To mark the 150th anniversary of the Bayreuth Festival, the Richard Wagner Association Bayreuth, with support from the Bayreuther Festspiele and the Gesellschaft der Freunde von Bayreuth, is organizing the International Competition for Wagner Voices 2026. Deadline for applications is 15 April 2026. The competition is open to singers at the beginning of their stage careers who were born after January 1, 1991, and applicants must submit a recent video with at least one Wagner excerpt and one other opera aria as part of a five-piece repertoire. An expert jury selects up to 40 singers for preliminary auditions in Bayreuth, and finalists compete in rounds culminating in a public final, where Axel Kober will conduct members of the Bayreuth Festival Orchestra on 11 August 2026. Cash prizes include €15,000 for first prize, €10,000 (Wolfgang Wagner Prize) for second, €5,000 audience prize, and each finalist receives €2,500. More information online here.
