Korean Bass Wins Inaugural ‘Stella Maris’ Competition
4 November 2009
Tenor Michael Schade with winners Jong Min Park, Ji-Min Park and Dovlet Nurgeldiev
Held on board a luxury ship during a 10-day cruise between Venice to Barcelona, the first ever Stella Maris International Vocal Competition came to a close today.
The competition’s overall winner, Jong Min Park, has been awarded the title Stella Maris Classical Star 2009. The 22-year-old Korean bass from the Accademia alla Scala in Milan also received the 15,000 Euro audience prize and a consultation with the Austrian artist agency, Dr Raab & Dr Böhm.
Park was the audience favourite throughout the competition, and secured his victory in the final round with a performance of an aria from Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor.
Two other competitors also received prizes from the international jury, led by Canadian tenor, Michael Schade.
Dovlet Nurgeldiyev (tenor) of Hamburg State Opera will do a test recording with Deutsche Grammophon, while Ji-Min Park (tenor) of the Royal Opera House Covent Garden is due to appear in concert with the Deutsche Radio Philharmonie Saarbruecken/Kaiserslautern and as part of “Musik in den Haeusern der Stadt” in Cologne.
The 400 guests travelling on board MS Europa were invited to attend all four rounds of the competition, which included eight competitors from international opera houses across Europe and the USA.
Next year’s Stella Maris International Vocal Competition will take place on a cruise from Istanbul to Dubai between 6 and 26 November 2010.
Visit the Stella Maris website to watch this year’s performances and award ceremony
