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Young Singers Project

Supported by

KÜHNE-STIFTUNG

© SF/Marco Borrelli

Young Singers Project

Since the founding of the Young Singers Project in 2008, this prestigious platform for promoting young vocal talent, which has been supported for several years by the Kühne Foundation — one of the main sponsors of the Salzburg Festival — has been a success story. Numerous auditions are held to select the young singers from among hundreds of applicants, with the successful candidates going on to receive a scholarship, extensive advanced training and the opportunity to work with Festival artists.

With the Young Singers Project the Salzburg Festival has created a high-powered platform for the promotion of young singers, which can look back on many successful years and has been supported for several years by the Kühne Foundation who is also a main sponsor of the Salzburg Festival.

Young singers are selected through international auditions and thanks to the scholarship the participants receive advanced training during the Festival, which does not only include musical education and repertoire expansion, but also staging, language coaching, Lied interpretation as well as the opportunity to work with Festival artists and to attend rehearsals. The master classes and the clear practical connection with the Festival make the YSP an educational programme that has become an international benchmark and model.

Application for the
Young Singers Project 2026

The age limit for the Young Singers Project is 30; to apply for the YSP 2026 please fill out the form below until 10 October 2025.

Due to the great number of applications we ask for your understanding that we will have to do a preselection for the auditions. Invitations to audition will be made in writing.

The Salzburg Festival will use the data you provide here for the administration of the competition. Your data will also be kept on record in the event of a cancellation and beyond the competition in order to make it possible to contact you. You can object to it anytime. In this case your files will immediately be deleted. Therefore please write an e-mail to YSP@salzburgfestival.at

Conditions of participation/ Privacy Policy

The following terms and conditions apply to participation in the Young Singers Project.

1. Applicants (hereafter referred to as “singers”) must not have reached the age of 30 by 1 July 2026. The date of birth must be verified by uploading a copy of an identity document in the registration form.
2. Applications can be made via the online form, which must be filled out completely and truthfully. Meaningful video material must be included, which must not be older than 6 months. The closing date for applications is 10 October 2025.
3. The information / personal data and files submitted in the registration form will be processed by the Salzburg Festival (hereafter referred to as the “Festival”) for the administration of the project and will remain stored for documentation and archiving purposes beyond the duration of the project. If you have any questions regarding data protection, please contact the Festival’s data protection officer at datenschutz@salzburgfestival.at.
4. The singers agree to be personally available for any queries under the contact details provided in the form. In exceptional cases, the Festival will also accept communication via a third party, such as agencies.
5. The Festival reserves the right to check the accuracy of the information provided by the singers.
6. The application videos must be uploaded to youtube or vimeo. The applicant is free to decide whether they are shared publicly or privately. However, the Festival is entitled to download and store the videos from the platform.
7. From the applications submitted, those singers will be selected who shall come to Salzburg for a personal audition. Possible audition dates will be determined by the Festival. After all auditions have been completed (probably by the end of January 2026), the selected singers will be invited in writing to participate in the Young Singers Project.
8. The selection of the singers is at the sole discretion of the Festival and decision don’t need any particular reasoning. The Festival is also entitled to reject applications without giving reasons.
9. The duration of the project is from July 1 to August 30, 2026. A slightly earlier rehearsal start may be required for some participants.
10. The selected singers will receive an honorarium as well as a travel allowance for the journey to and from the project. Accommodation will be organised and paid for by the Festival.
11. The singers declare with their application that they are available without restrictions for the duration of the project.
12. The official languages are German and English, the singers must have a basic command of at least one of these two languages.
13. With the application, the singers confirm that they have taken note of these conditions and the privacy policy.

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