The Spanish mezzo-soprano Carmen Artaza wins first prize in the 58th Tenor Viñas Contest

The mezzo-soprano Carmen Artaza, aged 25 and born in Donostia-San Sebastián, has won first prize in the 58th edition of the Viñas International Tenor Singing Contest, offered by the Puig Foundation and the Gran Teatre del Liceu Foundation.

This singing contest, which was launched in 1963 in memory of the Catalan tenor Francisco Viñas, is currently one of the most important and prestigious competitions in the world of opera and every year attracts singers from all over the world. On this occasion 477 young contenders from 55 countries took part, performing the best operas in the world.

Artaza came out top among the other 17 contestants who managed to get to the finals of the contest, being the only Spanish singer to reach this stage so far. The Ukrainian mezzo-soprano Olga Syniakova and the Argentine baritone Germán Enrique Alcántara completed the podium, while the Russian baritone Vasili Sokolov, Chinese tenor Chuan Wang and Russian soprano Inna Demenkova won the rest of the official awards. During the closing ceremony of the competition all the winners performed in a concert on the stage of the Gran Teatre del Liceu, accompanied by the orchestra of the Liceu under the baton of Álvaro Albiach.

The singer received 25,000 euros prize money and the commemorative gold gilt silver medal, as well as gaining the prestige in the operatic world that comes with being the winner of this contest.