25th anniversary Lotte Lenya Competition

Lotte Lenya and Kurt Weill (Photo: Kurt Weill Foundation for Music)

Founded in 1998, the Lotte Lenya Competition is intended to recognise talented young singers/actors who are dramatically and musically convincing in repertoire ranging from opera/operetta to contemporary Broadway scores, with a focus on the works of Kurt Weill. 

This year, the 25th anniversary competition, organised by the Kurt Weill Foundation for Music, takes place on 29 & 30 April 2023 at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY, USA. 24 contestants have been selected as semi-finalists, from a pool of 271 applications from 20 countries across the globe. The semi-finalists will audition in person and receive feedback and coaching, with the finalists competing for a pool of prizes totalling $120,000.

This year's judges include Dame Josephine Barstow, conductor James Holmes, one of two living recipients of the Kurt Weill Lifetime Achievement Award, and actor Kyle Scatcliffe who won a special award in the 2010 competition for Extraordinary Promise.

The finale will be streamed live on the Kurt Weill Foundation website.