Marina ZirdziņaInternational
Vocal Competition
2025
About
Marina Zirdziņa International Vocal Competition (MZIVC) is created to highlight the cultural heritage of Latvian musical theatre, to highlight the diversity of operetta and musical theatre genres and to inspire young singers to develop their talent, artistic and vocal skills. It will celebrate the brilliant personality of the operetta diva Marina Zirdziņa, bringing to life her characteristic artistic and professional qualities. The competition will be held for the first time and young vocalists from all over the world are invited to participate.
The competition will be held in two rounds and will be judged by an international jury. In order to participate in the competition, the participant (hereinafter referred to as “the participant”) has an extension until 2025. 15th of The application form must be sent by June. The first round will take place online. In the second round, participants will perform with the Operetta Theatre Symphony Orchestra conducted by Gregory Buchalter (USA) at the Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music’s Great Hall.
Aim of the competition
- to present the diversity of quality operetta and musical theatre genres and to identify and highlight talented young vocal performing artists in musical theatre disciplines internationally in the Baltics and worldwide;
- to identify and highlight talented young vocalists and performing artists in musical theatre disciplines internationally in the Baltics and worldwide;
- to promote the professional interest of young performing artists in the operetta genre;
- to motivate the development of vocal talent in all professional disciplines of the operetta genre;
- to support and promote young performers in the operetta and musical theatre genre;
- to enrich and diversify the Latvia the culture landscape with excellence in operetta and musical theatre;
- to promote the individual professional development of young performing artists;
- to foster Latvia’s inclusion in the international musical theatre art scene.
Performance genres
- classical operetta
- all musical theatre genres
- musical
- opera
In order to participate in the competition, the participant (hereinafter referred to as “the participant”) has until 2025. 15th of By 23:59 on 23 June, you must complete and send the application form:
- Completed application;
- Hyperlink Youtube.com to a video recording of not more than 10 minutes total duration. The video recording may be made with any type of camera (including a camera built into a phone), but must be in one piece, unedited and of professional quality, clear and understandable both visually and audibly. The video title must include the participant’s name, age (optional), the country represented, the name of the composer, the exact full title of the piece in the original language and the name of the accompanist. The quality of the video is the responsibility of the submitter;
- A photo for publicity (by submitting this photo, the contestant agrees to its publication);
- Creative biography (CV) for publicity;
- Copy of passport;
- Sheet music of the selected program;
- Bank payment order for the entry fee. The payment order must contain the following information: Marina Zirdzina International Vocal Competition 2025 entry fee. The payment order must include the following information: the entry fee for the Marina Zirdzina International Vocal Competition.
Participation fee
- Per person € 90.
- For a student or disabled person €60 (attach proof).
- Participating in multiple categories is €110.
Payment details
- OPERETES TEĀTRIS, SIA
- Reg. no.: 50203005201
- Bank: a/s Swedbank
- BIC/S.W.I.F.T.: HABALV22
- Account no.: LV56HABA0551058320744
- Purpose of payment: Participation fee for the Marina Zirdzina International Vocal Competition
The results of Round I will be announced after 25 June 2025 on the competition website
- Contestants selected for the 2nd Round will be sent information about the 2nd Round, a rehearsal schedule with the orchestra and the sheet music for the final song, which will be sung together at the Finalist’s GALA Concert on August 12.
- ROUND II will take place on August 12, 2025 at 12:00 Great Hall Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music, Kr. Barona iela 1, Riga, LV1050 and will be open to public. The accompaniment will be performed by pianist.
- Awards announcement, AWARDS CEREMONY & FINALIS’S GALA CONCERT accompanied by the Symphony Orchestra of the Operetta Theatre conducted by Gregory Bukhalter (USA), will take place on August 12, 2025 at 19:00 at the Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music, Great Hall and will be open to public.The special guest of the GALA concert is Inga Šļubovska – Kancēviča (soprano), a leading soloist of the Latvian National Opera and Ballet.
The jury determines the participants and the programme of the concert.
Main guardian: the family of Marina Zirdziņa
Main auspices: Marina Zirdziņa’s family
Organizer: Operetta Theatre (Latvia)
Partners: Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music, Operetta and Musical Theatre Association.
Co-funded by: the European Union, NDP of Latvia and Altum, Latvian State Culture Capital Foundation, VIVAT Future Charity Fondation, Baltic-American Freedom Foundation (BAFF).
About Marina Zirdziņa
“The path taken by the Riga Operetta Theatre would not have had the colour and brightness of talent without the personality of Marina Zirdziņa (27.06.1912 – 08.11.1990), without her working temperament, without her amazing endurance,” is how the musical theatre critic Vija Briede describes the artist’s path.
Twenty-five years at the Musical Comedy Theatre, a wide variety of roles and a responsible attitude to work… Marina Zirdziņa’s biography is not short of bright and creative pages. By highlighting the peaks of Latvian cultural history – in the field of operetta, Marina Zirdziņa is undeniably such a person – and by promoting the qualitative, modern development of the genre, the competition will honour the brilliant personality of the operetta diva and bring to life the qualities that characterised the great artist.
“Her characters had musical and acting intelligence, the ability to transform into new roles, expressing a wide range of experiences of the female soul, which was always precisely subject to the laws of the seemingly light genre,” is how Vija Briede describes Marina Zirdziņa.
Short biography
The outstanding Latvian performing artist Marina Zirdziņa (born Marianna Rasnača) was born on 27 June 1912 in Riga into a Polish family. Her mother was Tekla (born Kņazeviča), her father was Stanisław Rasnačs, and she had an older sister Hedwiga. At home, the family speaks Polish, sings a lot, also triple-voice. Marina learned Latvian and Russian easily, which later came in handy when she worked as a soloist in both Latvian and Russian troupes of Musical Comedy Theatre and later Operetta Theatre. Marina has been doing artistic gymnastics since childhood and is a good swimmer and figure skater. As her mother was raising her two daughters alone, Marina started working early – first in a perfume shop, and later in a knitwear factory Zvaigzne.
1931. In 1931, at the age of 19, Marina wins the title of the most beautiful woman in Riga, winning a competition and receiving a gold watch as a prize. Later, Marina takes part in a beauty contest for Latvian working girls, where she also wins first prize and the title Miss Working Maiden.
1936. In 1936 Marina started singing in Theodor Reiter’s choir, and music became an important part of her life. While singing in this famous and highly professional choir as soloist, Marina Zirdziņa attended singing lessons with the opera singer Herta Luce, who recognised her pupil as very gifted and introduced her to the basics of vocal technique, teaching her how to manage the vocal material.
Marina has been married for a short time to Arturs Riekstiņš. During the German occupation, Marina becomes involved in the Volkstheater, where she meets the young actor Vsevolods Zirdziņš and soon becomes Marina Zirdziņa. For more than 25 years, she was known by this name not only to Latvian audiences, but also to operetta lovers in many cities of the Soviet Union. In 1943, his son Vitaly is born. He trained as an orthopaedic traumatologist, became a faculty member – dean, associate professor at the Latvian Institute of Medicine and later at Riga Stradins University. 1943. After the war, the Musical Comedy Theatre was founded in Riga, where both Marina and Vsevolods Zirdziņš were hired as soloists. There is work, there is success, but Marina Zirdziņa always emphasises that it was in the Reiter Choir that she gained the most preparatory stage training. After the passing of Theodors Reiters, Marina Zirdziņa, now a Meritorious Performing Artist (in the Soviet Union, when the Iron Curtain excluded international career opportunities, this was the highest award given to outstanding artists of the Latvian SSR), admits that performing with the choir he directed was one of the most significant events in her professional development as a singer. At that time, she could be called the prima donna of the Operetta Theatre – she sang the leading roles in almost all operettas, and she had the poise and aristocracy of a true lady. Rosmarie and Wanda in Friml and Stothart’s Rosmarie, Sylva in Kálmán’s Queen of the Chardash, Rosalinde in Strauss’s Die Fledermaus, Ninon in Kálmán’s Die Fledermaus, Hannah in Lehár’s The Merry Widow, Clivia in Dostal’s Clivia, Miss Higgins in Low’s My Fair Lady, some character roles in operettas by Latvian composers – Kirst in Arvīds Žilinskis’ The Amber Coast Boys, Mrs Baumanis in Gunārs Ordelovskis’ The Swimming Susanna. The last role of Marina Zirdziņa was Dolly in Herman’s operetta Hallo, Dollij! in 1969. At the beginning of the 1970s, the singer, in perfect form and at the height of her fame, left the stage, but continued to give concerts as she had done throughout her life on the stages of many, many Concert Halls in her homeland. 70. .
Relatives say that Marina was a real family person, a wonderful hostess, an always interesting interlocutor and a dear grandmother to her grandchildren. Joy of life, sense of humour, love for her family, clear understanding of friendship, very conscientious attitude to work, open intolerance of lies and double-dealing, faith in the freedom of Latvia – this is how Vitālijs describes his mother.
Deividas Staponkus
Deividas Staponkus graduated from the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre where he earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees and successfully completed postgraduate studies in Art. The aspiring performer excelled his vocal skills with Professor Eduardas Kaniava and continued to master chamber singing in the class of Lithuanian soprano Sigutė Stonytė. 2003.-2004. In 2003-2004, Deividas Staponkus followed an internship programme at the Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet Theatre (LNOBT) with Professor Virgilijus Noreika, acclaimed Lithuanian tenor.
Deividas Staponkus is a laureate of several international competitions. Since 2004, he has been a guest opera soloist at the LNOBT. Apart from Lithuania, soloist Deividas Staponkus has performed in Armenia, Austria, Denmark, Estonia, the Czech Republic, the USA, Italy, Israel, Latvia, Poland, Russia, Romania, Georgia, Finland, Hungary, and Germany.
The singer has led numerous master classes in vocal performance such as, among others, at the University of Music Franz Liszt Weimar, Germany (2008); Mannheim University of Music and Performing Arts, Germany (2010); the Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music, Latvia (2015); the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague, the Czech Republic (2016); Janáček Academy Performing Arts in Brno, Czech Republic (2016), the Tchaikovsky School of Music and Art in Kaliningrad, Russia (2014, 2018); College of Music in Pavlodar, Kazakhstan (2019); and the Academy of Music and Drama, University of Gothenburg, Sweden (2019). Besides, in 2018-2019, baritone Deividas Staponkus led singing master classes at the international summer opera course Oper Oder-Spree (Germany); in 2020, he ran master classes in the Qara Qarayev Central School of Arts in Baku (Azerbaijan) and the Batumi Art Teaching University (Georgia). Staponkus is Dean of the LMTA Music Faculty and Professor at the Department of Vocal Performance in Vocal Performance and Chamber Singing. Since 2020, Deividas Staponkus has worked as a vocal coach with the soloists of the Klaipėda State Music Theatre.
Professor Deividas Staponkus is often invited to act as a member of evaluation committees at international singing competitions. He is also a dedicated teacher: his students are among winners of various international events and successfully perform at the LNOBT, Milan La Scala (Italy), Teatro Filarmonico di Verona (Italy), Teatro Pergolesi (Italy), Staatstheater Karlsruhe (Germany), Theater Baden Baden (Germany), Kammeroper München (Germany), Theater Koblenz (Germany), Anhaltisches Theater Dessau (Germany), Theater St. Gallen (Switzerland), and Nederlandse Reisopera (Netherlands).
Heli Veskus
Heli Veskus studied at the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre and the Sibelius Academy. The Estonian soprano was a 1998 finalist at the Estonian Con Brio festival and competition for young musicians, and also a recipient of such prizes as the Harjumaa County Theatre Prize (2003), the annual Estonian Theatre Union Music Award (2004) and the Georg Ots Award (2008), Annual Award of the Estonian Cultural Endowment for the Performing Arts (2008) for high artistic achievements by the soloists and conductor Aile Asszonyi , Heli Veskus, Oliver Kuusik , Liisi Kasenõmm , Heldur Harry Põld, Hanna-Liisa Kappel and Lauri Sirp of Benjamin Britten's opera The Turn of the Screw.She was awarded the Estonian Theatre Music Award (2016) and the SEB Audience Award (2016), Estonian Theatre Union Music Award (2017), as well as a scholarship from the Estonian Richard Wagner Society (2005).
H. Veskus is the principal soloist of the Estonian National Opera. Since 1999. Since her debut with the opera company as Donna Elvira ( Don Juan) in 1999, she has sung such roles as Fiordiligi ( Così fan tutte), Agate ( Der Freischütz), Helmvige ( Die Walküre), Mikaela ( Carmen), Mimì ( La Bohème), Tatiana ( Eugene Onegin), Amelia ( Un ballo in maschera), Antonia ( The Tales of Hoffmann), Desdemona ( Othello), as well as Isolde ( Tristan und Isolde), Elisabeth/Venus ( Tannhäuser), Leonora ( Il trovatore), Grosa( The Turn of the Screw) and the leading roles in Yuri Reiner's operas Il Trovatore, Manon Lescaut and Tosca. With her outstanding and colourful voice, she has launched an international career.
As a soloist, Veskus was a guest at the opening of the 20th Ludwig van Beethoven Easter Festival in Warsaw, where she performed Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. Her concert works include Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, Messa in C major and Missa Solemnis, Mozart's Requiem, Max Bruch's Mozus, Wagner's Vesendonk Lieder, Berg's Sieben Frühe Lieder and Dvořák's Requiem, Schubert's Messa in C major and G major, Orff's Carmina burana and others, as well as numerous performances abroad, including at the Finnish National Opera, Latvian National Opera, Lithuanian National Opera, Helikon Opera Theatre in Moscow, Opera Cava Festival in Nilsiäs, Finland, Penderecki Festival in Warsaw, Birgitta Festival and several times at the Saaremaa Opera Days. Veskus is a regular performer at the Dalhalla, Tallinn / Reval, Tartu theatres, in concerts in Chicago, Juuru, Lakewood, Ottawa, Suure-Jaani, Tallinn / Reval, Tolland, Toronto. Veskus is also passionate about solo programmes.
Since 2003 she has also been teaching classical singing at the Georg Ott Tallinn Music School and since 2006 she has been teaching singing at the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre. She has also appeared in Vanemuine Musical Theatre productions, as a chamber singer (including in Lied concerts with Jaanik Rands-Sirba and Pippa Lassmann).
She has also performed roles in operettas: Künnecke's operetta Cousin of Dingsda, Hanna Glavari in Lehár's operetta The Merry Widow, Annina Strauss in Night in Venice and Franziska Cagliari in the operetta Wiener blood.
She has recorded albums: Barbara von Thyssenhuysen: opera (DVD, 2005), Estonia National Opera - 100 (CD, 2006), Estonia Opera Voices (CD+DVD, 2009).
Sonora Vaice
Opera diva, soprano Sonora Vaice is one of Latvia's leading soloists, a laureate of several international vocal competitions. She has been awarded the highest music award in Latvia - the Grand Music Award in the category of Best Soloist in the year for three times. She has also been selected as the best soloist of the Latvian National Opera (LNOB) in the evaluation of the LNOB Foundation in 2019. She has received a special award from the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Latvia for her roles in C. Gounod in Faust and O. Golijov in Ainadamar. She has won the Aldaris Award as the best vocalist, the Theatre Award 97 as the best singer, the Grand Prix in various international competitions. As a result of a serious selection process, she won the right to work with grand master Graham Vick. The opera diva has received the Order of the Three Stars, which is the highest Latvian state medal awarded for special merits for the Fatherland. Sonora Vaice's duo of multimedia mono operas as director and soloist, Gian Carlo Menotti's The Telephoneand Francis Poulenc's The Human Voice staged at the Latvian Operetta Theatre, has also been awarded the Grand Music Award in the category of Production of the Year 2021. And Latvian Three Star award.
S. Vaice received her first education in conducting at the Jāzeps Mediņš College of Music, then continued her studies at the Jāzeps Vītols Academy of Music, where in 2005 she received a Master's degree in opera singing. She has continued to develop her skills and talent under the guidance of renowned music professors in Latvia and around the world, including Kārlis Zariņš, Ludmilla Braun, Axel Everaert, Helge Dorsch, Marklund-Peterson, Eitan Pressen, Donald Kaasch, Irena Milkeviciute, Massimiliano Bullo and Maris Skuja. Vaice was awarded the Jenny Hall Scholarship, which enabled her to travel to London to further her vocal skills with Iris dell'Aqua, Vera Rosza and Gerald Martin Moore. Later, with a scholarship from the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, she continued her vocal studies at the Baari Conservatory in Italy with the distinguished professor Katia Angeloni.
Vaice's production of the multimedia mono-opera duo of Giancarlo Menotti's Telephone and Frances Poulenc's The Voice of Man, as director and soloist at the Operetta Theatre, was also awarded the Great Music Prize in the Production of the Year category . In 2024, she created a multimedia chamber version of composer Artur Muscat's full-length opera Valentina, where she was both the title role and the director, with great success, surprising music experts. She is currently continuing her studies in theatre directing at the Latvian Academy of Culture.
Vaice holds a Master's degree in academic singing (2005) from Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music. She has studied with Prof. Kārlis Zariņš and Prof. Ludmila Brauna, as well as with Prof. Axel Everaerts, Prof. Helge Dorsh, Marklund-Peterson, Eitan Pressen, Donald Kaasch, Irena Milkeviciute, Massimiliano Bullo and Maris Skuja. In London she studied with Iris dell'Aqua, Vera Rosza and Gerald Martin Moore, winning a Jenny Hall Scholarship. Later, he continued his vocal studies at the Baari Conservatory in Italy with the distinguished professor Cathia Angeloni, winning a scholarship from the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Her first degree obtained in conducting at the Jāzeps Mediņš College of Music, and she continued her studies at the Jāzeps Vītols Academy of Music, where she obtained a Master's degree in opera singing.
Sonora's extensive repertoire includes a host of leading roles, such as Violetta (Verdi's La Traviata), Gilda (Verdi's Rigoletto), Lucia (Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor) and Adina (G.Donizetti's Love Potion), Margarita (Gounod's Faust), Mimì (Giuseppe Puccini's La Boheme), Cio-Cio-San (Giuseppe Puccini's Madama Butterfly), Vitellia (W.A.Mozart's Tita's Lament), Donna Anna (W.A.Mozart's Don Giovanni) and Fiordiligi (W.A. Mozart's Thus Do All), Aspasia (W.A.Mozart's Mithridates Pontius King), Poppea (C.Monteverdi's Coronation of Poppea), Ninetta (G.Rossini's La Gazza Ladra), Tamara (A.Rubinstein's Demon), Adalgisa (V.Bellini's Norma), Neda (R.Leoncavallo's Pajaci), Eurydice (C.V.Gluck's Orfeo and Eurydice), Manon (G. Puccini's Manon Lescaut), Alcina, Armida (G. F. Handel's Alcina), Lucia (G. C. Menotti's Telephone), F. Poulenc's The Human Voice, Valentina (A. Muscat's Valentina), Rosalind (J. Strauss's Bat), Clevie (N. Dostal's Clevie), Hanna Glavari (F. Lehar's The Merry Widow), Angela Didier (Lehar's Count Luxembourg), Serena (Gershwin's Porgy and Bess), etc.
S. Vaice's voice can also be heard in performances of vocal symphonic works. Her repertoire includes, for example, J.S. 51, St. John Passion, St. Matthew Passion, Christmas Oratorio, V.A. Mozart and G. Fauré Requiem, C. Orff Carmina Burana, G. Mahler Symphonies No.2 and No.4, J. Tavener and Latvian composers' vocal symphonic works and premieres of works.
She has collaborated creatively with great masters - conductors Andris Nelsons, Edwin Scholz, Graeme Vick, Philipp Arlo, Jossi Wheeler, Sergio Morabito, Klaus Maria Braundauer, Richard Tonjetti, Dietmar Pflegerl, Andres Mustonen, Thomas Hengelbrok, Will Humburg, Yuri Simonov, Eri Klaas, Andris Pogas, Martins Ozolins, etc.
She has recorded two solo albums with the Latvian National Opera Orchestra and conductor Normunds Vaice at the Riga Recording Studio: Romantic Duets - Sonora Vaice/soprano/ & Warren Mock/tenor/ and Mozart's Arie da Concerto - Sonora Vaice/soprano.The opera diva has also participated in the recording of many other albums.
Sonora Vaice played the female lead in the biographical musical film “Three Stars. Zigfydas”, which received a nomination in the “Surprise” category of the 2021 Kilograms of Culture Awards.
She also acted in Italian director Marco D'Amore's mafia drama L'Immortale, playing Elsa, the wife of a mafia boss.
As a director, Sonora Vaice has directed two operas. For the first, the mono-opera La Voix Humaine.Telephone. She created a multimedia chamber version of Latvian composer Artur Maskat's full-length opera Valentina in 2024, where she was both the title role and the director, with great success, surprising music experts and lovers. She is currently continuing her theatre directing studies at the Latvian Academy of Culture.
Gregory Buchhalter
Gregory Buchhalter is currently a member of the Varna International Music Academy's Music! and The Grand Strand Music Festival. He has also been a regular conductor at Florida Grand Opera, where he has conducted Andre Previn's A Streetcar Named Homeland, Jake Heggie's Three Decades, Tosca and I Pagliacci. He is Music Director of Vero Beach Opera, where he has conducted L'Elisir d'amore, Don Giovanni and will conduct La Traviata and I Pagliacci next season . He recently made a very successful debut with the Cyprus Symphony Orchestra, conducting Mozart's Requiem. Buchhalter has conducted Rigoletto at Orlando Opera, Don Giovanni and Hänsel und Gretel at the Vienna Summer Music Festival, Il Barbiere di Siviglia at Pacific Northwest Opera, Idomeneo at the New England Conservatory and frequently conducts concerts with the South Florida Symphony Orchestra. He has served as Artistic Director of Opera Fairbanks and Las Vegas Opera. At Fairbanks Opera he has conducted Boheme, Carmen, The Love Belt, Don Giovanni, Tosca, Cenerentola, L'Italiana in Algeri, Hansel and Gretel, The Magic Flute, Pagliacci and concertos with Vivica Genaud. As Artistic Director, he has engaged many internationally renowned singers including Paula Plischka, Sondra Radvanovska, Francesco Kasanova and Alessandra Mark. Maestro Buchhalter is also active as a symphony conductor.
He recently enjoyed great success in Fairbanks conducting Mahler's Fourth Symphony and Bernstein's West Side Story Symphonic Dances, and in Belgrade with Sibelius' Violin Concerto. With Varna International, he has just conducted both Mozart and Verdi Requiems in Italy, as well as the world premiere of J.C. Redford's Second Symphony. This summer he will conduct Don Giovanni, La Cenerentola, Hansel and Gretel and Puccini's Messa di Gloria on the 100th anniversary of the composer's death.
Maestro Buchhalter has conducted Salome at the Savonlinna Opera Festival in Finland with Maria Eving and Helga Derneska, Midsummer Ball at the Wiener Volksoper, Mozart's Die Entführung aus dem Serail at the Spoleto Festival, Evgeny Onegin at the New World Opera Festival in Moscow, He has conducted Carmen, Suor Angelica/Gianni Schicchi, Così fan Tutte , Le Nozze di Figaro, L'enfant et les Sortilèges, La Rondine at the Mediterranean Opera Festival in Sicily and the premieres of Kurt Weill's Street Scene and Bernstein's operetta Candide in Bulgaria at the Varna International Festival. With Teatro Lirico d'Europa he has conducted The Barber of Seville, Rigoletto, La Boheme and Madama Butterfly.
Mr Buchhalter conducted the American premieres of Mercadante's Figaro, von Winter's Labyrinth and Donizetti's Olivo e Pasquale at New York's Amore Opera to glowing reviews. He is the first American to conduct at the Kazakh State Opera - a performance at the Kazakh State Opera included a televised Gala Concert for the President of Kazakhstan. Mr. Buchhalter has served as Chorus Master of the Santa Fe Opera, where he received accolades for his choral preparation for Peter Grimes, Turandot, and many other operas. He has also served as chorus master of the Bregenz Festival in Austria, the Theater des Westens in Berlin and the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra.
The Maestro was cover conductor at the Metropolitan Opera, where it was he who created the position of Maestro di Banda. He has worked extensively with the Metropolitan Opera Chorus and has conducted several Metropolitan Opera productions, including Franco Zeffirelli's Don Giovanni and television broadcasts of Gershwin's Porgy and Bess. He has also prepared a number of world premieres for the Metropolitan Opera: John Corigliano's The Ghosts of Versailles, Philip Glass's Journey and John Harbison's The Great Gatsby. In the latter, Mr Buchhalter played the role of conductor of a jazz band on stage.
Buchhalter founded his own choir, Choros Aristos, and led the choir in a performance of Rossini's Petite Messe Solennelle at New York's Merkin Hall, celebrating the composer's 200th birthday. Mr Buchhalter conducted the Metropolitan Consort, a group made up of members of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. For many seasons he was guest conductor of the New York Symphonic Arts Ensemble, where he conducted, for example, Prokofiev's Alexander Nevsky. As a pianist and conductor, Bukalter has also performed in Cairo, Kuwait, Malaysia, Turkey and Hong Kong. As a teacher and lecturer, he has been invited to give masterclasses throughout the United States.
Gregory Buchhalter visited Latvia for the first time in 2023, when he came at the invitation of the Latvian Operetta Theatre. He conducted the Gala Concert Ad Astra in Ogre, which featured opera diva Liene Kinča and the Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music (JVLMA) Vocal Department and JVLMA Student Symphony Orchestra, as well as masterclasses at the JVLMA. The concert received the Ogre Annual Prize for Culture Joy to Create! Award nomination.
Meet the finalists!
25 votes
Chen Xu
75 votes
Heain Youn
781 votes
Antonia Modes
193 votes
Edgaras Davidovicius
11 votes
Oleksandra Diachenko
340 votes
Renars Tomasickis
45 votes
Inmar Sikle
27 votes
Anastasia Dolgonenko
388 votes
Anastasija Zujeva
1027 votes
Felicia Brembeck
70 votes
Serena Hart
27 votes
Xinzi Hou
Rules for participation
APPLICATION DEADLINE extended till June 15, 2025 15th of June
The competition is open to vocalists, performing artists aged 18 – 35
Categories
Solo
- Category I: Operetta / Opera
- Category II: Broadway / Musical Theatre
- Category III: Operetta / Broadway / Musical Theatre / Opera
Duet
- Category IV: Operetta
To qualify for categories I, II and IV, the age of the contestant must be 18 – 35.
To qualify for Category III, a contestant must be 18 years of age, i.e. 18 by December 31, 2025.
Each contestant may participate in one or more categories. The performance in each category is considered as a new entrant and is judged separately. A separate entry form must be submitted for each entry and all conditions must be fulfilled.
Programme
Each round of the competition requires two pieces:
- Solo:
- Category I: Operetta / Opera
- Round 1, perform one operetta aria and one operetta or opera aria, contrasting. Total timing not exceeding 10 minutes.
- Round 2: one operetta aria and one operetta or opera aria, contrasting; one of the pieces may be from the previous round. Must be sung in the original language. Total timing up to 10 minutes.
- Category II: Broadway / Musical Theatre
- Round 1, sing one musical aria and one aria in any musical theatre genre: operetta, musical, contrasting. Total timing not exceeding 10 minutes.
- Round 2: one musical aria and one aria in any musical theatre genre: operetta, musical, contrasting; one of the pieces can be from the previous round. Total timing not exceeding 10 minutes.
- Category III: Operetta / Broadway / Musical Theatre / Opera
- Round 1, two contrasting arias of any musical theatre genre: operetta, musical, opera. Total timing up to 10 minutes.
- Round 2: two contrasting arias of any musical theatre genre: operetta, musical, opera; one of the pieces may be from the previous round. Total timing not exceeding 10 minutes.
- Category I: Operetta / Opera
- Duo:
- IV. category: Operetta
- Round 1, sing two contrasting duets in the operetta genre. Total timing not exceeding 10 minutes.
- Round 2: sing two contrasting duets in the operetta genre; one of the pieces can be from the previous round. Total timing not exceeding 10 minutes.
- It is acceptable and recommended to use elements of choreography and acting appropriate to the performance.
- IV. category: Operetta
The competition is open to the public.
The programme of the winners’ concert is determined by the jury.
Rules
By submitting an application, the contestant undertakes to take part in all the rounds for which he/she has qualified, as well as in all the rehearsals and concerts connected with the competition.
When submitting his/her application for the competition, the contestant grants the organisers the right to use, process, publicise and record the videos submitted for Round 1 of the competition, as well as the right to produce the phonogram and the right to make the video or audio available to the public on the radio, on the internet and archive the phonogram, with public accessibility, without any time limit or limit on the number of times the phonogram may be made available to the public.
By submitting an application for the competition, the entrant grants the organisers the right to make public the information about the entrant provided in the application and its annexes (with the exception of passport details, passport details will not be published), the submitted photos or photos of the performance, as well as to make public the results of the competition. If necessary, the organisers may request additional information about the contestant.
The jury has the right not to award all the prizes or to divide one prize among several participants.
The jury’s decision is not subject to appeal.
Evaluation
The contestants are judged by a professional and competent international Jury, approved by the Board of the Operetta Theatre. The performance of the contestants is evaluated on a 25-point system. The jury’s detailed evaluation is not made public. The jury’s decision is final and not subject to appeal.
The Jury shall evaluate the contestant’s:
- vocal technique
- personality and expressiveness of performance
- artistry
- discovery of content
- sense of style and taste
- the quality of the use of specific means of expression in the field of musical theatre
- the appropriateness of the chosen repertoire
Jury of the competition
- Deividas Staponkus (Lithuania)
- Heli Veskus (Estonia)
- Sonora Vaice (Latvia)
- Gregory Bukhalter (USA)
Audiance vote
After the results of Round 1 are announced, the public voting will begin to select the winner in the AUDIENCE FAVOURITE category. We will post the videos of the nominees for Round 2 on the website and everyone will have the opportunity to choose and vote for their favourite.
Prizes
GRAND PRIX
- € 1200 and Winner’s Diploma
- Opportunities of concert engagements
- Interviews and publicity, including on social media.
1st PRIZE
- € 1000 and Winner’s Diploma
- Opportunities of concert engagements
- Interviews and publicity, including on social media.
2nd PRIZE
- € 700 and Winner’s Diploma
- Opportunities of concert engagements
- Interviews and publicity, including on social media.
3rd PRIZE
- € 500 and Winner’s Diploma
- Opportunities of concert engagements
- Interviews and publicity, including on social media.
Award for the future
Two grants will be awarded by the VIVAT Future Charity Foundation to participants in Category III only.
- Two € 600 cash prizes and a Winner’s Diploma,
- Opportunities of concert engagements
- Interviews and publicity, including on social media.
In order to receive the grant, the winner must fill in a presentation form indicating his/her achievements to date, i.e. before the competition, as well as the purpose of the € 600 grant. The completed presentation must be submitted to the VIVAT Future Charity Foundation by September 30, 2025. Detailed instructions will be provided to the grant winners on August 12.
Audience Favourite Award
The contestant whose video submitted to the Round 1 of the competition receives the most votes will be awarded the Audience Favourite Award. Voting will take place online and in person on August 12 during the Round 2 of the competition. Voting will be possible on the website indicated, which will be published at the same time as the results of the Round 1.
Special Prizes
There will be various special prizes awarded to Finalists.
After completing and submitting the application form, you will receive an email that your application has been received.
Important dates
- APPLICATION DEADLINE extended till June 15, 2025 15th of June
- 1st Round – the submitted videos are being evaluated
- Results of 1st Round after June 25
- 2nd Round on August 12 at 12.00, Riga
- Announcement of the winners, Finalist’s GALA with orchestra, and Award Ceremony on August 12 at 19:00, Riga
- Competition results August 12 at 19:00, Riga
- Tickets: https://www.bilesuparadize.lv/lv/custompage/526
About the Competition Briefly
- Categories: Operetta/ Musical Theatre/ Opera, solo and duets
- Prize fund: up to € 8,000.00, opportunities of concert engagements, interviews and publicity, including social media.
- Age: 18–35 from all over the world
- The entry fee per person is € 90
- The entry fee for student is € 60 (with proof)
- The entry fee per person with a disability is € 60 (with proof of disability)
- The entry fee per multiple categories is € 110.
- Jury: experts from Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia, USA
- Conductor: Gregory Buchalter (USA, Metropolitan Opera)
When & Where
- 1st Round on-line
- 2nd Round in person August 12,2025 at Great Hall Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music, Riga, Latvia
Transport, air, accommodation and meals
Where to stay in Riga: options and approximate prices in August
- Central Hostel – around €20 per night, free Wi-Fi
- Cinnamon Sally Backpackers Hostel – around €34, in the centre
- Mr Hostel (Old Town) – from around €7 for a dormitory room
- Liberty Airy – around €23, combines hostel and budget hotel options
- Avitar – around €45, free Wi-Fi and parking
- Dodo Hotel – around €60, modern 3-star hotel
- Rija Domus Hotel – around €40, cosy atmosphere in Old Town
- Happy Hotel – approx. €42-44, convenient location
- Rixwell Elefant Hotel – around €55, 4-star hotel with spa facilities
- Hilton Garden Inn Riga Old Town – around €105, high level of service and good reviews
Transport in Riga – how to get to the city center & prices
Riga is quite compact and has several good options to get from the airport or other parts of the city to the center:
Travel time: around 25-30 minutes
Ticket price: ~€1.50 if you buy in advance (at the Narvesen kiosk or ticket machine at the airport) or around €2 if you buy from the driver. Tickets are valid for all Rīgas Satiksme buses, trams and trolleybuses within 1 hour.
| Time of day Estimated price | Daytime €12-18 |
| Nighttime / holidays | ~€15-22 |
Tip: Using an app (like Bolt) is usually cheaper and safer than stopping a taxi on the street.
You only pay for minutes or kilometers driven, plus fuel is usually included.
Cars are parked all over the city, so you can pick one up and drop it off almost anywhere in Riga.
Other options
Eating out in Riga
Riga has a great mix of cafés, restaurants, and street food – from budget-friendly spots to higher-end dining. Here are some ideas across different price ranges:
Budget / casual (around €6-12 per meal):
- Lido – a popular self-service Latvian cuisine chain.
- Street Fries Kitchen / Big Bad Bagels – for a quick meal, burger or beignet.
- Hedgehog in the Mist – a popular place for students with snacks and soups.
Mid-range (€12-25 per meal):
- Folk club Ala Pagrabs – Latvian food and beer in Old Riga.
- Kolonāde – modern Latvian food at the Opera House.
- Province – a cosy place with traditional cuisine
- Whitehouse – fine Latvian cuisine.
- Three Chefs Restaurant – open kitchen, modern cuisine.
- The farm – modern Latvian seasonal cuisine.
Grocery stores
- Lidl, Maxima – the cheapestoptions.
- Rimi – a bit more expensive, but more choice.
- Stockmann – a high-end store with imported goods.
Cafes in Riga – the most popular places
- Caffeine – well-known chain, good coffee and desserts. (~€2-4 coffee, €3-5 cakes)
- MiiT Coffee – hipster atmosphere, vegetarian breakfast dishes and pancakes.
- Rocket Bean Roastery – a modern roastery, quality coffee and interesting breakfasts.
- Nero Cafe is a popular place with friendly service.
- Coffee Division – high quality espresso and speciality drinks.
- Peace Café – a cosy place with light meals and desserts.
If you need any assistance with flight tickets, accommodation, transport or other travel-related questions, you’re very welcome to contact our partner Linda Balode from Linda Travel. She will be happy to help you!
The selection of participants for the second round of Marina Zirdzina International Vocal Competition is announced
In order to promote professional quality operetta in the spectrum of musical theatre genres, to introduce international talent to the public and to develop the potential of musical theatre genres in Latvia, the Marina Zirdzina International Vocalist Competition was launched...
A unique opportunity for young vocalists!
The International Marina Zirdzina Vocal Competition in Riga offers a unique opportunity to perform on the same stage with the great American conductor, Maestro Gregory Buchhalter and the Opera Theatre Symphony Orchestra! Such experience in vocal competitions is rare and...
Marina Zirdzina International Vocal Competition to unveil talents of musical theatre
Operetta Theatre together with the family of Latvian operetta star Marina Zirdzina, in collaboration with Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music (JVLMA) announces the First Marina Zirdzina International Vocal Competition to introduce operetta and musical theatre talents to the public...
Important dates
Contact
- vocalcompetition@operetesteatris.lv
- +371 25 123 145
Organizer:
- Operetta Theatre (Latvia)
Main auspices:
- Marina Zirdziņa’s family
Partners:
- Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music
- Operetta and Musical Theatre Association
Co-funded by:
- European Union
- NDP of Latvia and Altum
- Latvian State Culture Capital Foundation
- VIVAT Future Charity Fondation
- Baltic-American Freedom Foundation