The Young Singers Project 2024
Founded 16 years ago, the Young Singers Project has included and fostered 210 vocalists from 46 countries since its inception.
16 participants have been selected among more than 700 applicants for this summer. They hail from ten nations: Armenia, Australia, Austria, Germany, Great Britain, Iran, Russia, Turkey, the USA and Uzbekistan.
Since 2013, for eleven years, the Kühne Foundation has supported the Young Singers Project (YSP). The young talents who qualify for this scholarship receive the opportunity to present themselves in public master classes and perform alongside renowned Festival artists in opera productions, among other benefits. Their joint final concert towards the Festival’s end is often a major career step for them.
The Kühne Foundation has been among the main sponsors of the Salzburg Festival since 2019. The contract with the Kühne Foundation has been extended through 2027; the Foundation has generously increased its support.
“With the Young Singers Project, the Kühne Foundation underwrites a project dear to the heart of the Salzburg Festival, offering talented young vocalists a launchpad for an international career,” Festival President Kristina Hammer expresses the gratitude of the Festival.
From the international applications, Casting Director and YSP Director Evamaria Wieser selects the singers at numerous auditions: “This format of advanced vocal education includes musical coaching, staged rehearsals, language coaching and lied interpretation. The public master classes – led this yar by Malcolm Martineau, Violeta Urmana and Stéphane Degout – and the practical relevance of the scholarship make the YSP a unique young artist programme.”
Every year, the Young Singers also feature in the performances of the children’s opera: this year, it is the new production of Carl Orff’s Die Kluge.
The YSP’s final concert on 30 August – presented for the first time at the Haus für Mozart – also features the Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg under the baton of Leo Hussain.
The participants will appear this summer in the following operas and roles:
THE GAMBLER
Elizaveta Kulagina (Soprano) – A Florid Lady
Seray Pinar (Mezzo-Soprano) – A Pale Lady
Cassandra Doyle (Mezzo-Soprano) – A Respectable Old Lady
Samuel Stopford (Tenor) – First Croupier
Michael Dimovski (Tenor) – Second Croupier
Armand Rabot (Baritone) – The Director of the Casino
Navasard Hakobyan (Baritone) – An Unlucky Gambler
Jasurbek Khaydarov (Bass) – A Fat Englishman
Joseph Parrish (Bass-Baritone) – Potapich
THE IDIOT
Daria Strulia (Soprano) – Warwara
HAMLET
Amin Ahangaran (Bass) – Horatio
DIE KLUGE
Marie Maidovski (Soprano) – Die Kluge (The Wise Woman)
Tamara Obermayr (Mezzo-Soprano) – The Woman with the Donkey
Egor Sergeev (Baritone) – The Peasant
Konstantin Igl (Tenor) – First Vagrant
Manuel Winckhler (Bass) – Second Vagrant