On 2 & 3 April, preliminary selections were held at 'Huis73' in 's-Hertogenbosch for the 55th International Vocal Competition, Opera | Oratorio category.

The jury selected eleven singers for the First Round:

• Bella Adamova, mezzo-soprano (Czech Republic *1992)
• Viola Cheung, soprano (Hong Kong *1991)
• Alexander de Jong, baritone (Netherlands *1993)
• Rina Hirayama, mezzo-soprano (Japan *1988)
• Jaesung Kim, tenor (South Korea *1989)
• Julia Muzychenko, soprano (Russia *1994)
• Maksym Nazarenko, baritone (Ukraine *1995)
• Cheuk Yan Ng, soprano (Hong Kong *1995)
• Sílvia Sequeira, soprano (Portugal *1992)
• Yurii Strakhov, baritone (Ukraine *2002)
• Sang Ah Yoon, soprano (South Korea *1988)

The Jury of these pre-selections consisted of:

• Roberta Alexander, soprano
• Annett Andriesen, mezzo-soprano | former general manager IVC
• Albert Bonnema, tenor
• Paul McNamara, tenor | artistic leader Dutch National Opera Academy
• Ivan van Kalmthout, general manager IVC | Jury president

The International Vocal Competition (IVC) will organize the 55th edition of the competition in 2022, in which Opera and Oratorio are central. International singers compete for various prizes in June and July, including the main prize: the Grand Prix, the Opera Prize, the Toonkunst Oratorio Prize and the Dutch Wagner Prize. Entrants who wish to register for the competition must participate in the preliminaries via YouTube or via live auditions on location. The Competition is open to the public from June 24 to July 2, 2022 in 's-Hertogenbosch and Eindhoven.

The Opera | Oratorio competition alternates annually with the LiedDuo competition of the International Vocal Competition. The last edition of the Opera | Oratorio competition took place in 2018. This edition was won by Canadian tenor Josh Lovell. He also won the Opera Prize. The Toonkunst Oratorio Prize was won by Rosina Fabius and Claire Barnett-Jones won the Wagner Prize. Other laureates include Elly Ameling, Thomas Hampson, Pretty Yende and Dame Sarah Connolly. In addition to the first round - and possibly the semi-finals and finals - participants also receive coaching sessions and master classes. The semifinals will take place in 's-Hertogenbosch on June 28. The final will be held on July 2 in Eindhoven with the South Netherlands Philharmonic conducted by Hartmut Haenchen.

Prizes 2022
After the final, several prizes will be awarded, including the main prize - the Grand Prix - which consists of a special award and € 15,000 for the winner.

The Wagner Society of the Netherlands has created the Wagner Prize worth €5,000 to continue the training and further professional development of the winner. As with the LiedDuo competition, the Van Riemsdijk Prize worth € 2,500 will be awarded to the participant who best interprets the compulsory piece Vermeer's Gold by composer Bart Visman in the version for symphony orchestra. In addition, various other prizes are awarded (see website) and various concerts and engagements are offered.

Jury 2022
The jury consists of Deborah Polaski (soprano), Charlotte Margiono (soprano), Vesselina Kasarova (mezzo-soprano),  Leonardo Capalbo (tenor), John Fulljames (stage director,  artistic director Royal Danish Opera Copenhagen), Javier Menéndez (opera director of Seville) and Damià Carbonell Nicolau (head of artistic affairs at Dutch National Opera Amsterdam).

Last Preliminary Selections via YouTube. Deadline registration: 10 April 2022

Singers can register via this link: www.ivc.nu/en/competition/participate-2022