The Ministry of Culture, the Delegation of the European Union in the Dominican Republic and the Fundación Sinfonía, Inc. announced the winners of the Festival Lírico del Caribe 2021. The event promotes cultural exchange among young, up-and-coming lyric singers in the Caribbean. 116 lyric singers participated and eight were chosen for the closing concert performance.
The closing concert will be held on 9 May 2021 at the Carlos Piantini Hall of the National Theater. The performance will take place to celebrate Europe Day. The lyric singers will be accompanied by the National Youth Symphony Orchestra, directed by Darwin Aquino and Alberto Rincón.
The winners are:
Joe Bertili, baritone from Guadaloupe; Valerie Brutos, soprano from Haiti; Natalia Dopwell, soprano from Trinidad & Tobago; Marie-Laure Garnie, soprano from French Guiana; Jose Heredia, tenor from the Dominican Republic; Hector Rodriguez, tenor from Cuba; Frank Ledesma, countertenor from Cuba; Celia Sotomayor, mezzosoprano from Puerto Rico;
Lyric singers ages 18 to 40 years from the Caribbean auditioned for jurors soprano Teresa Pérez-Frangie, tenor Juan Cuevas, and César López Wonenburger, artistic director and responsible for the program of the Festival de Ópera de La Coruña and advisor to the Fundación Sinfonía young talents program.
Culture Minister Carmen Heredia was joined by Gianluca Grippa, ambassador of the European Union in the Dominican Republic; Margarita Miranda de Mitrov, president of the Fundación Sinfonía, Inc.; and Ana Figueiredo, president of Altice Dominicana, in making the announcement at the Ministry of Culture on 24 March 2021.
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Caribbean Lyric Festival
Ministry of Culture
25 March 2021