Chelsea Marilyn Zurflüh Wins First Prize at the 78th Concours de Genève Voice Competition

The First Prize of the 78th Concours de Genève, which took place on 22 October at Grand Théâtre de Genève, has been awarded to Swiss Soprano Chelsea Marilyn Zurflüh (28 years old). The Second Prize has been awarded to South-Korean Baritone Jungrae Noah Kim (30 years old).

Further Special Prizes awarded to Swiss Soprano, Chelsea Marilyn Zurflüh were: Audience Prize, Young Audience Prize, Students’ Prize, Arts Society Prize, Fondation Etrillard Prize, OSR Musicians’ Prize and Cercle Du Grand Théâtre Prize.

Finalist Mezzo-Soprano Barbara Skora (25 years old, Poland) received an Honourable Mention Prize and Semi-Finalist Junho Hwang (Tenor, 25 years old, South Korea) has been awarded the Yvonne Sigg Foundation Prize.

The three finalists were selected from eight semi-finalists who were invited to Geneva from 15-18 October for the Semi-Finals, during which they performed an Opera Recital and a Lieder/Song Recital. The Voice Final took place at Grand Théâtre de Genève with the finalists each performing three Opera Arias with the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, conducted by Alevtina Ioffe.

Jury Chair and Soprano, Patricia Petibon said, “What deeply moved both the jury and I was the hope we see in young people who want to play an active role in society, seeking meaning through music to build connections. This is something we must listen to with strength and conviction, because it is there that the future of opera, and the future of our artists, lies.”

Founded in 1939, Concours de Genève is one of the world’s leading international music competitions. It aims at discovering, promoting, and supporting young talented artists, giving them the necessary tools to launch an international career. Several main disciplines rotate annually, including piano, flute, oboe, clarinet, cello, viola, string quartet, voice, percussion, and composition, which is held every second year.