The Istanbul Baroque Association will organize the Leyla Pınar Baroque Vocal Competition for the seventh time this year between May 7-9. The competition, organized by Corpora Productions, will be held in collaboration with Istanbul Private Notre Dame de Sion French High School in the historic NDS Performance Hall, which has a century-old history and a capacity of 558 people.

The jury, chaired by faculty member Lynn Trepel Çağlar, The jury consists of Juliette Aros (France), Claire Debono (Malta), Erwin Aros (Chile), Benoît Rameau (France), Thomas Dunford (France), Martin Kronthaler (Austria), Dr. Burak Onur Erdem (Conductor of the State Polyphonic Choir), faculty member Nilgün Onat, our country's first countertenor Kaan Buldular, as well as honorary member Ali Pınar. The contestants will be accompanied by French harpsichordist Charles Bonnet Léon.

The competition consists of the following stages: 1. Elimination (video recording), semi-final and final stages. The 1st elimination will be done via video recording. The deadline for applications is April 9th. Contestants who pass the first elimination round will be entitled to a 30-minute rehearsal/workshop with harpsichordist Charles Bonnet Léon at NDS on May 7-8. The semi-finals and finals will take place on the same day, May 9th, starting at noon and concluding with the awards ceremony following the final concert at 7:30 PM in the NDS Concert Hall. The competition, partnered with Istanbul Private Notre Dame de Sion French High School, is sponsored by Feyzi Foreign Trade. A.Ş. has undertaken it. The first prize consists of 40,000 TL, the second prize is 30,000 TL, the third prize is 20,000 TL, and the honorable mention prize is 10,000 TL. The top three winners will also perform an aria each on stage with the Istanbul Baroque at the Süreyya Opera House on the evening of May 14th. Also, this year, to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Istanbul Baroque, Henry Purcell's opera Dido & Aeneas will be staged at the Süreyya Opera House on May 14th at 8 PM. In the opera, directed by French director Stéphane Facco, Juliette Aros (Dido), Claire Debono (Belinda - Witch), Benoit Rameau (Aeneas), Erwin Aros (Sailor), as well as Fatma Zeynep Ciddi (Second Witch), Cansu Özel (Second Woman - First Witch), and Kaan Buldular (Spirit), who won first prize in our previous competitions, will perform the roles.