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The year 2019 will mark the 40th anniversary since the 1^st National Adam Didur Opera Singers’ Competition was organised by the Silesian Opera in Bytom. The current edition is a truly exceptional and jubilee event - it is the tenth edition in the whole history of the Competition and it is the fourth international one. We return after a seven-year-long break as the last international edition of the Competition took place in 2012. Applications will be accepted until 20^th February 2019. The opening ceremony of the Competition shall take place on 31^st March 2019 at 6pm before the evening performance of “Aida” by G. Verdi.

The first edition was organised in autumn 1979. It was Napoleon Siess, at that time the director of the Silesian Opera in Bytom, who came up with the original idea. With the encouragement of Tadeusz Kijonka (then the literary director) and Zygmunt Folga (who would become the first director of the Competition), Siess presented to the ministerial authorities the idea of organising a national cyclical competition for opera singers.

The event was named after Adam Didur, the first director of the Silesian Opera, maestro of opera stages, teacher and founder of the Silesian opera stage. Adam Didur was an exceptional and charismatic person, one of the most excellent bass voices of the turn of 19^th and 20^th centuries. 

The 4^th International Adam Didur Opera Singers’ Competition is organised by the Silesian Opera in Bytom with the cooperation of the Karol Szymanowski Academy of Music in Katowice. The Competition will take place from 31^st  March to 7^th April 2019 and is open to singers of all nationalities: graduates and students of music universities and conservatories, secondary schools, to soloists of opera houses and music theatres and members of professional choirs, who, on 01^st April 2019, will be below the age of 32.

The Competition is an exceptional event in the history of the Silesian Opera.  The singers will be evaluated by a prestigious jury, which this year will have some of the most renown opera personalities among its members: Wiesław Ochman, Małgorzata Walewska, Andrzej Dobber, Izabela Kłosińska, Wasyl Wowkun, Feliks Widera.

As history has shown, after our Competition many laureates get invitations to participate in events and other competitions organised by the most important musical centres all around the world.

- Participating in the Competition is reassuring, it gives you self-confidence - says Stanislav Kuflyuk, two-time participant, a laureate of the 3^rd prize during the 2^nd edition and winner of the 2012 edition where he was also awarded the Grand Prix.  During the auditions one could see the rivals. It gives you the possibility of learning and verifying your abilities. It is also a chance for professional networking. You can meet directors and persons responsible for engagements  – stresses the laureate who now cooperates with the major opera theatres and philharmonics in Poland and abroad where he sings title parts. 

The Laureates’ Concert will take place on 7^th April in the Silesian Opera in Bytom and its repetition will be held on 9^th April in the Władysław Wyspiański Silesian Theatre in Katowice.