Catarina Sereno, mezzo-soprano and member of the jury for Cascais Opera 2026
Catarina Sereno is the only Portuguese member of the jury for this year’s Cascais Opera. A Belgian Portuguese mezzo-soprano who trained at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, she has lived outside Portugal for almost twenty years, and it was with particular emotion that she returned to Cascais, this time on the other side of the hall.
“It’s fantastic to be back in the country, especially for an experience like this”, she says. “Cascais Opera has grown enormously in three years and I’m very happy to be part of this journey”. This is her first time on an in-person jury; in previous editions, he had been part of the selection panel, assessing video applications. The difference, she says, is enormous.
With live performances, there are no tricks
“We receive a wide variety of videos – some are filmed at home on an iPad, others are filmed in hired studios and edited. There’s a huge discrepancy in video quality”. Live, all that disappears. “There are no tricks, no editing. It’s the same for everyone. It’s live and in colour. Your voice must come through, your technique must be on show, and your personality must shine through”.
Catarina Sereno acknowledges that the fact that she was on the other side only a relatively short time ago – sitting auditions, competing, receiving feedback – puts her in a unique position on the jury. Closer to the candidates, perhaps. More open, too, to the contemporary repertoire that some of them presented. “It helps me to be a little more open, more engaged, and more interested in that repertoire as well”.
One ‘no’ isn’t the end of the world
For candidates who don’t make it through, Catarina Sereno offers a perspective that is both candid and generous. “A singer will, over the course of their life, face many rejections. It’s all part of it. You can’t pursue this career without facing rejection”. But – and here she quotes Sergei Leiferkus – “it means everything and it means nothing”. It’s a snapshot of a moment in the singer’s life. Next year, everything could be different.
What sets Cascais Opera apart, she says, is precisely what happens after that ‘no’: the masterclasses, the chance to work on the same repertoire with a fresh perspective, and to receive feedback without the heat of the moment. “What can we work on more for next time? Above all, Cascais Opera does something that didn’t exist in my day: it offers masterclasses to those who didn’t make it through”.
Enjoy the ride
What would you like singers to take away from Cascais? She thinks for a moment, slips into another language without meaning to – “enjoy the ride”, she says, laughing – and then starts again in Portuguese. “May they enjoy the journey and the experience in a positive way”. And for those just starting out: “May they give it their all, because this isn’t a career you can do half-heartedly. May they give it 100 or even 200 per cent. But may they also take pleasure in the journey. Never look at things negatively and always keep moving forward”.
