Our latest global opera star, soprano Christina Nilsson, said in her summer talk on Radio P1 in July that ‘the Stenhammar Competition is a classical music competition focusing on the highest artistic level’ and further that ‘the entire competition takes place in front of an audience over several days, which also gives the audience the opportunity to discover future global stars.’
Since its inception in 2006, the competition has given more than 400 young singers from all over the world, including over 100 from Sweden, the opportunity to take a significant step in their singing careers towards the major opera stages. Christina Nilsson, winner in 2016, is just one of these names. Russian sopranos Julia Novikova and Evgenia Grekova, American Chrystal Williams, South Koreans Jaesin Lee, Yohan Kim and Hayoung Ra, Latvian Vera Talerko, and Swedes Daniel Johansson, Rebecca Wallroth and Matilda Sterby are just a few of the many names who have used the Stenhammar Competition as a springboard. The competition has been a prominent member of the World Federation of International Music Competitions (WFIMC) and hosted its annual meeting in June 2019.
The board of the Wilhelm Stenhammar Foundation has today decided not to hold a competition in 2026. The Wilhelm Stenhammar International Music Competition (WSIMC) will therefore not be held at De Geerhallen next year.
– The decision is extremely sad, as we know how much the competition has been appreciated during the 20 years we have been running it, both by the hundreds of young talents who have had the opportunity to start an international career, and by the audience and host families who, through WSIMC, have been able to enjoy classical singing at a very high international level, says the competition’s founder and artistic director Sonja Stenhammar.
The board notes that continuing the competition requires a new organisation and financial resources that are not currently available and cannot be expected to materialise in the near future.
– As a matter of principle, the Swedish Arts Council does not provide grants for anything classified as a competition. Without some form of state support, it is difficult to continue running our event. Region Östergötland has also found it very difficult to justify granting any significant support in light of the cultural plan that applies there. We understand that Norrköping Municipality and Scenkonst Öst AB are unable to bear the entire burden of public funding, says the foundation’s chairman Claes Egnell, who at the same time expresses his great gratitude to the sponsors who have supported the event the nine times the competition has been held since 2006.
Whether there are conditions for a continuation in some form remains to be seen.
For further information, please contact Claes Egnell, 070-3449796 (claes.h.egnell@gmail.com) or Sonja Stenhammar, 073-0356854 (sonja@stenhammarcompetition.se).
Zaza Gagua, Bass, Georgien
Yohan John Ji, Baritone, Southkorea
Abigail Levis, Mezzosoprano, USA
Clarke Ruth, Bass, Canada
Marie Dominique Ryckmanns, Soprano, Tyskland/Frankrike
Emma Sventelius, Mezzosoprano, Sverige
Vera Talerko, Soprano, Lettland
Rebecka Wallroth, Mezzosoprano, Sverige
Due to the continued spread of Covid-19, the current guidelines issued by health officials, and the restrictions introduced to eradicate the disease worldwide, Wilhelm Stenhammar International Music Competition, has decided to postpone WSIMC 2020 to June 2021. This decision was taken by the WSIMC board April 17, 2020.
We are of course very disappointed by this development – we have been working very hard with all the planning for several months. But, it was with great satisfaction, we noticed, that our “pre-jury” had selected 70 excellent singers for the competition in June. We are therefore very pleased, to be able to offer, all the 70 selected singers, the opportunity to participate in the competition 2021 instead of 2020 and with the same rules and terms.
Preliminary schedule 2021
10 June Registration
11-13 June Round 1
14-16 June Round 2
17 June Rehearsal finalists and Norrköping Symphony Orchestra
18 June Final Concert
It´s amazing that 120 singers, from around 30 countries, have signed up for WSIMC 2020!
We are also very happy to announce, that for the first time, the final concert on June 10, 2020, will be broadcast live in The Swedish Radio P2. In addition to that, all the competition days will be “streamed” on our website – which means that parents, teachers, friends and others, can listen to “their” singers from all over the world. This is a big step forward into the future of the competition!
63rd WFIMC General Assembly 2019, held in Norrköping Sweden 8-11 May 2019, was launched at The Swiss Embassy in Berlin. Wilhelm Stenhammar International Music Competition (WSIMC ) was represented by Sonja Stenhammar and Claes Egnell, hosts of the General Assembly 2019. Click here to continue reading!
Photo by WFIMC (left to right): Didier Schnorhk (President, WFIMC), Benjamin Woodroffe (Secretary General, WFIMC), Sonja Stenhammar (Founder & Artistic Director, Wilhelm Stenhammar International Music Competition), Paul R. Seger (Swiss Ambassador to the Federal Republic of Germany), Claes Egnell (President, Wilhelm Stenhammar International Music Competition)
Sonja Stenhammar wins Broocmanpriset 2016, the year when the prize is celebrating its tenth anniversary!