Around the Music Festival

The “Neue Stimmen” (New Voices) international competition for young singers, held in Gütersloh, Germany, concluded its final round on October 8. Armenian soprano Arpi Sinanyan won in the female category, while Chinese bass Jiazhou Wang took the top prize in the male category. At 22, Wang is the youngest winner in the competition’s history. Each winner receives a prize of 15,000 euros.

The competition was established in 1987 by the German-based Bertelsmann Foundation and is held biennially. The Bertelsmann Group—the parent organization of the foundation—is headquartered in Gütersloh and operates a global media business.

This year, there were 1,126 applicants from 69 countries, with 41 singers advancing to the final rounds in Gütersloh. The eight finalists performed alongside the Duisburg Philharmonic, conducted by Vitali Alekseenok. The jury is chaired by Alexander Neef, General Director of the Paris National Opera.

Nathalie Stutzmann won the inaugural competition. Since then, it has launched the careers of singers such as Vesselina Kasarova, Franco Fagioli, Marina Rebeka, René Pape, Michael Volle, Angelika Kirchschlager, Nadine Sierra, Elsa Dreisig, and Christiane Karg.

Shinanyan is a graduate of the Komitas State Conservatory in Yerevan and currently serves as a soloist in the Young Opera Program at the Armenian National Opera and Ballet Theatre.

Wang, meanwhile, studied at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music and is now based in Italy. Having won the Viotti International Music Competition in 2025, Wang is set to join the young artist development program at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino (Florence May Festival) starting in the 2026/2027 season.

PHOTO写真：NEUE STIMMEN


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