieronymus Bosch. There are also engagement prizes offered by the Netherlands Opera, Opera Zuid, Rotterdam Sinfonia, the Nederlandse Händel Vereniging, the Residentie Orkest and the Vrienden van het Lied.

Extra events during the 49th IVC will include not only the Laureates’ Concerts, the first of which will be held on 6 October 2012 in De Doelen in Rotterdam, but also the Elly Ameling Song Course, to be given this year by baritone Wolfgang Holzmair. Master classes will also be given by members of the jury. The Finale with piano accompaniment will be held on 29 September and the Finale with orchestral accompaniment on 30 September; the orchestral accompaniment will be provided by the Brabants Orchestra under the British conductor David Parry.
The orchestral Finale will be broadcast live by Radio 4, NTR Podium and BravaNL; Omroep Brabant will also provide extensive coverage of the competition.

All events are open to the public.

Ticket sales for the Competition via Bosch Ticket
Tel: 0900-33727233 | www.theateraandeparade.nl
Ticket sales for the eliminatory rounds and the Elly Ameling Song Course Muziekcentrum De Toonzaal
Tel: 073- 6122123 | www.detoonzaal.nl

31 May 2012: Riga Opera, Latvia, 10am – 6pm
Deadline for application: 11 May 2012. Entry fee: € 35 + € 25 for IVC pianist

17*, 18 and 19 September 2012: Muziekcentrum De Toonzaal ’s-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands, 10.30am – 10.30pm (*17 September optional)
Deadline for application: 1 July 2012. Entry fee: € 130 (including main competition)

Candidates resident in a country outside Western Europe can also submit their application for the Preliminary Rounds by YouTube or DVD recording.
Deadline for application: 1 July 2012. Entry fee: € 35

Selected candidates of the Preliminary Rounds will be admitted without further audition to the quarter-finals of the 49th IVC in 2012.