The International Singing Competition for Young Opera Singers
Final Rounds: June 20 through June 27, 2021 in Erfurt (Germany)

39th International Hans Gabor Belvedere Singing Competition. Finals set to take place at the Theater Erfurt in June 2021

The preparations are in full swing – the finale week of the 39th International Hans Gabor Belvedere Singing Competition will take place from 20th to 27thJune 2021 at the Theater Erfurt in Germany. All Singers who qualified in 2020 or will qualify in 2021 will participate. The 2021 qualifying rounds have already started.

The 39th Belvedere Singing Competition which already began in 2020 and was interrupted due to the pandemic will continue in 2021. The final rounds originally planned for June 2020 in Jurmala in Latvia will now take place in the German city of Erfurt.

Isabella Gabor and Holger Bleck have been managing the Belvedere Singing Competition together since 1999 and are excited about the current prospects. “We are delighted that Guy Montavon, General Director of the Theater Erfurt, has invited us to come to Germany. Guy Montavon has been a juror of the Belvedere Competition for years. We highly appreciate his invitation, especially during these trying times.”

“The Hans Gabor Belvedere Singing Competition is one of the few top-class competitions in its field. Through high standards and a renowned jury, the Competition functions as a steppingstone for young talents to launch their careers. We, the Theater Erfurt, are delighted to be this year’s hosts. The fact that the Competition is one of the first to take place again this year is a silver lining on the horizon” says Mr. Montavon.

Because of last year’s circumstances special rules for this year’s Competition have been agreed on. All singers who qualified in 2020 will automatically compete at the final rounds in Erfurt, even if they are past the age limit this year. In 2020, 594 candidates applied for participating. The Belvedere Competition hosted qualifying rounds in 25 of, originally planned, 70 cities. 59 singers could already qualify last year for the final rounds. Information concerning the terms 2021 will be found at the Competition’s website www.belvedere-competition.com.

“We are very happy that we can continue to offer young people the opportunity of an international opera career. This year, we have again invited opera and casting directors of renowned opera houses around the world,” say the organisers. This includes the Deutsche Oper Berlin, the Deutsche Oper am Rhein Düsseldorf, the Sächsische Staatsoper – Semperoper, The Israeli Opera Tel-Aviv-Yafo, the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, the Metropolitan Opera New York and the Bolshoi Theatre in Russia among others.

The finals of the 38th International Belvedere Competition took place in July 2019 in the Austrian city of Villach and hosted by the Carinthian Summer Music Festival, during which eight prizes and ten engagements to opera houses and festivals have been awarded.

Press release, March 29, 2021

Why Participate?

1110 Singers

The Belvedere Competition is one of the largest competitions for young opera singers in the world. 1,110 singers participated in 2019. In 2020, the competition took place only on a very restricted basis due to the pandemic. Become now part of the global singing elite and start your international opera career in 2021!

67% Engagement Ratio

10 engagements were awarded by the Opera Jury in 2019 to the 15 finalists. This makes a commitment rate of 66.67%.

Finalists from previous year

21 Jury Members

The Opera Jury in the final rounds is composed exclusively with opera and casting directors of the most prestigious opera houses, who award additional engagements to the participants. The international Media Jury in the final rounds awards the additional Media Prize.

List of all jury members

9 Professional Observers

Numerous singers’ agents and representatives – 45 in 2019 – of international opera and concert houses visit the final rounds as observers. They have made the International Hans Gabor Belvedere Singing Competition into a veritable “Wall Street of Voices”. It’s your “springboard” to a career in opera.

List of registered observers

24 Qualification Cities

The international qualifying rounds are held each year on all continents and gives young, highly talented opera singers the best access to the professional opera world.

List of all cities