The International Vocal Competition 's-Hertogenbosch (IVC; ) is a

music competition A music competition is a public event designed to identify and award outstanding musical ensembles, soloists, composers, conductors and musicologists. Pop music competitions are music competitions which are held to find pop starlets. Exampl ...

for classical singing founded in 1954. It is the only classical vocal competition in the Netherlands that also focuses, besides

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...

oratorio An oratorio () is a large musical composition for orchestra, choir, and soloists. Like most operas, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an instrumental ensemble, various distinguishable characters, and arias. However, opera is mus ...

and

Lied In Western classical music tradition, (, plural ; , plural , ) is a term for setting poetry to classical music to create a piece of polyphonic music. The term is used for any kind of song in contemporary German, but among English and French s ...

. This biennial event is organised by the Stichting Muziekstad

's-Hertogenbosch s-Hertogenbosch (), colloquially known as Den Bosch (), is a city and municipality in the Netherlands with a population of 157,486. It is the capital of the province of North Brabant and its fourth largest by population. The city is south of th ...

. The IVC is a member of the

World Federation of International Music Competitions The World Federation of International Music Competitions (WFIMC) is an organization based in Geneva, Switzerland that maintains a network of the internationally recognized organisations that aim to discover the most promising young talents in classi ...

since 1959. The IVC offers singers the chance to perform for casting directors, concert managements, impresarios, the media and a concert and theatregoing audience. Alongside its competition the IVC also presents

master class A master class is a Class (education), class given to students of a particular Academic discipline, discipline by an expert of that discipline—usually music, but also science, painting, drama, games, or on any other occasion where skills are b ...

es, workshops, summer schools and concerts. Concerts are organised in collaboration with various organisations. The IVC also provides advice on repertoire, career possibilities, media management and auditioning. The IVC has helped launch the careers of many internationally renowned singers (see List of notable IVC alumni). Annett Andriesen, herself an opera singer and a prizewinner of the IVC in 1975, was head of the IVC from 2008 until 2018. She has since been replaced by Ivan van Kalmthout. The IVC is open to singers of all nationalities who have had conservatory training or have reached an equivalent level. The competition has two categories: Opera/oratorio and Lied Duo. For Preliminary Rounds, Rules & Regulations see the IVC website.

List of notable IVC alumni

Elly Ameling Elisabeth Sara "Elly" Ameling (born 8 February 1933) is a retired Dutch soprano, who was particularly known for lieder recitals and for performing works by Johann Sebastian Bach. Performing with distinguished pianists and ensembles around the glo ...

Jules Bastin Jules Bastin (18 August 1933 – 2 December 1996, in Waterloo) was a Belgian operatic bass. Born in , he made his debut in 1960 at La Monnaie, singing Charon in ''L'Orfeo''. He appeared at major opera houses throughout Europe, including the Royal ...

Measha Brueggergosman Measha Brueggergosman (née Gosman; June 28, 1977) is a Canadian soprano who performs both as an opera singer and concert artist. She has performed internationally and won numerous awards. Her recordings of both classical and popular music ha ...

Ileana Cotrubaș Ileana Cotrubaș (; born 9 June 1939) is a Romanian operatic soprano whose career spanned from the 1960s to the 1980s. She was much admired for her acting skills and facility for singing opera in many different languages. Life and career Cotruba ...

Viorica Cortez Viorica Cortez (born 26 December 1935) is a noted Romanian-born mezzo-soprano, later French by naturalisation. Starting her operatic and concert career in the mid-1960s, she went on to become one of the most prominent female performers of the '7 ...

* Peter Gijsbertsen *

Robert Holl Robert Holl (born 10 March 1947) is a Dutch bass-baritone classical singer. Life and career Holl was born in Rotterdam and studied at the Rotterdams Conservatorium. After winning the first prize at the 1971 International Vocal Competition 's-H ...

Thomas Hampson Thomas Walter Hampson (born June 28, 1955) is an American lyric baritone, a classical singer who has appeared world-wide in major opera houses and concert halls and made over 170 musical recordings. Hampson's operatic repertoire spans a range ...

* Howard Haskin *

Nadine Koutcher Nadine Koutcher ( be, Надзея Кучар, born 18 May 1983) is a Belarusian opera singer. A dramatic coloratura soprano, she was the winner of the 2015 BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition. Life Koutcher was born in Minsk in 1983. In ...

Petra Lang Petra Lang (born 29 November 1962) is a German opera singer. Beginning as a mezzo-soprano, from 2012 a soprano, she is known for her interpretation of music by Richard Wagner and Gustav Mahler. She made an international career in both opera an ...

Yvonne Minton Yvonne Fay Minton CBE (born 4 December 1938) is an Australian-born but mostly British-resident opera singer. She is variously billed as a soprano, mezzo-soprano or contralto. A native of Sydney, she originally studied voice while on a scholarship ...

Nelly Miricioiu Nelly Miricioiu (born 31 March 1952) is a Romanian-born British operatic soprano singing a large repertoire ranging from bel canto to verismo. Biography Born in Adjud, Romania, Miricioiu started singing at 5 and was hailed as a child prodigy. At ...

* Jard van Nes * Yevgeny Nesterenko * Vladimir Pankratov * Lenneke Ruiten * Wolfgang Schöne *

Elżbieta Szmytka Elżbieta Szmytka (born 1956) is a Polish operatic soprano. She has appeared internationally, including at the Vienna State Opera, where she performed Mozart roles such as Blonde in ''Die Entführung aus dem Serail'' and Despina in ''Così fan t ...

* Thomas Thomaschke *

Stefania Toczyska Stefania Toczyska (née Krzywińska), born in Grudziądz, Poland, on 19 February 1943, is a Polish mezzo-soprano of international repute. She lived in Toruń, where she attended the Music School ("little conservatory"). There, she married Romual ...

Pretty Yende Pretty Yende (born 6 March 1985) is a South African operatic soprano. She has performed leading roles at opera houses internationally, including La Scala and the Metropolitan Opera. Early life and education Born in Piet Retief, Mpumalanga, Yen ...

Ruth Ziesak Ruth Ziesak (born 9 February 1963) is a German soprano in opera and concert. Career Ruth Ziesak studied voice at the Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts with Elsa Cavelti and Christoph Prégardien. She has been a member of the Mu ...

54th International Vocal Competition 's-Hertogenbosch 2021 - LiedDuo

The 54th Competition will be held from 16 – 21 November 2021 at various locations in 's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands. Mezzo-soprano Dame Sarah Connolly, award winner of IVC, will be Jury President of the 54th International Vocal Competition 's-Hertogenbosch (IVC), category LiedDuo. The IVC offers young and talented singer-pianist duos the chance to perform for an international jury, casting directors, concert managements, impresarios, the media and public. The total prize money of the competition amounts to € 20,000. The IVC is open to singers and pianists of all nationalities. Candidates for this year’s competition can apply for several live First Round auditions or submit their application via

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

. Besides Jury President Dame Sarah Connolly, the International Jury includes Christoph Prégardien, tenor Howard Haskins, pianist Charles Spencer, pianist Roger Vignoles and Concertgebouw Amsterdam programmer Mirjam Wijzenbeek (Royal Concertgebouw Amsterdam). For the first round, the candidates send in a YouTube video. The video jury panel consists of Roberta Alexander (soprano), Jard van Nes (mezzo-soprano), Henk Neven (baritone), Hans Eijsackers (pianist) and Reinild Mees (pianist). IVC director Ivan van Kalmthout is the jury chairman.

External links

Official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:International Vocal Competition 's-Hertogenbosch Singing competitions Opera competitions Dutch music awards Music festivals in the Netherlands 1954 establishments in the Netherlands Annual events in the Netherlands Music in North Brabant 's-Hertogenbosch Biennial events