Cruise News & Reviews

April 29,  2010
Author: Terry Hutson

 

Hapag-Lloyd Cruises offers young musicians the chance to compete for €15,000 prize

Hapag-Lloyd’s Europa. Picture by Terry Hutson

Following last year’s major success, Hapag-Lloyd Cruises’ flagship, MS EUROPA in cooperation with eight prestigious international opera houses, will be hosting their second annual classical music competition at sea.

The ‘Stella Maris’ International Vocal Competition will bring together up-and-coming young singers from the most renowned opera houses in the world, which include: the Royal Opera House London, Bavarian State Opera Munich, The Canadian Opera Company Toronto, Accademia Teatro alla Scala Milan, Hamburg State Opera, Opéra National de Paris, Merola Opera Program San Francisco Opera and the Zurich Opera House. ‘Stella Maris’ is the highlight of a total of 11 music cruises aboard the EUROPA this year. The competition will occur on board a 10-day Middle Eastern cruise departing from Istanbul, Turkey on 6 November and ending in Aqaba, Jordan on 16 November 2010.

Under the direction of Canadian tenor Michael Schade, a jury of famous personalities in the classical music field has been compiled for the 2010 competition.

The distinguishing feature of ‘Stella Maris’is that the audience determines the winner of the cash prize worth € 15,000. This prize, generous compared to others in the world of classical music, is provided by the cultural foundation Hauck & Aufhaeuser. The jury will decide on the recipients of the additional prizes, which include: a guest engagement at the Washington National Opera, a concert at the Verbier Festival and a test recording with Deutsche Grammophon.

While the performances are the highlights of this itinerary, guests will also enjoy excursions and stops in the following ports along the musical route: Istanbul/Turkey, Antalya/Turkey, Paphos/Cyprus, Tartus/Syria, Beirut/Lebanon, Port Said/Egypt, Hurghada/Egypt, and Aqaba/Jordan. This 10-day itinerary starts at € 5,900 per person.

For more details on this itinerary visit HERE