Jury

Dramatic mezzo-soprano. Is one of the most acclaimed Polish opera singers. In 1994 she graduated with honors from the Fryderyk Chopin Academy of Music in Warsaw under the tutelage of Professor Halina Słonicka. She is a prize winner and finalist of many international competitions, including Alfredo Kraus, Luciano Pavarotti, Stanisław Moniuszko and Belvedere. Already during her studies, in 1991, she made her operatic debut at the Polish National Opera performing the role of Aza in Paderewski's "Manru". In her 30-year career, she has collaborated with many world-famous conductors and has headlined in over 30 opera houses in the world, including: Teatro Real in Madrid, Covent Garden in London, Metropolitan Opera in New York, Semperoper Dresden, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Teatro Nacional de São Carlos in Lisbon, Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, Seattle Opera, San Francisco Opera, Grand Théâtre de Genève, Finnish National Opera in Helsinki, Washington National Opera, Baltimore Opera or Herodion Theatre in Athens. Małgorzata Walewska's showcase roles include Carmen, Amneris, Azucena, Dalila, Eboli, Ulrica, Kundry or Santuzza. In 2014, the artist was nominated Artistic Director of the Ada Sari International Festival and Vocal Artistry Competition held in Nowy Sącz. In 2016, Małgorzata Walewska has received the Gloria Artis Gold Medal by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, highlighting her outstanding contribution to Polish culture.

Michael Barobeck has worked for the Opera Graz since 2006, initially as Head of Production and Casting, until Elisabeth Sobotka made him Casting Director in 2009, a position he continues to perform under the current artistic direction of Nora Schmid.

Before moving to Graz, he worked for the Salzburg Jazz Festival for 2 seasons.  From April 2002 to June 2005 he worked as a singers’ agent for the Raab & Boehm Agency in Vienna where he put special efforts in creating career opportunities for young singers, some of whom are now internationally famous such as Manuela Uhl, but also working for renowned artists like Iris Vermillion or Marjana Lipovšek.

Shortly after completing his studies, he moved to Schleswig/Germany where he worked as assistant to the stage director. After two seasons he moved to Linz/Austria in the same position, working with stage directors such as Beverly Blankenship, Markus Bothe, Claus Guth, Sabine Loew, Dominik Neuner, and Gottfried Pilz. In Linz he also created his first productions as a stage director: Darius Milhaud’s “Le pauvre matelot” and George Gershwin’s “Blue Monday”. 

He holds a Masters of Culture Management from the University in Vienna. A native of Vienna, he studied dramatics and musicology at the university of his hometown. 

During all the time outside of the theatre world, she remained close to music and the Theater, where she had started to sing as a child in the so called “Singshul”. From her early childhood she received music lessons, played the flute, was member of the school orchestra and performed already as child in opera and concerts.

Viviana Barrios was born in Germany. As child of Chilean parents she grew up bi-lingual (Spanish and German).

Viviana Barrios holds the position of the Associate to the Artistic Director at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, one of the most prestigious international opera houses. Christoph Seuferle hired her in 2008 as his assistant first, before she was up-graded to his associate. From the very beginning her main focus was the scholarship program aswell as auditions and casting at the DOB. In the past years she has been invited to judge on various important singing competitions, such as Concurs Tenor Vinas / Barcelona; Belvedere Singing Competition; DIOA / Daegu,Korea; Bundeswettbewerb Gesang Junior and regular / Berlin; NY Opera Foundation / New York; WCN / Vienna, Austria; Queen Sonja/Online Jury; Operas Golden Voice/ Batumi, Georgia; Andong Global Young Artists Competition /Korea, Leyla Gancer Competition /Istanbul and the 2024 Finals of the prestigiuous Laffont Competition at the MET/ New York. In the current season she will return to the Vinas Competition aswell as Queen Sonja Competition and the Belvedere Singing Competition.

Since October 2020 she holds a university teaching position at the UdK Berlin (Universität der Künste) at the Vocal Department, where she teaches “audition coachings”, the same training, that she will be providing at the MDW University in Vienna /Austria.

She finished law school in Germany with the highest possible degree (2. Staatsexamen), which qualifies her to exercise the functions of a judge, as it includes 2 years of legal interntship at court. In addition she graduated in Spanish law. After finishing her legal formation she decided to degree also in Cultural Administration in Regensburg/Germany. Her first job in the industry was a consequence of her internship she had to do for her degree as Cultural Manager that she had chosen to do at the Theater Bielefelds Company Office (KBB). They immediately hired her for an intersection of Main Office and Sales Management. Only a few weeks later the Intendant though brought her to his office as Assistant to the Intendant, where she remained for nearly 3 seasons, looking after the needs of a 3-sections- house (Opera, Acting and Ballett). 

Baritone, graduate of the Academy of Music in Kraków. 

While still a student, he became a laureate of several competitions: Chamber Music in Łódź (1st prize), Ada Sari Vocal Art Competition in Nowy Sącz (2nd prize), Antonin Dvořak Vocal Competition in Karlovy Vary (2nd prize). He is also a laureate of prestigious vocal competitions, including Europeische Stimmen in Gutersloh, Belvedere in Vienna (journalists' and audience award) Vancouver Oper Preis and Schwetzingen Festspiele Preis, as well as the Grand Prix of the ARD Competition in Munich.

The most important parts performed by Andrzej Dobber are: Amonasro (‘Aida’), Giorgio Germont (‘La Traviata’), Francesco (‘I due Foscari’), Ezio (‘Attila’), Scarpia (‘Tosca’), Jack Rance (‘La fanciulla del West’), Sharpless (‘Madama Butterfly’), Nabucco, Simone Boccanegra, Rigoletto, Macbeth, Falstaff, Prince Igor, Dutchman (‘Der fliegende Holländer’), Tomski (‘Pikowaja Dama’), Jochanaan (‘Salome’), Barak (‘Die Frau ohne Schatten’), Don Pizzaro (‘Fidelio’), Amfortas (‘Parsifal’).

He has performed on some of the world's greatest stages including London, Paris, Toulouse, Lyon, Brussels, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Valencia, Milan, Florence, Zürich, Geneva, Vienna, Munich, Hamburg, Dresden, Leipzig, Berlin, St. Petersburg, Warsaw, New York, Chicago, Vancouver, Los Angeles, Cincinnati, Houston, Santiago de Chile, Tokyo and New York. St. Petersburg, Warsaw, New York, Chicago, Vancouver, Los Angeles, Cincinnati, Houston, Buenos Aires, Santiage de Chile, Tokyo, Nagoya, Hong Kong, at festivals including Glyndenbourn, Savonlinna, Organge Festival, Arena di Verona.

He has collaborated with eminent directors including Vincent Boussard, Charles Roubaud, David Bösch, Georges Delnon, Katharina Thalbach, Harry Kupfer, Eimuntas Nekrošius, Andreas Homoki, Franco Zefirelli, Willy Decker, Robert Wilson, Richard Jones, Achim Freyer and Nikolaus Lenhof.

He also has to his credit collaborations with eminent conductors such as: Christian Thielemann, Semyon Bychkov, Carlo Montanaro, Lawrence Foster, John Fiore, Omer Meir Wellber, Simone Young, Leonardo Sini, Jordi Bernàcer, Zubin Mehta, Riccardo Muti, Ricardo Chailly, Lorin Maazel, Sir Colin Davis, Sir Roger Norrington, Gary Bertini, Pinchas Steinberg, Renato Palumbo, Kazushi Ono, Daniel Barenboim, Myung-Whun Chung, Daniele Rustioni, Stefano Ranzani, Carlo Rizzi, Fabio Luisi, Antoni Wit, Kent Nagano and Dan Ettinger. 

Graduated from Paris Conservatory he is the winner of numerous international awards including the Audience Award for his interpretation of Raoul Wallenberg in the world premiere of Kunze and Kingsley’s Raoul at the Opera Competition and Festival with Mezzo TV.

He creates more than 80 leading baritone roles (Ford, Germont, Sharpless, Figaro, Demetrius, Onegin...) and performs on prestigious stages (including Paris Théâtre du Châtelet, Salle Pleyel and Cité de la Musique, Geneva Victoria Hall, Opera Houses in Berlin, Frankfurt, Bremen, Lausanne, Lyon, Marseille...) and in European festivals (Festival Radio-France, Chorégies d’Orange, Warsaw Autumn, Sacrum Profanum, Festival Katowice - NOSPR, Malta Festival, Athens...). Marcin Habela co-stars with artists such as R. Alagna, J. Van Dam, T. Hampson,  P. Petibon under the baton of S. Rattle, A. Pappano, E. Pido, M. Guidarini...

A great enthusiast of musical theater and contemporary vocal music he performs opera and chamber répertoires by composers who have written especially for him. He records for Radio France, TF1, EMI, RAI, SBB, Virgin, RTS, Espace 2...

In 2005, Marcin Habela received the title of professor. Doctor in arts he teaches at the Geneva University of Music where he served as the Dean of the Vocal Faculty and where he leads research projects focused on voice pedagogy and on employability of young singers on the European opera market. Since September 2024 he is also professor at the prestigious Scuola Universitaria di Musica in Lugano  

He conducts numerous master classes in many European cultural centres (Berlin, Paris, Athens, Warsaw, Porto, Bucharest...) as well as in Brazil, Kazakhstan, Japan and China.  

Being a vocal advisor, he is a member of artistic boards of the the Geneva International Music Competition, Sion Academy - Tibor Varga and European Opera Academy. Jury in prestigious international singing competitions (Geneva International Competition, Ada Sari Vocal Competition, ARMEL, Mahler Competition, Szymanowski Competition, Elsa Respighi Duos Competition, Gianni Bergamo Music Awards...) he is particularly involved in an international network for the professional integration of young singers in opera houses, artistic agencies and opera studios. 

Lyric soprano Eeva-Maria Kopp comes from a versatile musical background, being first trained as a pianist but then fully immersed in the world of vocal music. During her career as a singer she sang with numerous Finnish and Canadian companies such as the Finnish National Opera, Finnish Chamber Opera, Helsinki Festival, Lapland Chamber Orchestra and the Okanagan Symphony Orchestra among others. While Eeva-Maria Kopp very much enjoys the standard repertoire as well, the focus of her career has been on contemporary opera with multiple world premieres of works by Uljas Pulkkis, Jüri Reinvere, Jaakko Kuusisto etc. From contemporary symphonic repertoire she has recorded the soprano part in Imant Raminsh‘s Violin Concerto with the Okanagan Symphony Orchestra.

Eeva-Maria Kopp has a special interest in chamber music and art songs. There hasn’t been many concert programs of hers which haven’t included Finnish, French or Russian songs, and from 2018 to 2022 Eeva-Maria Kopp served as the Artistic Director of Chamber Music Kelowna in Canada.

Alongside her performance career, Eeva-Maria Kopp has always been keen on supporting the next generation to find the artistry in themselves and to develop their skill to the best possible level. In addition to teaching numerous private voice students on a regular basis, Eeva-Maria Kopp has led workshops and masterclasses as well as sat in jurys for voice exams and competitions. Over the past years she has settled in roles in artistic administration, and after moving from the Finnish National Opera to her current position at the Bregenz Festival, Austria, Eeva-Maria Kopp became responsible for the Opera Studio program among others. She finds this program a wonderful opportunity to build bridges between different cultures, between young talent and mature mentors as well as between university, competitions and work life. 

Sebastian Ukena graduated from the Hamburg College of Music (MA) in Opera Directing.

He has worked as Assistant and Staff Director with numerous companies in Europe on a wide-range of core repertoire operas as well as world premieres and oratorios.  

Credits as Director include "Die Zauberflöte" (Mozart), "Il mondo della luna" (Haydn), "Cardillac" (Hindemith), "Carmina Burana" (Orff), "Dido and Aeneas" (Purcell), "Das Zauberwort" (Rheinberger), "Orpheus and Eurydice" (Gluck) and "The Diary of Anne Frank" (Frid).

In the 2017/18 season he joined the Komische Oper Berlin as Artistic Production Manager and head of the International Opera Studio. 

Born in New York, soprano Claudia Visca graduated from the acclaimed Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia where she studied with Anna Moffo's teacher, Eufemia Giannini  and Wagnerian soprano, Margret Harshaw.  A Fulbright Scholarship took her to the Hochschule fur Musik Wien where she finished her education under the guidance of Ks. Hilde Rossel-Majdan and Anton Dermota.  

Claudia Visca has worked with renowned conductors, stage directors, and artists, including Eugene Ormandy, Gustav Kuhn, Istvan Kertesz, Miguel Gomez-Matinez, Sandor Vegh, Raphael Frühbeck de Burgos, Pina Bausch, Christine Mielitz, Marcel Prawy, Bruno Canino, Rudolf  Serkin, members of the Guarneri Quartet, Edith Mathis, Agnes Baltsa and Placido Domingo. A highlight of Claudia Visca's career was to sing Maria in West Side Story conducted by the composer, Leonard Bernstein.

During her long stage career, Claudia Visca guested in more than 25 opera houses in Europe, among them those in Amsterdam, Berlin, Cologne, Geneva, Vienna, and Zürich. In over 2,000 performances, she appeared in more than 75 roles in operas, operettas, and musicals as well as in concerts

From 1998 to 2003, Claudia Visca was voice professor at the Hochschule fur Musik Cologne.  In 2003, she became a professor at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna. 

Claudia Visca has given international masterclasses in vocal technique and interpretation in Australia, Austria, Bulgaria, China, Croatia, Czech Republic, England, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Norway, Poland, Serbia, Switzerland and the United States.

Her students are winners of international competitions and are engaged in major opera houses and concert halls as soloists all over the world, including: Amsterdam, Barcelona, Berlin, Bordeaux, Bologna, Buenos Aires, Geneva, Glyndebourne, Hamburg, Lissabon, London (Convent Garden), Madrid, Milan (La Scala), Moscow, Munich, New York (The Metropolitan), Paris, Peking,  St. Petersberg, Prague (National Theater), Rome, Seoul, Tokyo, Vienna, Warsaw and Zagreb.