Hae Kang
Grand Prix Égide 10.000,00€ & Contract with TNSC
2024 Edition - Summary
The Cascais Opera – International Vocal Competition held its inaugural edition from 6 to 14 April 2024. The preliminary rounds took place at the Centro Cultural de Cascais, and the Final was held at the Teatro Nacional de São Carlos, one of the most historic opera houses in Europe. The finalists were accompanied by the Portuguese Symphony Orchestra.
The first edition received 213 applications from 39 countries. From these, eight singers reached the Final, all deserving of the Grand Prix – Égide, which was ultimately awarded to the Korean baritone Hae Kang.
Jury 2024
Sergei Leiferkus
President of the Jury
Baritone Sergei Leiferkus is widely recognized as one of the most distinguished artists on the international opera scene. His remarkable ability to convey both nobility and villainy has made him renowned for roles such as Scarpia (Tosca), Iago (Otello), Rangoni (Boris Godunov), Telramund (Lohengrin), and Alberich (Der Ring des Nibelungen). He has appeared on the world’s most prestigious stages, including the Royal Opera House, Wiener Staatsoper, Deutsche Oper Berlin, La Scala, the Metropolitan Opera, and the Opéra Bastille, as well as at leading festivals such as Salzburg, Glyndebourne, and Edinburgh.
His extensive repertoire includes around 50 roles, among them Eugene Onegin, Nabucco, Macbeth, Simon Boccanegra, Don Giovanni, and Parsifal, with a special emphasis on Russian music from the 19th and 20th centuries. Recent additions to his repertoire include Berg’s Lulu, Janáček’s The Cunning Little Vixen, and contemporary works by Peter Eötvös and Alexander Raskatov. In concert, he has performed with leading orchestras and conductors such as Abbado, Gergiev, Levine, Mehta, and Muti, and is particularly celebrated for Mussorgsky’s Songs and Dances of Death and Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 13. He is currently Artistic Director of Cascais Opera – International Vocal Competition, alongside pianist Adriano Jordão.
Jury MEMBERS
Anna Samuil
Soprano at Staatsoper de Berlim and Professor at Hochshule für Musik Hanns Eisler.
Catarina Sereno
Mezzo-soprano
Ivan van Kalmthout
Senior Opera Executive
Jury Members
Aleksandar Nikolić
Senior Opera Director at National Theatre of Serbia – Novi Sad
Aleksandar Nikolić is one of the most active opera and theatre directors in Eastern Europe. He has been collaborating with Belgrade’s National Theater since 2009 and, since the 2018-19 season, also with the National Theater Novi Sad (Serbia’s first National Theatre), having been appointed Principal Opera Director there in 2023.
Mr. Nikolic studied Drama, Audiovisual Arts, Art History and Stage Design in Belgrade and served as assistant director to the 13th revival of Richard Eyre’s original 1994 production of Verdi’s ‘La Traviata’ at London’s Royal Opera House (2016).
From 2019 through 2023, he was general manager at Little Theater Duško Radović, in Belgrade, where he produced a total 22 works.
In Serbia and abroad, he moves with equal ease in opera, theatre and dance, and his work on the opera stage includes Aida, Faust and Rigoletto for the National Theatre Novi Sad, Orfeo ed Euridice, L’incoronazione di Poppea and La serva padrona at the National Theatre Belgrade, Tosca with the Belgrade Philharmonic, Don Giovanni and The Telephone for Sarajevo’s National Theatre, Don Giovanni at Universal Artists Festival (Boston), Pyramus and Thisbe and Die Fledermaus in Jerusalem and Il Barbiere di Siviglia at the Vrnjačka Banja Summer Festival. Next June, he will be staging Puccini’s Madama Butterfly, the final event in Belgrade Philharmonic’s 100th Jubilee Season.
Anna Samuil
Soprano at Staatsoper de Berlim and Professor at Hochshule für Musik Hanns Eisler.
Soprano Anna Samuil is among the most sought-after singers of her generation and has been steadily engaged as a soloist at the Staatsoper Berlin since 2004.
After her international debut as Violetta (Traviata) at Berlin State Opera in 2003, her career quickly brought her to important stages, like La Scala Milan, New York Met, Bavarian State Opera, Semperoper, Hamburg SO, Valencia, Lyon and Tokyo; and to renowned festivals, like Salzburg, Aix-en-Provence, Edinburgh, Glyndebourne, Verbier, Arena di Verona and Maggio Musicale Fiorentino.
Recordings documenting Anna Samuil’s artistic activities include ‘Eugene Onegin’ from the Salzburg Festival, ‘Don Giovanni’ from Glyndebourne, ‘Das Rheingold’ and ‘Götterdämmerung’ from La Scala, ‘Der Rosenkavalier’ from Berlin SO, Britten’s ‘War Requiem’, Beethoven’s ‘Ninth Symphony’ and her latest CD release, “Il mondo felice”, an homage to Maria Malibran with her violinist sister Tatiana.
Anna has collaborated with conductors such as Daniel Barenboim, Zubin Mehta, Lorin Maazel, Antonio Pappano, Plácido Domingo, Myung-whun Chung and Gustavo Dudamel, to name just a few. Directors who have guided her career include Franco Zeffirelli, Peter Stein, Jonathan Miller, Achim Freyer, Claus Guth, and Guy Cassiers. Since 2011 she is a Voice Professor at the Hanns Eisler Music University in Berlin.
Erik Malmquist
Casting Director at Bayerische Staatsoper (Munich)
A native of Elgin, Illinois (USA), Erik Malmquist began his musical studies on violin at the age of three, earning an undergraduate degree in music from Luther College and a masters in violin performance from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. He then moved to New York City, working as a freelance violinist, mainly associated with Manhattan Concert Productions (2013-14). He began his career as an artist manager at Zemsky Green Artists Management, in New York, where he worked from 2014 to 2019, while concurrently serving as the general manager for New York City’s Bach Vespers at Holy Trinity (Upper West Side). Starting in December 2019, he then served as the executive director of the Elgin Symphony Orchestra, remaining in the post until June 2021, when he accepted an invitation from the Bavarian State Opera (Munich) to become their head of casting, a post he still holds.
Mr. Malmquist has served as a member of the jury for the Metropolitan Opera Competition Grand Finals, the Paris Opera Competition and the Richard Tucker Music Foundation.
Ivan van Kalmthout
Artistic Director at National Theatre of São Carlos
Ivan van Kalmthout has been active over the whole of Europe and beyond in opera since the 1990s. Promoting and helping young singers with their careers has always been a part of his trajectory. He has recently given a course about career development at the Mozarteum in Salzburg. During his time as the Artistic Director of the Teatro Nacional São Carlos ( 2023-2024) he programmed the first concert performance of Mahler’s 8th Symphony in Portugal for 33 years and a very successful Jenufa. Previously, he was in charge of the «International Vocal Competition» (IVC), in ‘s-Hertogenbosch (Netherlands), whose prize winners include great singers such as for instance Thomas Hampson, Dame Sarah Connolly and Pretty Yende. He has extensive experience in the management of opera houses throughout Europe, having been interim artistic director of the Gran Teatre del Liceu, in Barcelona (after ten years as deputy artistic director). He was also opera director at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden in Berlin and the director of daily operations at the Hamburg National Theatre. Ivan van Kalmthout began his career at the Vlaamse Opera in Antwerp/Ghent, where his last position was as a casting officer. He was a jury member of various international competitions: the IVC (twice before becoming the director), the Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow and the China International Singing Competition in 2002, the Bulbul Opera Competition in Baku (Azerbaijan) in 2010, and in the Marie Kraja International Singing Competition in Tirana (Albania) in 2022. He was instrumental in the creation of the Cascais Opera Competition in Lisbon and will be on the jury for the third time this year. In March of this year he was a member of the jury of the Seoul International Competition for Voice 2026.
Maria Stefyuk
Soprano at National Opera of Ukraine and Professor at National Music Academy of Kyiv
Ukrainian lyric coloratura soprano Maria Stefiuk made her professional debut at the Kyiv Opera House in 1972, and rose up to become one of her country’s most distinguished lyric artists.
Her repertoire included Lysenko’s ‘Taras Bulba’, Glinka’s ‘A life for the tsar’, Rimsky-Korsakov’s ‘The Tsar’s Bride’, Mussorgsky’s ‘The Fair at Sorotchinsky’ and Shostakovich’s ‘Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk’. In Italian, she sang the roles of Zerlina, Rosina, Lucia, Violetta, Gilda and Musetta, and in French, Manon, Marguerite de Valois, Leila, and Eros.
She made her La Scala debut in 1981 and also performed at Dresden’s Semperoper (1987) and Berlin’s State Opera (1988). Her international appearances included the USA, Canada, UK, France, Switzerland, Austria, Turkey, Argentina and Japan.
In chamber song, she performed Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff, Händel, Bach, Mozart, Rossini, Verdi, Gounod and Massenet.
From 2000 to 2019, Mrs. Stefyuk taught singing at the Ukrainian National Tchaikovsky Academy of Music, in Kyiv. For over 20 years, Maria Stefyuk has been a member of the jury at a number of international vocal competitions.
For the relevance of her career and her significant contribution to culture and the arts in Ukraine, she was awarded such prizes as the Shevchenko State Prize (1988), the Order of Princess Olga – 1st Class (2003), and was made a Hero of Ukraine in 2008.
Robert Körner
Casting Director at Wiener Staatsoper
Robert Körner has been Casting Director of Vienna State Opera since May 2020. His responsibilities there include overseeing/managing the ensemble, the Young Artist Program and guest artists.
Prior Mr. Körner served for 13 years (September 2007-April 2020) as Director of Artistic Production at Opéra National de Lyon (France), where he worked in close collaboration with General Director Serge Dorny. His responsibilities there encompassed the creation and development of the artistic program, head of casting, head of production and planning, responsibility for the opera house’s artistic budget and for contractual negotiations with artistic staff and guest artists.
Before his international breakthrough, Mr. Körner worked at Theater Dortmund (Germany) as Director of Artistic Production from 2001 through 2007. His duties there extended to being their Director of Casting and Head of Production and Planning, while he also held responsibility for elaborating and managing the artistic budget of the opera house.
Robert Körner’s first professional experience in arts management was acquired in Osnabrück, (Germany) for two years he was Head of Planning and Production at the local Städtische Bühnen (Municipal Theatres).
Before Mr. Körner was a professional dancer, for eight years he was a solo dancer with the Saarländisches Staatstheater Saarbrücken ( Germany) from 1991 to 1999, and also a Ballet Administrator, there, from 1997.
Mr. Körner has been already a jury member of several international singing competitions.
Stage Skils Award 2025 Prize Jury
Aleksandar Nikolić
Principal Opera Director - Serbian National Theatre - Novi Sad
Adriano Jordão
Cascais Opera Artistic Director
Carlos Otero
Singer and director
Prize Winners, Finalists & Contestants
213
Applicants
39
Represented Countries
4
Continents
Prize Winners
Hae Kang
Grand Prix Égide 10.000,00€ & Contract with TNSC
Sílvia Sequeira
1st Prize “Teresa Berganza” for Female Voice or Countertenor 7.500,00€ & Contract with TNSC & RTP Audience Prize
ByeongMin Gil
1st Prize “Maurício Bensaude” for male voice 7.500,00€
Jan Wouters
2nd Prize 5.000,00€
Anna Erokhina
3rd Prize 3.500,00€
Iana Aivazian
Prize for Best Young contestant under 25 years old 2.500,00€
Hovhannes Karapetyan
Contract with the National Opera Novi Sad (Serbia)
Teresa Sales Rebordão
FIMM – Contract with Festival Internacional de Música de Marvão 2025
Duangamorn Fu
Contract with the Orquestra de Câmara de Cascais e Oeiras
Maria Constança Melo
Contract with the Festival de Música de Mafra “Filipe de Sousa”
Contestants
Aleksandra Sennikova
Alina Otiakovskaia
Anna Erokhina
Anna Lytvytska
Bozhidar Bozhkilov
ByeongMin Gil
Chelsea Marilyn Zurflüh
Cláudia Anjos
Cláudia Ribas de Sousa Silva
Daniel Gwon
Dominika Isabell Marková
Duangamorn Fu
Dylan Glenn
Elia Cohen-Weissert
Emily Rocha
Hae Kang
Haesu Kim
Hovhannes Karapetyan
Hyunju Ha
Iana Aivazian
Ivan Ozerov
Jacob Scharfman
Jan Wouters
Juana Shtrepi
Karmen Kõrnas
Kate Wood
Kelsey Lauritano
Laura Richter
Louise Guenter
Lucy Altus
Mar Morán
Margarita Zhigalkina
Maria Constança Melo
Marie-Juliette Ghazarian
Monique Galvão
Oksana Pynchuk
Oleh Lebedyev
Oscar Ruben Ore Alarcon
Sarah Raiss
Semyon Antakov
Sílvia Sequeira
Siying Wei
Stanislav Zubar
Susana Vieira
Susanne Burgess
Teresa Sales Rebordão
Vlada Shchavinska
Programme and Concerts
Throughout the edition, several memorable moments celebrated the talent and diversity of a new generation of opera singers.
Opening Ceremony
April 6
Centro Cultural de Cascais
The inaugural session featured speeches by the founders, Alexandra Maurício, Adriano Jordão, and Sergei Leiferkus, who welcomed the contestants, jury members, and partners.
Preliminary Rounds and Semifinals
April 7-10
Centro Cultural de Cascais
Open rounds were held with the 30 selected singers competing for a place in the final.
Opera Gala “Carmen for Berganza”
April 11
Casino Estoril
A moving tribute to the legendary mezzo-soprano Teresa Berganza, performed with the Cascais Symphony Orchestra.
Competition Final
May 1
A moment of relaxation and connection among participants, jury, and public, enjoying the outdoors before the competition’s final stage.
Competition Final
May 14
Teatro Nacional de São Carlos, Lisbon
Accompanied by the Portuguese Symphony Orchestra, the finalists competed for the Grand Prix and the main prizes, in a concert that captivated the audience and helped establish Cascais Ópera as one of the most promising singing competitions on the international scene.
Masterclasses
Acting Masterclass
April 9 and 12
“Towards an Embodied Competition Experience”
Professor/Mentor
Vocal Masterclasses
April 9 and 12
Centro Cultural de Cascais
Cascais Music Conservatory
Professor/Mentor
Patrons
To our patrons and partners, who believed in this project and made the first edition of Cascais Opera possible, we extend our sincere gratitude. Together, we shared the conviction that true transformative power in society begins with culture.
Organization
Co-Organizers
Main Patron
Institutional Partner
Patrons
Partners
Media Partners
