INTERNATIONAL OPERA AWARDS 2020
On 5 February, the prestigious International Opera Awards announced the finalists for their 2020 awards, in which Festival Castell de Peralada has been selected in the Best Festival category. The annual event celebrates successes in opera around the world in 2019 in recognition of excellence in a wide range of categories; this is the first time that the Peralada festival has been nominated.
The winners in the 18 categories will be announced on 4 May 2020 at a gala event at Sadler’s Wells in London, along with special awards for philanthropy and leadership. This will be when we will know whether Festival Castell de Peralada wins the award for the Best Festival, beating off Donizetti Opera Festival, Bergamo; George Enescu Festival, Bucharest; Macerata Opera Festival, O19 (Opera Philadelphia) and Salzburg Festival.
The International Opera Awards were created in 2012 by specialist British magazine Opera, and have been regarded since they began as the leading awards in opera. Their aim is to recognise the best in lyric music every year: singers, conductors, productions, opera companies, orchestras, choruses, festivals, world premières, etc., publicly recognising the year’s stars and supporting the training of new talents through grants funded by the profits from the awards ceremony.
The list of finalists has been drawn up by an impressive international jury that includes critics, opera directors, conductors and designers, headed by John Allison, editor of Opera magazine and classical music critic with The Daily Telegraph. With the exception of the Readers' Award, the winners in all the categories will also be decided by the jury.
You can see the complete list here: