Click on the button to vote on yout favourite Finalist for
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
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.
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.
# | 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) |
The following awards are lined-up to be attributed at the Cascais Opera – International Vocal Competition 2024.
This prize is awarded by
Égide – Portuguese Art Association
The winner of this prize will also receive a contract with São Carlos National Theatre
5.000,00€
3.500,00€
2.500,00€
1.500,00€
Click on the button to vote on yout favourite Finalist for
the Cascais Opera Competition.
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
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
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
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
PAULA CARNEIRO
WITOLD DZIUBA
CARMÉLIA SILVA
LYZA VALDMAN*
AURORA VORONOVA
PATRÍCIA TOMÉ*
KATARINA MAJEWSKA
DAVID ASCENSÃO*
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*
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 *
After filling in the information below click subscribe.
We will keep you up to date.
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.
This site uses cookies for a better user experience.
By using this site you are agreeing with our Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions