The International Vocal Competition has selected all 40 participants for its 2026 edition, to be held Oct. 2 to 10 in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands.

The 40 finalists, chosen from 597 applicants worldwide, include sopranos Hyejin Han, Charlotte Bowden, Maria Knihnytska, Yaara Attias, Jessica Lee, Ruoran Ma, Kristel Vinter Knudsen, Irene Hoogveld, Elisabeth Lee, Lauren Margison, Barbro Citron, Johanna Will, and Viktoriia Shamanska; mezzo-sopranos Jesse Mashburn, Maria Polanska, Lydia Shariff, Juliette Gauthier, Lea Shaw, Oleksandra Diachenko, and Johanna Thomsen; countenors Kieron Connor Valentine and Jan Wouters; tenors Ilyà Dovnar, Oscar Sajous, Cathal McCabe, Milan de Korte, Jack Lee, and Aaron Casey Gould; baritones Jorge Espino, Yisae Choi, Chao Liu, Michael Lafferty, James Quilligan, Thomas McGowan, Haewon Lee, and Yuriy Hadzetskyy; bass-baritones Oliver Boyd, Evan Gray, and Aaron Pendleton; and bass Spartak Sharikadze.

The 59th edition of the competition introduces a new requirement that singers present two programs, one in opera and one in oratorio.

“The requirement for every singer to present two programs is a new initiative of the IVC,” said Andrew Watts, the competition’s general and artistic director, per an official press release. “For many years, Oratorio was considered less important than Opera. Within singing competitions worldwide, insufficient attention has been paid to this genre. This year, the International Vocal Competition explicitly places Opera and Oratorio on equal footing.”

The Main Rounds will run Oct. 2 to 5, from which finalists will be chosen for the Grand Finale on Oct. 10 with Philzuid, conducted by Karen Kamensek.

Singers who do not advance to the final will take part in masterclasses from Oct. 6 to 9 led by members of the jury, which includes Sir David Pountney, Susan Bullock, Paul McNamara, Peter Rose, Natascha Ursuliak of Opernhaus Zürich, Susanne Schmidt of Opera Ballet Vlaanderen, Dieter Kaegi of Theater Orchester Biel Solothurn, Tobias Hasan of Staatsoper Unter den Linden and Damià Carbonell Nicolau of De Nationale Opera.

Watts will lead masterclasses for winners of the Princess Christina Competition on Oct. 10 and for local singers during a Songfest Masterclass on Oct. 6, and a networking event for vocal teachers is scheduled for Oct. 10.