Prizewinners Announced at the 2024 Neue Stimmen International Singing Competition

Magdalena Lucjan and Alejandro Baliñas Vieites were given first prize and more than €65,000 was awarded to the competition's laureates

The twentieth edition of Germany's Neue Stimmen International Singing Competition has recently come to a close. More than 1,000 young singers across 73 countries applied to take part, with 39 singers proceeding to the live rounds in Gütersloh.

Eight singers were then selected for the final, where they sang with the Duisburg Philharmonic and conductor Jonathan Darlington.

Unlike many other vocal competitions, Neue Stimmen is split into two gender categories. The results are as follows:

Women

• First Prize, 15,000 euros: Magdalena Lucjan (Poland) – Soprano
• Second Prize, 10,000 euros: Anita Monserrat (United Kingdom) – Mezzo-soprano
• Third Prize (equal), 5,000 Euros: Teona Todua (Ukraine) – Soprano
• Third Prize (equal), 5,000 euros: Seray Pinar (Turkey) – Mezzo-soprano

Men

• First Prize, 15,000 euros: Alejandro Baliñas Vieites (Spain) – Bass
• Second Prize, 10,000 euros: Trevor Haumschilt-Rocha (United States) – Baritone
• Third Prize, 5,000 Euro: Finn Sagal (United States) – Baritone

Alejandro Baliñas Vieites won a total of three prizes, including the Audience Prize. However, it was Magdalena Lucjan who gave a particularly notable performance: she was called up to the final as a substitute, after the soprano Martina Russomanno was forced to pull out due to illness.

In 2024, the Neue Stimmen jury comprised the Chairman and Director of La Scala Dominique Meyer, the former Director General of the Chicago Opera Theater Brian Dickie, the casting director of the Opéra National de Paris Sophie Joyce, the director of the Dutch National Opera Sophie de Lint, and the director of the Frankfurt Opera Bernd Loebe.

"I warmly congratulate all winners," said Liz Mohn, founder of the competition and CEO of the Liz Mohn Foundation. "It is always a special experience to see how hard these young people work on themselves and then come a step closer to their dream of a national or international opera career."

You can hear the prizewinners speaking about their experiences at the competition below.