From February 22 to 25, about 100 singers from 23 nations will face the jury of the 11th Immling International Singing Competition in two preliminary rounds. The jury of international agents, renowned vocal professors and singers led by artistic director Ludwig Baumann and musical director Cornelia von Kerssenbrock will select up to ten finalists to compete for highly coveted prizes in a brilliant finale with a large orchestra on Saturday, March 2, 2019, starting at 6:00 pm.

They come from Peru, Australia and China, from Germany, the USA, Korea and Denmark, from Iran and Hungary to Bad Endorf and Immling.

“We are proud to once again welcome singers from a total of 23 nations on site. That is a fascinating effect of music, that its language can be understood worldwide and brings people of all colors together,” agree the Musical Director of the Immling Festival, Cornelia von Kerssenbrock, and Intendant Ludwig Baumann.

High demands on young talent

The singers have five pieces in their luggage, including a Mozart aria and a song. “Young singers in particular have to sing Mozart because he makes incredibly high technical demands on them,” says Cornelia von Kerssenbrock, who is already excited about this year’s contest participants. Lied singing, for which there is a special prize, is also a great challenge for young singers, as it is necessary to convey human emotions and drama alone with a pianist.

Olympic atmosphere and fairness

Already during the two preliminary rounds at the Kulturhotel Endorfer Hof, the young artists spread an Olympic atmosphere that can be felt throughout the house. Everyone has come to win. Many from far away, some with very little money. It’s a tough battle, with a third of the artists dropping out after the first round, and even more having to leave after the second. Although the fight is tough and so many artists from different nations are striving for an award at the 11th International Singing Competition, the atmosphere is fair. Music and art connect the artists.

Ludwig Baumann: “As a singer, singing is your purpose in life. Singing is soul, pure emotion. So it’s not easy to drop out of the competition. It’s like criticizing a person’s innermost self, because the voice belongs to the singer. Criticizing a musician is perhaps even easier, because it can be projected onto the instrument.”

Nevertheless, Cornelia von Kerssenbrock continues, in the preliminary rounds there was a great deal of consensus within the jury as to who could stay or who had to go.

The final on March 2, on the other hand, is all about nuances and also taste. “Our finalists,” says Ludwig Baumann, “can all perform in an opera house at any time.” Each juror also sets his or her priorities differently. The evaluation criteria are vocal quality (every singer is born with), vocal technique (what a singer does with his talent), musicality (it shows a singer’s sensitivity, interpretation and knowledge of a style) and stage presence.

The perfect wave

Cornelia von Kerssenbrock: “The singing competition is exciting. I feel like a surfer in search of the perfect wave: In every singer who comes in the door, I look for ‘the perfect singer, the perfect singer’. A singer who grabs me with his voice, who touches me, has already won!”

The road to success

There are various ways for young artists to establish themselves in the classical genre. Participating – or rather winning – in a singing competition helps get into an agency. And talent scouts also sit on the jury of the Immling singing competition – always on the lookout for new voices. Even greater happiness would come from a commitment to young people. And the Immling Festival also offers them this chance. Singers who win here can be rediscovered by visitors to the Immling Festival in the 2019 season, as many a singer is hired on the spot for the coming season. In any case, the “Don Giovanni” for this year is already set. It is the charismatic Modestas Sedlevičius, who already convinced in 2017 at the contest of the Immling Festival and in the following festival season in the title role of the Gluck opera “Orpheus and Eurydice”.

Good luck to the singers 2019!

The preliminary rounds – audience welcome!

February 22 – 25, 2019: Preliminary rounds at Kulturhotel Endorfer Hof

Friday, February 22:
3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. Round 1 (free choice aria and Mozart aria) – with audience

Saturday, February 23:
2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. Round 1 (free choice aria and Mozart aria) – with audience
18.00 to ca. 20.30 Round 1 (Aria of free choice and Mozart Aria) – with audience

Sunday, February 24:
11.00 to 13.00 Round 1 (free choice aria and Mozart aria) – with audience
14.00 to ca. 17.000 Round 1 (Aria of free choice and Mozart Aria)- with audience

Monday, February 25:
11.00 to 13.00 Round 2 (song and aria) – with audience
14.00 to approx. 17.000 Round 2 (song and aria) – with audience

(subject to change)

Further information, tickets and prices for the preliminary rounds can be found on a daily basis at www.immling.de.

March 2, 2019: Finale at the Festspielhaus Immling, 6 p.m.

Festive opera gala with highlights of opera literature, followed by the award ceremony in the Festspielhaus Immling. The Bad Reichenhall Philharmonic Orchestra will play.

Schedule and tickets online at www.immling.de, ticket hotline: 08055 9034-0

Contact: Angelika Erhard, Press and Communication Immling Festival
E-mail: presse@immling.de Tel. +49 (0)8055 – 9034 18

Photos at www.immling.de;
All rights reserved by Immling Festival. Publication or reproduction only in the context of reporting on the Immling Festival.