You will all, I am sure, retain many fond memories of Eva Kleinitz, late President of Opera Europa, Director of the Opéra national du Rhin, Operndirektorin of the Staatsoper Stuttgart, Director of Artistic Planning at La Monnaie and Deputy Director of the Bregenzer Festspiele. It is hard to believe that it is nearly three years since her tragically early death in May 2019.
In her will Eva bequeathed a sum of money to be used to offer assistance to young singers, and she placed the responsibility of its administration on my shoulders. It was not something that we had ever discussed but I felt very honoured by her trust. After careful thought I decided to ask Nicholas Payne if Opera Europa might be a partner in this enterprise and much to my pleasure he readily agreed. This was how the Opera Europa Eva Kleinitz Scholarship evolved. Right from the start I have had the wonderful support, advice and encouragement of three of Eva’s closest friends and colleagues – the stage director Nicola Raab, Bettina Giese (Director of Artistic Planning at La Monnaie) and Veronique Walter (Betriebsdirektorin of the Staatsoper Stuttgart).
We decided to award a limited number of scholarships each year to young singers who are still in full time conservatoire or university education to assist them through their studies or to help cross the bridge from education into the profession. Our plans were a little delayed by the pandemic but I am happy to say that in early January we awarded the first five Opera Europa Eva Kleinitz Scholarships to the following young singers (pictured right, from top to bottom):
Lluis Calvet – baritone (Spain) – studied Conservatori Professional de Sabadell; Conservatori Superior del Liceu; now Royal Welsh College of Music in Cardiff; scholar of Paris-based Opera Fuoco. He will be joining Hannover Opera Studio next season.
Ava Dodd – soprano (Ireland) – graduated Royal Irish Academy of Music; now at London’s Royal College of Music; performed at Blackwater Valley and Wexford Festivals and Bolshoi Young Artist Programme in Moscow.
Hasmik Harutyunyan – soprano (Armenia) – studied Khachaturian and Tchaikovsky Music Schools and Yerevan State Conservatory, before Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and Wales International Academy of Voice.
Lynda Olivia Nwabudike – soprano (Nigeria) – graduated MUSON Diploma School of Music in Lagos, performed a wide repertory before winning a scholarship to Trinity Laban Conservatoire in London.
Dennis Orellana – sopranist (Honduras) – began classical singing training in San Pedro Sula, alongside computer science and digital design; joined Escuela Superior de Canto de Madrid; masterclasses at Santa Cecilia Rome; now studies in Stuttgart.
Further awards will be made early next year and details of the application process will appear on the Opera Europa website this summer.
Jonathan Groves, Managing Director Groves Artists Limited