Name: The Ada Sari International Vocal Artistry Competition
Start: 2023-05-12T00:00:00.000Z
End: 2023-05-12T00:00:00.000Z
Location: Malopolskie Centrum

Artist

Admin

Singer

Liang Wei

2. Prize

Małgorzata Walewska

Jury

Marcin Habela

Dominik Licht

Rebekah Rota

Keith Bernard Stonum

Wojciech Maciejowski

Weronika Rabek

Hyejin Lee

Celine Mun

3. Prize

Chao Liu

1. Prize

Iryna Haich

2 Honorable Mentions

The Ada Sari International Vocal Artistry Competition

Producer

Nowy Sącz

Poland

Malopolskie Centrum

The Ada Sari International Vocal Artistry Competition: Competition Various

Public

Private

Competition

Approved

Ada Sari

Chao Liu, a baritone from China who studied at Central South University Teng Shuping, Luciano Pavarotti Municipal Theater Academy of Modena, and is currently training at the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw, won First Prize (PLN 24 thousand) in the male voice category at the XX Ada Sari International Vocal Artistry Competition in Nowy Sacz. Second prize (PLN 11 thousand) in the same category also went to China. It was won by Liang Wei, tenor, a graduate of Nantong University and the Giuseppe Verdi Conservatorio Statale di Musica in Turin. "Congratulations to all my colleagues. It was a beautiful Competition. I thank all the organizers. I am very happy," Chao Liu said.
Veronika Rabek, a Polish mezzo-soprano from Gdansk, a graduate of the Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien in Hanover, a student of the Academy of Music in Gdansk and the University of Music in Warsaw, and Hyejin Lee, a soprano from South Korea, a graduate of the Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien in Hanover, among others, received two equal second prizes (PLN 11,000 each) in the female voice category. The jury did not award 1st prize in this category. "I am surprised, tired, stunned. All in all, I didn't expect it," Veronika Rabek said. "But I am very happy. Tomorrow I will collect my thoughts and think about what to do next." - she added.

In addition, the jury awarded, in the female voice category, the third prize (PLN 6,000) to soprano Celine Mun, who comes from South Korea. In the category of male voices, the third prize was not awarded by the jury.

Honorable mentions (PLN 2.5 thousand each) were awarded to Iryna Haich, a mezzo-soprano from Ukraine, and Adrian Janus, a baritone from Poland. For the first time in this edition of the Competition, the Helena Lazarska Prize (PLN 5 thousand) was awarded for the best performance of a work by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. It was awarded to Justyna Khil for Donna Elvira's aria "In quali eccessi/Mi tradi quell'alma ingrata" from Act II of the opera "Don Giovanni." This award was founded by Antoni Malczak, initiator and director of the Ada Sari International Festival and Vocal Artistry Competition in 1985-2019. Hyejin Lee also won the Ada Sari Award (PLN 2,000) for the best coloratura soprano, funded by Jacek Lelk, mayor of Stary Sącz.

The winners of the XX Ada Sari Competition were showered with a rain of financial, material and those in the form of invitations to concerts. The minutes, which were read out before 2 a.m. today by Wojciech Maciejowski, secretary of the jury, were interrupted every now and then by applause from the young artists. The prize pool this year amounted to more than 100 thousand zlotys (details below, in the jury minutes).

The Final of the Competition at the Krakow Opera House was preceded by a press conference, during which Malgorzata Walewska, chairwoman of the jury and Artistic Director of the Competition, Andrzej Zarych, director of the SOKOŁ Malopolska Cultural Center in Nowy Sacz, and Piotr Sulkowski, director of the Krakow Opera House, spoke about this year's event. They noted that it was extremely international and at a very high level. The organizers were surprised by the large number of singers from Asia perfectly prepared, not only musically, but also linguistically. Especially the Polish jurors, were captivated by the Polish pronunciation of foreign singers. Interestingly, Asian artists in the backstage emphasized that for them the Polish language is extremely simple and were unable to understand why Poles find their language difficult to sing.

The final auditions were held with the participation of the audience, which applauded the artists. The concert was accompanied by great emotions, as the level of the Competition was high. It was, as Malgorzata Walewska told reporters, a war of nerves. The singers performed two arias each, chosen by them from a compulsory list of works. The artists were accompanied by the Cracow Opera Orchestra under the baton of Piotr Sulkowski.

The finale outside of Nowy Sącz, was held for the first time in the history of the Competition. The performance on the opera stage, was not only a great experience for many artists, but also a chance for greater promotion.

The singers were judged by an international jury, chaired by Małgorzata Walewska, which included Marcin Habela - Professor of Singing at the Geneva University of Music, artistic advisor to the Tibor Varga Academy of Music in Sion, Switzerland, and the Music Academy of the Anargyrios and Korgialenios School of Music in Spetses, Greece; Beata Klatka - Director of the International Vocal Competition named after Stanislaw Moniuszk and Head of the OPERATION ACADEMY at the Grand Theater of the National Opera in Warsaw; Dominik Licht - Casting Consultant at the Royal Danish Opera in Copenhagen; Rebekah Rota - Director of the Wuppertal Opera in Germany (from the 2023/2024 season); Keith Bernard Stonum - Artistic Director of Jungen Oper im NORD (Staatsoper Stuttgart, Germany), singer; and Wojciech Maciejowski (secretary).

On Saturday, September 13, at 12:00 pm, a press conference will be held at the Beskid Hotel in Nowy Sącz, during which the winners, jurors, and organizers of the Competition will be available to the media.

In the evening, meanwhile, at 6:00 pm, the Laureates Concert will begin at the SOKÓŁ Malopolska Cultural Center in Nowy Sacz, during which the winners will be presented with their awards. The event will be broadcast at: www.adasari.pl

Recall, the organizer of the Competition is the SOKÓŁ Malopolska Cultural Center in Nowy Sacz, and the co-organizer of this edition is the Cracow Opera.

English

Performance credits (Cast & Crew )

Cast

Co-Producer