Romania emerged as the big winner at the 11th International Vocal Open Competition 2024 when three of their delegates captured first prizes in various vocal categories at the world final held at the Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre in Malaysia from Jan 30 to Feb 1, 2024.
Ana-Maria Zota, a 36-year-old professional singer, won the grand prize of RM20,000 for the event, and came first in the World Folk Songs category. She also came in fifth in both the Art Songs Open and Pop Songs Open categories.
In the Operatic Open category, Diana Rad Maria, a 20-year-old undergraduate music student also claimed the first prize.
Bianka Dora Blatniczki, a 24-year-old postgraduate student Bianka Dora Blatniczki earned the first prize in both the Operatic Aria and Art Songs Open categories.
The three Romanians each received RM3,000 for the first prize achievement.
Malaysia’s 19-year-old Sabahan student Yico Wong Yee Khe from Kota Kinabalu emerged first in the Pop Songs Open category.
Organised by the Hong Kong International Musician Association (HK IMA) and International Musicians Alliance, along with Kinetic Music Entertainment, this was the very first time the competition was being held outside of Hong Kong.
Only those receiving 94 points and above from the judges were eligible to receive the first prize award. The first prize winners from all classes were also selected and given the Rare Echo Award along with a tailored original song.
“The three-day International Vocal Open competition this year saw the participation of close to 500 international delegates from all age groups in a variety of vocal categories.
“Even more importantly, the competition is fairly judged by a panel of 23 highly recognised jury members from nine countries led by internationally renowned soprano Nancy Yuen, who is currently head of vocal studies at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts,” said HK IMA’s executive chairman Jye Lee.
Lee added, “The contest this year has been quite intense with so many top-quality delegates competing at the highest level making it rather difficult for the jury to find the winners.”
Apart from judging the two days of competition, jury members also conducted masterclasses and held lectures and talks. These included chief judge Nancy Yuen’s (from Hong Kong) lecture on “Singers Diction – The Art of Enunciation & Pronunciation” and a panel talk entitled “Great Singers on Great Singing” presented by Malaysia music producer and composer Helen Yap, Australia mezzo-soprano Melody Lee, Hong Kong mezzo-soprano Cynthia Yim, China soprano Dr Geng Yan and Romania vocal art instructor Iulia Sucia.
The final day of the three-day event saw a refreshing outdoor garden pop concert presented by some of the delegates. It was followed by the official awards presentation ceremony and a Special Opera Concert presented by some of the operatic judges.
The event concluded with a celebratory concert presented by the outstanding performers of the competition which ended with the announcement of the Grand Prize winner as selected by jury members during the concert performance.
The HK IMA founded in 2010 has been focused on international art communications and artistic level qualification. It offers an international stage for all musicians to communicate and develop further through the holding of concerts, masterclasses, lectures and competitions.
