Forty Talents Selected for Renewed IVC 2026

All forty participants for the International Vocal Competition 2026 have been selected. The world's

most promising opera talents will be in 's-Hertogenbosch from October 2 to 10 for the 59th edition of

the internationally renowned vocal competition. New this year is that Opera and Oratorio carry equal

weight in the candidates' repertoire selection.

“The requirement for every singer to present two programs is a new initiative of the IVC,” explains

Andrew Watts, General and Artistic Director. “For many years, Oratorio was considered less important

than Opera. Within singing competitions worldwide, insufficient attention has been paid to this genre.

This year, the International Vocal Competition explicitly places Opera and Oratorio on equal footing. That

is why the talents are presenting two programs this year.”

In total, there were 597 applicants worldwide. The following have been selected from this group: 13

sopranos, 7 mezzo-sopranos, 2 countertenors, 6 tenors, 8 baritones, 3 bass-baritones, and 1 bass.

HyejinHan, Soprano, Korea (Republic of)

JorgeEspino, Baritone, Mexico

JesseMashburn, Mezzo-soprano, USA

IlyàDovnar, Tenor, Belarus

CharlotteBowden, Soprano, United Kingdom

OscarSajous, Tenor, France

MariaKnihnytska, Soprano, Ukraine

YisaeChoi, Baritone, Korea (Republic of)

MariaPolanska, Mezzo-soprano, Poland

ChaoLiu, Baritone, China

YaaraAttias, Soprano, Israel

LydiaShariff, Mezzo-soprano, United Kingdom

OliverBoyd, Bass-baritone, Australia

JessicaLee, Soprano, Korea (Republic of)

CathalMcCabe, Tenor, Ireland

JulietteGauthier, Mezzo-soprano, France

RuoranMa, Soprano, China

SpartakSharikadze, Bass, Georgia

KristelVinter Knudsen, Soprano, Denmark

MichaelLafferty, Baritone, United Kingdom

LeaShaw, Mezzo-soprano, USA

EvanGray, Bass-baritone, Switzerland

OleksandraDiachenko, Mezzo-soprano, Ukraine

JamesQuilligan, Baritone, Ireland

IreneHoogveld, Soprano, Netherlands

ThomasMcGowan, Baritone, United Kingdom

ElisabethLee, Soprano, Korea (Republic of)

LaurenMargison, Soprano, Canada

Kieron-ConnorValentine, Countertenor, United Kingdom

Milande Korte, Tenor, Netherlands

BarbroCitron, Soprano, Sweden

JackLee, Tenor, United Kingdom

JanWouters, Countertenor, Belgium

JohannaWill, Soprano, Germany

HaewonLee, Baritone, Korea (Republic of)

Aaron-CaseyGould, Tenor, USA

YuriyHadzetskyy, Baritone, Ukraine

ViktoriiaShamanska, Soprano, Ukraine

AaronPendleton, Bass-baritone, USA

JohannaThomsen, Mezzo-soprano, Germany