Can you sing like Lotte Lenya? They can

Lotte Lenya Competition 2021

Our Opera of the Week from OperaVision is something different and invigorating – the finals of the 23rd annual Lotte Lenya Competition brings together 15 exceptional singing actors to New York City, vying for a top prize of $20,000. Emerging from a pool of 500 contestants from around the globe, Lenya Competition finalists will show they can ‘do it all’ by bringing to life four contrasting theatrical pieces.

In 1998, on the occasion of the centenary of the birth of Lotte Lenya, an extraordinary singer/actress and one of the greatest interpreters of her husband Kurt Weill’s music, the Kurt Weill Foundation for Music established an annual competition bearing her name. It rewards talented young performers who, like Lenya herself, are convincing both dramatically and musically in a wide repertoire ranging from contemporary Broadway scores to opera/opera, not forgetting the works of Kurt Weill.

Total prizes each year exceed $75,000; individual prizes range from $500 (semi-finals) to $20,000 (finals). First round prizes include $500 “Emerging Talent” awards and $500 to non-advancing semi-finalists. To date the Kurt Weill Foundation has awarded more than $1.1 million in prize money to nearly 500 singing actors, including awards bestowed at the preliminary and semi-final rounds.

This competition is brought to  Slippedisc readers courtesy of OperaVision and is available from

Friday 10th September at  19.00 CET,   18.00 London and  13.00 NY.  The link will be posted on Friday.

Here is more information about the competition, its history and this year’s competitors: