THE BRITISH TENOR FREDDIE DE TOMMASO WINS THE 55TH TENOR VIÑAS INTERNATIONAL SINGING CONTEST

Press release

THE BRITISH TENOR FREDDIE DE TOMMASO WINS THE 55^TH TENOR VIÑAS INTERNATIONAL SINGING CONTEST  

Second prize goes to the Spanish soprano Leonor Bonilla while the South Korean tenor Sehoon Moon earns third prize, along with the public prize
 
Liceu is aiming to provide an ever more expansive international reach to the contest and will offer a live streaming broadcast of the Final Concert tomorrow, Sunday, 21 January, direct from the Gran Teatre del Liceu

Barcelona,  January 2018

The British tenor Freddie de Tommaso has earned the first prize of the 55th “Tenor Viñas” International Singing Contest, in the Final held yesterday in the Gran Teatre del Liceu. Second prize has been awarded to the soprano Leonor Bonilla, while third prize goes to Sehoon Moon, from South Korea. The rest of the official prizes have been awarded to the French soprano Anaïs Constans (fourth prize), the South Korean counter-tenor Jungkwon Jang (fifth prize) and the baritone Andrew Manea from the United States (sixth prize).

 
Sixteen singers participated in the Final of this year's Tenor Viñas contest out of a total of 515, representing 60 countries. The artists have passed through preliminary auditions in London, New York, Paris, Milan, Berlin, Beijing, San Francisco, Moscow and Madrid.

An international jury presided by the artistic director of Liceu, Christina Scheppelmann, has been in charge of selecting the winners from among all the finalists. The jury members form part of the world's leading opera theatres such as Russia's Bolshoi Theatre, the Teatro alla Scala in Milan, New York's Metropolitan Opera House and l'Opéra National de París among others.

The final concert

The contest will conclude tomorrow, Sunday, 21 January, with the Final Concert, at 18:00 CET, where the winners will sing different pieces accompanied by the Symphony Orchestra of the Liceu, directed by Sergio Alapont and presented by Marcel Gorgori. The first part of the concert will be given by the official prizewinners Anaïs Constans (fourth prize), Jungkwon Jang (fifth prize) and Andrew Manea (sixth prize), accompanied by the special prizewinners Inés Ballesteros, Barcelona native Serena Sáenz and Tommaso Barea. The second part will feature the three winners and include pieces such as “O luce di quest’anima” (Linda di Chamounix, by Donizetti), “Me llaman la primorosa” (El barbero de Sevilla, by Giménez) sung by Leonor Bonilla, “A te o cara” (I Puritani, by Bellini), “Che gelida manina” (La bohème, by Puccini) sung by Sehoon Moon, and “È il sol dell’anima” (Rigoletto, de Verdi) performed by both prizewinners. To cap it all off, the winner of the 55th Contest, Freddie de Tommaso will sing “È la solita storia del pastore” (L’Arlesiana, by Cilea) and “Salut, tombeau!” (Roméo et Juliette, by Gounod).

The 2018 “Tenor Viñas” International Singing Contest has acquired a new dimension as the Liceu, together with the Fundació Puig and other individual benefactors, has come to form part of the Fundació Privada Francesc Viñas to promote young talents and future generations of the opera.

 
The Prizes

This year up to €108,000 has been awarded divided into €72,000 for the official prizes, €16,000 for the special prizes and €20,000 for the extraordinary prizes. Seven prizes have also been awarded as contracts, 1 within the special prizes category and 6 within the extraordinary prizes. Finally, 14 scholarships have also been awarded.