The XII International Lyric Competition San Francesco Di Paola is set to take place at the Politeama Theatre in Catanzaro from June 8-10, 2025.

First, second, and third prize winners will receive €2,500, €2,000 and €1,500 scholarships, respectively, while the best young Calabrian singer and best interpreter of an aria will each get a €300 scholarship. Other prizes include the Royal Opera House Social Award – Muscat (Oman), which allows the winner a chance to participate in a 2025-26 production at the Royal Opera House Muscat; the Special Prize Teatro Sociale di Como – Aslico, which features a masterclass organized by the Teatro Sociale di Como/Aslico in Spring 2026 and auditions for roles with the company; and the Special Prize Teatro Verdi – Pisa, the Special Prize Politeama – Catanzaro, the Lerici Music Festival Special Prize, and several concert and performance opportunities.

The final concert on June 10 will feature a performance accompanied by Amedeo Salvato, official pianist of the competition.

“Our aim is to promote and launch young opera singers thanks to real opportunities created to help them enter the world of work, from scholarships to concerts, from masterclasses to artistic writings. It is true that Italy has great excellences, La Scala, San Carlo, La Fenice, Arena, Petruzzelli or Massimo but artists arrive here already as “grown-ups”, often after being forced to consider foreign countries as a work reference. This is absurd because Italy in the world, musically speaking, is the Opera, sung in all continents for hundreds of years in our language and has always been one of the most representative vehicles for promoting the value of Italianness,” said the competition’s Artistic Director Luigi Stillo, who is also a pianist, concert performer, and teacher at the G. Verdi Conservatory of Milan.

The Competition’s Jury includes Stillo in the role of President of the jury; Vincenzo de Vivo, the Artistic Director of the Teatro delle Muse of Ancona; Gianluca Marcianò, Conductor / Principal Conductor of the Orchestra ICO della Magna Grecia and Artistic Director of the Lerici Music Festival; Raffaella Murdolo, the Artistic Programming Manager of the Royal Opera Houses of Muscat (Oman); Marco Tutino, composer and Artistic Director of the Teatro Verdi of Pisa; Antonietta Santacroce, Artistic Director of the Teatro Politeama of Catanzaro and Giovanni Vegeto, General Director of the Teatro Sociale of Como/Aslico.

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