Madrid's Teatro Real To Host The 2022 International Opera Awards Next Month

The International Opera Awards, sponsored by Mazars, has today announced that this year's Awards will be held at Madrid's Teatro Real - the first time the Awards have been held outside of the UK.

The Teatro Real was named Opera Company of the Year at the last edition of the Awards in 2021 and, to mark this recognition, the opera company offered to host the Awards in their historic theatre in Madrid.

The 2022 International Opera Awards will be held on Monday 28th November and will include performances from leading stars of the opera stage with the orchestra of the Teatro Real under conductor Maurizio Benini.

Harry Hyman, founder of the International Opera Awards said:

"The International Opera Awards have always been international with winners from around the world as opera is one of the most international of all art forms. All opera productions involve talent from around the world coming together to create the magic that only opera provides. We are grateful to our colleagues at the Teatro Real for offering to host this year's Awards and look forward to showcasing and celebrating the very best operatic talent."

The shortlisted nominees announced today come from over 30 countries reflecting the true international and collaborative nature of opera and the International Opera Awards. Artists, productions and companies from across Europe and North America are joined by those from Ukraine, South Africa, South Korea, Uzbekistan, Samoa, Chile, Mexico, Australia, Turkey, Lithuania and Russia.

The shortlist was compiled by an impressive international jury of opera critics, administrators and performers from 20 different countries and chaired by John Allison, editor of Opera magazine (the Founding Media Partner of the Awards) and classical music critic of The Daily Telegraph. The winners of all categories, except the Readers' Award, are also decided by the jury.

Please see below for the full list of nominees announced today.

The awards for Leadership, Lifetime Achievement, Opera Company of the Year and Philanthropy will all be announced at the Awards on 28th of November.

John Allison, chair of the Jury, said:

"It's wonderful to see the International Opera Awards return to the theatre, after last year's virtual gala, and these shortlists confirm that opera itself has returned to vibrant form. Reflecting the truly cosmopolitan nature of our operatic world, the shortlists are themselves the outcome of a lively nominations process, and we promise to deliver exciting winners in Madrid."

David Herbinet, Global Head of Audit at Mazars, said:

"We're pleased to continue our long-standing support of the International Opera Awards as headline sponsor in 2022, supporting the best and the brightest from the opera world. Returning to an in-person event at the spectacular Teatro Real will be a night to remember, and we wish all of the nominees the very best of luck."

Voting is now open for the Opera Magazine Readers' Award. This highly sought-after award has previously gone to singers Jonas Kaufmann, Sonja Yoncheva, Pretty Yende, Juan Diego Flórez and Jamie Barton. Votes can be cast here: www.operaawards.org/vote

BBC Radio 3's Petroc Trelawny will host the Awards which will feature exclusive performances from winners and other famous names, with more details to be announced in the coming weeks. Tickets are now on sale and available from www.teatroreal.es.

The Awards, founded by philanthropist Harry Hyman in 2012, aim to raise the profile of opera as an art form, to recognise and reward success in opera and to generate funds to provide bursaries for aspiring operatic talent from around the world. Since 2012 over £400,000 has been raised by the Opera Awards Foundation, going to more than 125 bursary recipients. In the past year, just under £52,000 has been given out in bursaries to opera artists who are emerging onto the professional international opera scene.

In 2020, the Foundation established an Artist Hardship Fund, providing emergency grants to previous bursary recipients facing financial hardship due to the pandemic. In 2021 the Fund re-opened grant applications more broadly to other young and emerging artists affected by the crisis.

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