Elvirissima - Young Voices 2018: a new level of enthusiasm
Twenty singers took part in the Elvira Lüthi Wegmann Foundation competition, held on May 21 at the MaiHof in Lucerne. The standard of interpretation was once again impressive. A new feature was the live webcasting of the productions.
Lucas Bennett - The Elvira Lüthi Wegmann Foundation auditions have been held since 1995. Admission to the competition is open to singing students whose teachers are members of the Swiss Society for Music Pedagogy.
This year, participation was also open to SSPM member singers. After opening the competition to the public in 2014, the organizers took a further step in this direction by offering a highly successful (and technically mastered) live webcast. They also introduced a People's Choice Award, determined by the votes of both on-site spectators and virtual listeners on the Internet. The standard of the 20 singers was high, in some cases excellent. Pianist James Alexander provided marvellous accompaniment.
The jury, made up of Elvira Lüthi Wegmann Foundation board members Bernhard Hunziker, Pascal Müller and Marianne Wälchli, as well as Thomas Bartel, deputy conductor of the Zurich Opera House's Internationales Opernstudio, and conductor Lena-Lisa Wüstendörfer, noted that the standard of the competition had risen compared with the last edition.
w The competition included prizes worth a total of 17,400 francs (1st prize 9,600 francs, 2nd prize 4,800 francs, 3rd prize 2,000 francs, public prize 1,000 francs). The first and second prizes are paid out in monthly instalments to emphasize their bursary nature.
Elvirissima 2018 winners:
1st prize: Omer Kobiljak, tenor
2nd prize: Elissa Huber, soprano
3rd prize: Larissa Bretscher, soprano/Alban Legos, baritone (ex aequo)
Audience award: Maria Diaz Coca, soprano
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