Around the Music Festival

Russian baritone Sergey Kaydalov wins first prize in the Queen Sonja International Music Competition in Oslo. It takes a substantial prize of € 50,000 and an original piece of art signed by Her Majesty Queen Sonja. The second prize went to the German baritone Stefan Astakhov, who won € 10,000. And the third prize went to the baritone Adam Kutny and awarded € 5,000.

The competition was founded in 1988 and is held once every two years. Originally it was a piano competition, but since 1995 it has changed to a singing competition. 304 people from 50 countries and regions applied for this time. The finalists and the winners are as follows.

　Sergey Kaydalov (27) Baritone / Russia ＝ first prize
　Stefan Astakhov (21) Baritone / Germany ＝ second prize
　Adam Kutny (27) Baritone / Poland ＝ third prize
　Meigui Zhang (26) Soprano / China
　Natalia Tanasii (28) Soprano / Moldova
　Theodore Browne (28) Tenor / Germany

Photo：Queen Sonja International Music Competition　/　Adrian Nielsen