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the Cascais Opera Competition.

 

 

Closing the first edition of “Cascais Ópera” – International Vocal Competition at the Teatro Nacional de São Carlos (TNSC) was one of our ambitions since its creation.

 

And it proved that a major competition, with an international vocation witnessed by dozens of countries represented by hundreds of candidates, could well deserve this honor.

 

This wish came true, we benefited from the feeling of having done our duty, thanks to the exceptional collaboration with OPART, E.P.E and the Teatro Nacional de São Carlos and with one of its resident ensembles, the Portuguese Symphony Orchestra, as well as the presence on the jury of its Artistic Director, Ivan van Kalmthout, one of the most internationally renowned specialists in vocal competitions.

 

We were proud to see the very high artistic level of the candidates and the extraordinary Portuguese presence, unequivocal proof of our personal and pedagogical qualities at the highest level in the world.

 

And the public, who enthusiastically followed the entire competition, will now be able to vote for their favorite candidate, thus also actively participating in this event that is intended to be profoundly democratic.

 

Now that this first edition is over, we are already preparing for its continuation in April/May 2025, with the great baritone Sergei Leiferkus, the soul behind this extraordinary musical adventure, always presiding over the jury.

 

May this be the first of many editions of “Cascais Ópera”!

 

Alexandra Maurício – Director Cascais Opera 

 

Adriano Jordão – Artistic Director

With eyes on the future

 

It is with great joy that OPART – Organismo de Produção Artística, E.P.E. and the Teatro Nacional de São Carlos are hosting the final session of the first edition of the Cascais Ópera International Singing Competition, opening the doors of the bicentennial São Carlos to a new generation of international operatic singers.

 

As the only opera house in the country, it is up to us to dialogue and collaborate with new projects and partners that are in line with our public service obligations, regardless of their nature or origin. In this case, we welcome the fact that Cascais Ópera has emerged from civil society, through the CIVOC Association, supported by public institutions and driven by the economic fabric in its patronage aspect which, as a whole, is further evidence of the interest that opera arouses and the extraordinary potential it holds. We would also highlight the complicity of RTP, which remains uncompromising in its role as a fundamental vehicle for making opera accessible to wider and more physically distant audiences.

 

Among the many artistic reasons for this partnership, we highlight, on one hand, the important role of singing competitions in discovering new singers and rejuvenating casts and opera houses; on the other hand, this is a unique space for foreign singers and programmers to get to know the singing scene in Portugal; and, conversely, the opportunity for Portuguese singers – and there were six who started this adventure – to be able to match their counterparts and place themselves on the international scene.

 

In the pit of the Teatro Nacional de São Carlos will be the Portuguese Symphony Orchestra, one of our theater’s resident ensemble and a national reference which, throughout its 31 years of musical life, has ensured and experienced the most unforgettable performances by virtuoso soloists.

 

We invite the public, who have accompanied us with unwavering loyalty and enthusiasm, to be part of this promising day, applauding all the finalists and actively contributing to the selection of a prize-winner.

 

Because opera belongs to everyone and for everyone.

 

Conceição Amaral 
Chairman of the Board of Directors of OPART – E.P.E

 

Ivan van Kalmthout
Artistic Director of the Teatro Nacional de São Carlos

Maestro Tom Woods

Tom Woods was born in Tanzania and grew up in Perth, Australia, where he studied cello and piano as well as conducting with Richard Gill at the West Australian Conservatorium. A scholarship from the Department of Foreign Affairs allowed him to continue his studies in Moscow under maestro Vladimir Ponkin. 

 

Returning to Australia, Tom Woods joined Opera Australia in 1993, becoming the youngest conductor in the company’s history with his debut in 

 

Tom Woods was the Artistic Director of the Sydney Youth Orchestra from 1999 to 2004, Director of Artistic Planning of the Queensland Symphony from 2006 to 2010, and Chief Conductor of the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra from 2008 to 2014. In addition to his busy schedule in his home country he conducted in Germany, Italy, Denmark, Sweden, Russia, Japan, China and throughout Australasia with orchestras including the Osaka Philharmonic, Sendai Philharmonic, London Festival Orchestra and Krasnoyarsk Symphony Orchestra.

 

In 2014, Tom Woods moved to Germany where he has been working since as Deputy General Music Director at the Theater Regensburg

 

Since the 2023/24 season, Tom Woods is also responsible as Artistic Advisor for the Orchestra Victoria in Melbourne, Australia.

 

The versatile maestro is also successful as a composer and arranger.

Orquestra Sinfónica Portuguesa

Created in 1993, the Orquestra Sinfónica Portuguesa (OSP) is one of the artistic resident ensembles of the Teatro Nacional de São Carlos and has developed its own symphonic activity, including a regular program of concerts and participation in national and international music festivals. It regularly collaborates with Rádio e Televisão de Portugal by broadcasting its concerts and operas on Antena 2, including the tetralogy The Ring of the Nibelungo, broadcast on RTP2, and by taking part in RTP’s own initiatives, such as the Pedro de Freitas Branco Prize for Young Orchestra Conductors, the RDP Young Musicians Prize and the International Tribune of Young Performers. As part of its operatic and symphonic seasons, the PSO has performed under the direction of notable conductors such as Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, Alain Lombard, Nello Santi, Alberto Zedda, Harry Christophers, George Pehlivanian, Michel Plasson, Krzysztof Penderecki, Djansug Kakhidze, Milán Horvat, Jeffrey Tate and Iuri Ahronovitch, among others. The PSO’s discography includes two CD for the Marco Polo label, with Joly Braga Santos’ Symphonies Nos. 1, 3, 5 and 6, which it recorded under the direction of its first principal conductor, Álvaro Cassuto, and Crossing borders (works by Wagner, Gershwin and Mendelssohn), under the direction of Julia Jones, in a live recording by Antena 2.

 

In May 2022, a CD was released by Naxos with works by Fernando Lopes-Graça, conducted by Bruno Borralhinho. José Ramón Encinar (1999-2001), Zoltán Peskó (2001-2004) and Julia Jones (2008-2011) followed as principal conductor; Donato

 

Renzetti was the first guest conductor between 2005 and 2007. Joana Carneiro was principal conductor from 2014 to 2021. Antonio Pirolli, its principal conductor, is currently in charge of the musical direction. The Portuguese Symphony Orchestra celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2023.

Finals Repertoire

# Finalist Composer Opera Aria
1 Hovhannes Karapetyan Gioachino Rossini
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
La Cenerentola
Don Giovanni
Miei rampolli femminini (Don Magnifico)
Madamina, il catalogo è questo (Leporello)
8 Sílvia Sequeira Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Giuseppe Verdi
Don Giovanni
La forza del destino
In quali accessi… Mi tradì (Donna Elvira)
Pace, pace mio Dio (Leonora)
11 ByeongMin Gil Sergei Rachmaninov
Gioachino Rossini
Aleko
Il barbiere di Siviglia
Ves' tabar spit (Aleko)
La calunnia è un venticello (Don Basilo)
12 Teresa Sales Rebordão Johann Strauss II
Charles Gounod
Die Fledermaus
Romeo et Juliette
Ich lade gern mir Gäste ein (Count Orlovsky)
Que fais-tu, blanche tourterelle (Stéphano)
20 Jan Wouters Christoph Willibald Gluck
Gioachino Rossini
Orfeo ed Euridice
Tancredi
Che farò senza Euridice (Orpheo)
Oh patria… Di tanti palpiti (Tancredi)
21 Hae Kang Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Gioachino Rossini
Le nozze di Figaro
Il barbiere di Siviglia
Hai gia vinta la causa (Conte Almaviva)
Largo al factotum della città (Figaro)
28 Anna Erokhina Camille Saint-Saëns
Georges Bizet
Samson et Dalila
Carmen
Amour, viens aider ma faiblesse (Dalila)
Quand je vous aimerai... L'amour est un oiseau rebelle (Carmen)
30 Haesu Kim Giuseppe Verdi
Giacomo Puccini
Rigoletto
La Bohème
La donna è mobile (Duca di Mantova)
Che gelida manina (Rodolfo)
1 - Hovhannes Karapetyan
Gioachino Rossini
La Cenerentola
Miei rampolli femminini (Don Magnifico)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Don Giovanni
Madamina, il catalogo è questo (Leporello)
8 - Sílvia Sequeira
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Don Giovanni
In quali accessi… Mi tradì (Donna Elvira)
Giuseppe Verdi
La forza del destino
Pace, pace mio Dio (Leonora)
11 - ByeongMin Gil
Sergei Rachmaninov
Aleko
Ves' tabar spit (Aleko)
Gioachino Rossini
Il barbiere di Siviglia
La calunnia è un venticello (Don Basilo)
12 - Teresa Sales Rebordão
Johann Strauss II
Die Fledermaus
Ich lade gern mir Gäste ein (Count Orlovsky)
Charles Gounod
Romeo et Juliette
Que fais-tu, blanche tourterelle (Stéphano)
20 - Jan Wouters
Christoph Willibald Gluck
Orfeo ed Euridice
Che farò senza Euridice (Orpheo)
Gioachino Rossini
Tancredi
Oh patria… Di tanti palpiti (Tancredi)
21 - Hae Kang
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Le nozze di Figaro
Hai gia vinta la causa (Conte Almaviva)
Gioachino Rossini
Il barbiere di Siviglia
Largo al factotum della città (Figaro)
28 - Anna Erokhina
Camille Saint-Saëns
Samson et Dalila
Amour, viens aider ma faiblesse (Dalila)
Georges Bizet
Carmen
Quand je vous aimerai... L'amour est un oiseau rebelle (Carmen)
30 - Haesu Kim
Giuseppe Verdi
Rigoletto
La donna è mobile (Duca di Mantova)
Giacomo Puccini
La Bohème
Che gelida manina (Rodolfo)

Awards and Prizes

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

Vote Here!

Click on the button to vote on yout favourite Finalist for

the Cascais Opera Competition.

Ficha Técnica

CASCAIS ÓPERA

General Manager
Alexandra Maurício

Artistic Directors
Adriano Jordão | Sergei Leiferkus

Consultant
Maria Amélia Albuquerque

Executive Production
Madalena Braga Vidal | Ricardo Mendes

Production and Internacional Coodinator
António Sá-Dantas

Assistant Production

Marta Lontrão

Cindy Valian

Edna Sousa

Joana Teixeira

Carlota Vidal

Finance and Accounting
Cristina Prista

Comunication
Ana Abrantes

Public Relations Office
Liliana Soares | António Marinho

Image and Web Design
Dimensão Global

Graphic Designer
Joel Ribeiro

Motion Graphics
Igor Almeida

Social Media
Ködö

Contents
André Graça

Video and Photography
Ricochete Films

Technical Direction
Rui Braga | Pedro Rua

Scene Direction (Carmen)
Rita Alves

Piano Accompaniment

Eduardo Jordão (coordinator)

Gonçalo Simões

Natalia Riabova

Alessandro Praticò

Michael Sikich

Pianos and Tuning

Paulo Pimentel

Cascais Opera Documentary

João Moreira dos Santos, coordinator
Fernando Mendes, images
Paulo Seabra, editing
Inês Correia Santos, RTP producer

OPART – Organismo de Produção Artística, EPE

Conselho de Administração

Conceição Amaral –PRESIDENTE

Rui Morais – VOGAL

Sofia Meneses – VOGAL

Serviço Educativo e De Pedagogia
Pedro Teixeira da Silva

Direção Financeira e Administrativa
Marco Prezado – DIRETOR

Setor Financeiro

Fátima Ramos – CHEFE

Raquel Mergulhão

Rute Gato

Setor de Aquisições

Edna Narciso – CHEFE

Marta Gamito

Setor de Limpeza

Maria Teresa Gonçalves – ENCARREGADA

Maria de Lurdes Moura

Maria do Céu Cardoso

Maria Isabel Sousa

 

Setor Expediente e Economato
Anabel Segura

Setor de Bilheteira

Laura Barbeiro

Luísa Lourenço

Rita Martins

Direção de Recursos Humanos

Pedro Quaresma – DIRETOR

Jéssica Santos

Sofia Teopisto

Vânia Guerreiro

Zulmira Mendes

Direção de Manutenção

Vítor José – DIRETOR

Nuno Cassiano

Armando Cardoso

Artur Raposo

Carlos Pires

Carlos Santos

Miguel Cardoso

Nuno Estevão

Rui Ivo Cruz

Rui Rodrigues

Susana Santos

Direção de Comunicação e Marketing
Sara Gil – DIRETORA

Gabinete de Informática
Pedro Penedo

Teatro Nacional de São Carlos

Diretor Artístico
Ivan van Kalmthout

Adjunta do Diretor Artístico
Cátia Pereira

Direção de Produção
Alda Giesta – DIRETORA
Mafalda Gouveia – DIRETORA
ADJUNTA (em substituição)
Luís Marreiros
Marta Silva

Gabinete de Contratação de Artistas
Alessandra Toffolutti – COORDENADORA
Fátima Machado

Setor de Costura
Ana Paula Simaria – CHEFE
Célia Libânio
Diogo Santos
Márcia Val Miyamoto

Direção Técnica
Joana Camacho – DIRETORA
João Paulo Araújo ADJUNTO (em acumulação)
Miguel Mendes

Setor de Maquinaria
João Paulo Araújo – CHEFE
Felipe Loch
Fernando Correia
Fernando Pinto
Gino Moretti
Gonçalo Gonçalves
Joaquim Cândido Costa
Marcus Severiano
Paulo Silva
Rui Carmo

Setor de Iluminação
José Diogo – CHEFE
Carla Pereira
Carlos Vaz
Daniel Morais
Geraldo Junior
Joaquim Almeida
Pedro Galo

Setor de Som e Vídeo
Miguel Pessanha – CHEFE
Telmo Costa

Setor de Contra-Regra
João Lopes – CHEFE
Herlander Valente

Direção de Cena
Bernardo Azevedo Gomes – DIRETOR
Álvaro Santos
Safira Ramos

Setor de Arquivo
Fernando Carvalho

Setor de Guarda-Roupa
Anabela Pires Vicente
Patrícia Abreu

Direção de Estudos Musicais
João Paulo Santos – DIRETOR
Joana David
Nuno Margarido Lopes

Direção do Coro e Orquestra
Margarida Clode – DIRETORA
João Carlos
Andrade – ADJUNTO (em acumulação)/ COORDENADOR DO  CORO
Celeste Patarra – COORDENADORA DA OSP
Diana Gonçalves
Isabel Pina
Jerónimo Fonseca
Maria Beatriz Loureiro
Nuno Guimarães
Sandra Correia

Gabinete de Documentação Musical
Paula Coelho da Silva – COORDENADORA
Inês Souza e Faro
Tiago Flores

Gabinete de Comunicação e Marketing
Raquel Maló Almeida – COORDENADORA
André Quendera
Jorge Rodrigues
Margarida Macedo de Sousa
Maria Salgado

Orquestra Sinfónica Portuguesa

MAESTRO TITULAR

ANTONIO PIROLLI

I VIOLINOS

PAVEL AREFIEV   

VELIYANA YORDANOVA

JORGE GONÇALVES

ANTÓNIO FIGUEIREDO

ISKRENA YORDANOVA

ANABELA GUERREIRO

ALEXANDER MLADENOV

MARGARETA SANDROS

LAURENTIU IVAN-COCA

LUÍS SANTOS

II VIOLINOS

PAULA CARNEIRO

WITOLD DZIUBA

CARMÉLIA SILVA

LYZA VALDMAN*

AURORA VORONOVA

PATRÍCIA TOMÉ*

KATARINA MAJEWSKA

DAVID ASCENSÃO*

VIOLAS

PEDRO MUÑOZ

CECILE PAYS

ISABEL PEREIRA

SANDRA MOURA

LEONOR FLEMING*

DAVIDE NAVELLI*

VIOLONCELOS

HILARY ALPER  

CAROLINA MATOS

EMÍDIO COUTINHO

LUÍS CLODE

CONTRABAIXOS

DUNCAN FOX

MARIA DELMAR*

VANESSA LIMA*

FLAUTAS

ANABELA MALARRANHA

RUI MATOS (Picc)

ANA BAGANHA (Picc)

OBOÉS

LUÍS PEREZ      

LUIS MARQUES

ELIZABETH KICKS (C.i)

CLARINETES  

FRANCISCO RIBEIRO (+Cl.mib)  

CÂNDIDA OLIVEIRA

JORGE TRINDADE (+ClB)

SAXOFONE

RITA NUNES* 

FAGOTES

DAVID HARRISON

ROBERTO ERCULIANI

JOANA MAIA

CAROLINO CARREIRA

TROMPAS

PAULO GUERREIRO

CARLOS ROSADO

LAURENT ROSSI

TRACY NABAIS

TROMPETES

ANTÓNIO QUÍTALO   

PEDRO MONTEIRO

JORGE ALMEIDA (+Crnt)

LATCHEZAR GOULEV (+Crnt)

TROMBONES

JARRETT BUTLER     

VÍTOR FARIA

JOAQUIM ROCHA (Trbn.B)

TUBA

ILÍDIO MASSACOTE

TÍMPANOS

ELIZABETH DAVIS

PERCUSSÃO

RICHARD BUCKLEY

LÍDIO CORREIA

PEDRO ARAÚJO E SILVA

JOÃO MIGUEL BRAGA SIMÕES*

HARPAS

CARMEN CARDEAL

CELESTA//PIANOFORTE

NUNO MARGARIDO LOPES

JOANA DAVID

REFORÇOS *  

Newsletter
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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