Stars of The High Seas

The first Stella Maris Classical Star has been announced. The Stella Maris International Vocal Competition took place aboard the MS Europa during a 10-day cruise from Venice to Barcelona.

Eight of the world’s top opera houses each nominated one rising star for the Competition. The eight young singers performed in four evening concerts, to which the ship’s 400 guests were invited.

At the final gala, 22-year-old Korean bass Jong Min Park from the Accademia alla Scala in Milan was named Stella Maris Classical Star 2009 by a jury led by Canadian tenor Michael Schade. Park also won the 15,000 Euro audience prize and a consultation with the Austrian artist management agency Dr Raab & Dr Böhm.

Tenor Dovlet Nurgeldiyev of Hamburg State Opera also received a prize, to do a test recording with Deutsche Grammophon, while tenor Ji-Min Park of the Royal Opera House Covent Garden won concert appearances with the Deutsche Radio Philharmonie Saarbruecken/Kaiserslautern and as part of Musik in den Haeusern der Stadt in Cologne.

The Stella Maris International Vocal Competition 2010 will take place during a cruise from Istanbul to Dubai.