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2024 Awards

The following awards are lined-up to be attributed at the Cascais Opera – International Vocal Competition 2024.

GRAND PRIX ÉGIDE

10.000,00€

This prize is awarded by
Égide – Portuguese Art Association

The winner of this prize will also receive a contract with São Carlos National Theatre

First Prize “Teresa Berganza”, for Female Voice or Countertenor

7.500,00€
This prize is awarded by Fundação “la Caixa” in collaboration with BPI

First Prize “Maurício Bensaude”, for male voice

7.500,00€

2nd Prize

5.000,00€

3nd Prize

3.500,00€

Prize for Best Young contestant

under 25 years old

2.500,00€

RTP Audience Prize

The RTP Audience Prize will be chosen by the members of the audience during the  Final

1.500,00€

Diplomas of Participation • Some of the prizes and awards may not be attributed, depending on the decision of the jury

Teatro Nacional São Carlos © Ricardo Junqueira
© Turismo de Cascais
Novi Sad (Serbia)

Other awards and artistic partnerships

© Ricardo Junqueira

Opera role at Teatro Nacional de São Carlos

This award offers the Grand Prix winner the opportunity to perform a concert or have a role on an Opera at Teatro Nacional de S.Carlos – the Opera House in Lisbon

Contract with the Festival de Música de Mafra “Filipe de Sousa”.

This prize will be awarded by Mr. Adriano Jordão
This award offers to one of the winners the possibility to perform a recital or a concert at the “Filipe de Sousa” Music Festival in Mafra – World Heritage site by UNESCO

Contract with the Orquestra de Câmara de Cascais e Oeiras

This prize will be awarded by Maestro Nikolay Lalov
This award offers to one of the winners the possibility of performing a concert with the Cascais Symphony Orchestra

Contract with the National Opera – Novi Sad – Serbia 

This prize will be awarded by Mr. Aleksandar Nikolić

@Paulo Gouveia e Estela Álvarez Ruiz

FIMM -  Contract with the Festival Internacional de Música de Marvão – 2025

This prize will be awarded by Mrs Juliane Banse
“A genuine festival, where the unique location and atmosphere were surpassed by the quality of the artists…” the Festival Internacional de Música de Marvão 2025 welcomes a laureate from Cascais Opera

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Over the past three decades, primarily in London, Portugal and Amsterdam, Dr Jorge Balça
has developed a strong portfolio of work and a unique combination of skillsets – as a stage
director (of theatre, opera, and hybrid forms), a teacher and workshop leader, a presentation
skills, acting and creativity coach, and practice-based researcher. His work in all these
domains is distinguished by his commitment to and skill in making fantasy and invention
emerge from precise knowledge and training – and by his ability to inspire a similar alchemy
in his collaborators.

Classically trained as an actor and countertenor, he studied theatre directing in London and
Moscow, specialising in Shakespeare, techniques of adaptation, Meyerhold and commedia
dell’arte. Jorge also holds a PhD exploring the dramatic training of opera performers.
With a love for site-specific projects and collaborative forms, and an equal flair for comedy
and drama, his work is dramaturgically inventive, visually striking, and physically engaged.
He was the artistic director of Bloomsbury Opera and associate director of The Opera
Makers, both in London. In Portugal, he has recently directed L’Heure Espagnole and The
Turn of the Screw at Centro Cultural de Belém, and Don Giovanni and La Voix Humaine at
Festival de Ópera de Óbidos.

Jorge is committed to his work as a teacher, having taught at the Dutch National Opera
Academy, Morley College London, Universidade de Évora and other institutions. He
maintains an international coaching private practice and is the acting coach at the Neil
Semer Vocal Institute in Italy.

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