Soprano Anna El-Khashem wins 1st prize in the vocal category

16.02.2018

International Mozart Competition

The 13th International Mozart Competition of the Mozarteum University came to an end with the final concert of the vocal section on February 15 in the Great Hall of the Mozarteum Foundation. The 1st prize of 15,000 euros, donated by the International Salzburg Association, went to the soprano Anna El-Khashem.

The 22-year-old Russian convinced the jury, chaired by Barbara Bonney, at the final concert with the Mozart songs "Dans un bois solitaire," "Abendempfindung an Laura" and "Männer suchen stets zu naschen" as well as with the Mozart opera aria of Lucio Cinna "Vieni, vieni ov'amor t'invita" from "Lucio Silla. Born in St. Petersburg, Anna El-Khashem has been a member of the Opera Studio of the Bavarian State Opera in Munich since the 2016/17 season and has already won several prizes or scholarships in her native Russia. In addition to the 1st prize, she received the special prize for the best interpretation of a vocal work by W. A. Mozart in the form of a New Mozart Complete Edition, awarded by the Mozarteum Foundation Salzburg and the Bärenreiter publishing house. The 2nd prize of 10,000 euros , donated by the Raiffeisenverband Salzburg, went to bass-baritone Peter Kellner , who on the final evening performed the Mozart songs "An Chloe", "Das Lied der Trennung" and "Ein deutsches Kriegslied" as well as the Mozart opera aria of Leporello "Madamina, il catalogo è questo" from "Don Giovanni". The 27-year-old Slovakian began his vocal studies at the Mozarteum University with Boris Bakow and is currently a student at the University of Music and Performing Arts Graz with Antonius Sol. He has sung in theaters and opera houses in Seville, Trieste, Bratislava (Pressburg), Klagenfurt and Oldenburg, as well as at the Salzburg Festival in 2013 and 2014, and has been an ensemble member of the Graz Opera since the 2015/16 season. In addition to the 2nd prize, Peter Kellner was awarded the Audience Prize in the amount of 1,000 euros , donated directly by the Mozarteum University. The 3rd prize of 5,000 euros , donated by the European Academy of Sciences and Arts, was awarded to the Slovenian Mojca Bitenc. At the final concert, the 28-year-old soprano interpreted the Mozart songs "Dans un bois solitaire", "Das Veilchen" and "Als Luise die Briefe ihres ungetreuen Liebhabers verbrannte" as well as the recitative and aria of Donna Anna "Crudele! - Ah no, mio bene! Non mi dir, bell'idol mio," also from the Mozart opera "Don Giovanni." Mojca Bitenc was already a winner of the International Singing Competition in Osijek (Croatia), as well as a prize winner of the Zinka Milanov Competition in Rijeka (Croatia) and the Ada Sari Competition in Poland. In the summer of 2017, she sang the Contessa in Mozart's "Le nozze di Figaro" in Austria as part of the Bregenz Festival. As further special prizes in the form of the Bärenreiter Urtext Prize, donated by the publishing house of the same name, music vouchers in the amount of 300 euros each were awarded to the three prize winners. In addition, invitations were extended to perform at events organized by the Mozarteum University, the Mozarteum International Summer Academy and its cooperation partners. Jury Singing:
Barbara Bonney (Chair), Stephanie Wippel, Bernarda Fink, Josef Wallnig, Hendrik Heilmann, David Rendall, Tobias Hasan ***************** More than 170 singing talents from 35 nations had registered for the 13th International Mozart Competition 2018. Out of 37 eligible singers who made it through the initial jury selection process, 32 candidates were up for participation in the competition. Six singers from as many nations qualified for the final. The finalists each performed the Mozart opera aria together with the Salzburg Orchestra Soloists under the direction of Tibor Bogányi.