The International Vocal Competition 's-Hertogenbosch (IVC; ) is a music competition for classical singing founded in 1954. It is the only classical vocal competition in the Netherlands that also focuses, besides opera, oratorio 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 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 classes, 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 She has since been replaced by Ivan van Kalmthout.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 * Jules Bastin * Measha Brueggergosman * Ileana Cotrubaș *

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 * Thomas Hampson * Howard Haskin * Nadine Koutcher * Petra Lang * Yvonne Minton * Nelly Miricioiu * Jard van Nes * Yevgeny Nesterenko * Vladimir Pankratov *

Lenneke Ruiten Lenneke Ruiten (born 1977 in Velsen) is a Dutch soprano. Ruiten studied at the Music Conservatory in Alkmaar and the Conservatorium van Amsterdam, the Royal Conservatory of The Hague, Hochschule für Musik und Theater München, and at the Franz S ...

Wolfgang Schöne Wolfgang Schöne (born 9 February 1940) is a German bass-baritone in opera and concert. Career Schöne was born in Bad Gandersheim. He began his studies of voice at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hannover with Naan Põld in 1964 and mo ...

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 Thomas Thomaschke (born 2 August 1943) is a German bass singer in opera and concert. He has appeared in parts such as Hunding in Wagner's ''Die Walküre'' and Sarastro in Mozart's ''Die Zauberflöte'' in major opera houses in Europe and internatio ...

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 * Ruth Ziesak

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. 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