The International Vocal Competition ‘s-Hertogenbosch has announced the Main Jury for the 59th edition of IVC Opera | Oratorio, taking place Oct. 2-10, 2026.

The jury will be led by Sir David Pountney, opera director, who serves as President of the Jury. He is joined by Susanne Schmidt, casting director at Opera Vlaanderen; Dieter Kaegi, General Director and Opera Director of Theater Orchester Biel Solothurn; Dàmia Carbonell Nicolau, Head of Artistic Affairs at Dutch National Opera; Tobias Hasan, Artistic Director of Staatsoper Unter den Linden; soprano Susan Bullock; Natascha Ursuliak, Head of Production and Casting at Zurich Opera; bass Peter Rose; and tenor Paul McNamara, Artistic Leader of the Dutch National Opera Academy and casting director at Avrotros.

Sir David Pountney, Susan Bullock, Paul McNamara, and Peter Rose are each scheduled to lead a masterclass session during the competition week.

Moreover, this year’s jury will hear all 40 competing singers across two separate programs during the Main Rounds, a change from previous editions in which singers performed only once.

The compulsory work for this year’s competition, “Feathers,” was commissioned from Anne-Maartje Lemereis, the Composer of the Netherlands for 2025-26.