Forty Talents Selected for Renewed IVC 2026
Published 25 September 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.
Hyejin Han, Soprano, Korea (Republic of)
Jorge Espino, Baritone, Mexico
Jesse Mashburn, Mezzo-soprano, USA
Ilyà Dovnar, Tenor, Belarus
Charlotte Bowden, Soprano, United Kingdom
Oscar Sajous, Tenor, France
Maria Knihnytska, Soprano, Ukraine
Yisae Choi, Baritone, Korea (Republic of)
Maria Polanska, Mezzo-soprano, Poland
Chao Liu, Baritone, China
Yaara Attias, Soprano, Israel
Lydia Shariff, Mezzo-soprano, United Kingdom
Oliver Boyd, Bass-baritone, Australia
Jessica Lee, Soprano, Korea (Republic of)
Cathal McCabe, Tenor, Ireland
Juliette Gauthier, Mezzo-soprano, France
Ruoran Ma, Soprano, China
Spartak Sharikadze, Bass, Georgia
Kristel Vinter Knudsen, Soprano, Denmark
Michael Lafferty, Baritone, United Kingdom
Lea Shaw, Mezzo-soprano, USA
Evan Gray, Bass-baritone, Switzerland
Oleksandra Diachenko, Mezzo-soprano, Ukraine
James Quilligan, Baritone, Ireland
Irene Hoogveld, Soprano, Netherlands
Thomas McGowan, Baritone, United Kingdom
Elisabeth Lee, Soprano, Korea (Republic of)
Lauren Margison, Soprano, Canada
Kieron-Connor Valentine, Countertenor, United Kingdom
Milan de Korte, Tenor, Netherlands
Barbro Citron, Soprano, Sweden
Jack Lee, Tenor, United Kingdom
Jan Wouters, Countertenor, Belgium
Johanna Will, Soprano, Germany
Haewon Lee, Baritone, Korea (Republic of)
Aaron-Casey Gould, Tenor, USA
Yuriy Hadzetskyy, Baritone, Ukraine
Viktoriia Shamanska, Soprano, Ukraine
Aaron Pendleton, Bass-baritone, USA
Johanna Thomsen, Mezzo-soprano, Germany