Participants 2022

It is with great pride and eagerness we present the participants of the two live rounds of the Aria Borealis Bodø International Competition for Early Music Singers 2022.

Camilo Delgado Diaz

Camilo Delgado Diaz (29) is a tenor from Colombia, now living in The Netherlands. He was chosen for the Junges Ensemble’s 2020/2021 season at the Musiktheater im Revier in Gelsenkirchen. Performances include Keiser’s Octavia, Monteverdi’s Orfeo, and Vespro della beata Vergine. Diaz was a finalist at the 5th International Competition Pietro Antonio Cesti in Innsbruck and at the 2021 Corneille Competition in Rouen, France. He performed in Handel’s Alcina under Maestro Andrea Marcon as the winning tenor of the Voci Olimpiche competition in Vicenza, Italy. Camilo holds a Master’s degree in Baroque singing from the Hochschule für Musik in Cologne.

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Johanna Rosa Falkinger

The soprano Johanna Rosa Falkinger (26) from Austria, has performed as a soloist in orchestral concerts, oratorios and masses. She is a member of Momentum Vocal Music and regularly performs with the Company of Music at the Vienna Konzerthaus. Johanna has won prizes at the Corneille Competition in Rouen, France, and the WDR Prize at the H.I.F. Biber Competition in St. Florian, Austria with Ensemble freymut. She is currently a Master’s student in Early Music Singing at the MUK Music and Arts University in Vienna.

Paulina Francisco

Paulina Francisco (29) is a soprano from the USA, now living in Canada. She has performed as a soloist with several ensembles, including the Indianapolis Baroque Orchestra, Bourbon Baroque, and the Bloomington Bach Cantata Project. She was a finalist in the 2021 Handel Aria Competition and she is in the final stages of completing a DM in Historical Performance at Indiana University. Additionally, Paulina holds a Graduate Certificate in Vocology from IU, a Master of Arts in Early Music from the University of Southern California and Bachelor’s degrees in Vocal Performance and Public Relations from Carroll University.

Franko Klisović

The Croatian countertenor Franko Klisović (27) was in his early studies when he was engaged as Ottone in Handel’s Agrippina at the Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb in 2016. He has performed regularly with orchestras and opera companies, including in Doha at the Katara Opera House and at the Croatian National Theater Ivan pl. Zajc in Rijeka. In the 2020/2021 season he performed the role of Nireno in Handel’s Giulio Cesare in Egitto in Rijeka. Franko has won numerous awards at international vocal competitions, including the Audience Prize at the Premiere Opera Foundation + NYIO in New York in 2020, and 1st Prize at the 2021 Tullio Serafin singing competition in Vicenza, Italy. He is currently pursuing a degree from the University of Zagreb Academy of Music.

Maria Ladurner

Austrian soprano Maria Ladurner (29) has given concerts with renowned ensembles such as Ensemble 1700 and Orfeo Barockorchester, and future performances will be in collaboration with artists such as Gunar Letzbor, Wolfgang Katschner and Jordi Savall. Upcoming opera productions will lead her to Musikfestspiele Potsdam Sanssouci and Markgräfliches Opernhaus Bayreuth and she also have her own Ensemble Mozaïque. Together with them and alone she has been awarded several prizes, among them the J. I. F. Biber-Prize (2019) The First Prize and the Audience Prize at Händel Competition Göttingen (2021), and the First Prize and Audience Prize of the Competition Musikakademie Rheinsberg.

Angela Hicks

Soprano Angela Hicks (31) from the UK has sung roles like Alcina in Francesca Caccini’s La liberazione di Ruggiero (Brighton EMF, 2021), Cupid in Handel’s Semele (the Monteverdi Choir and John Eliot Gardiner, 2019) and Aminta in Handel’s Aminta e Fillide, (Fair Oriana and Opera Settecento, 2019). She cofounded the vocal duo Fair Oriana with Penelope Appleyard in 2019 to mix their passion for historical music with contemporary influences and varying genres such as folk, medieval and jazz in concerts or staged productions. Their debut album Two Voices was released in 2021. She has also a broad background from the UK’s leading choral ensembles, such as Tenebrae and Monteverdi Choir, and with the mediaval ensemble Joglaresa.

Jorge Armando Martínez Escutia

The 21-year-old Mexican baritone Jorge Armando Martínez Escutia already has a significant experience as soloist. Recent performances include J. S. Bach’s Magnificat BWV 243 and Cantata BWV 211 with La Academia de Música Antigua de la UNAM, Mexico City, and the role of Aeneas in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas at Festival Impulso, Mexico City. Jorge was a 1st Prize winner at the XXIX Francisco Araiza Singing Competition in Mexico City in 2018 and 3rd Prize winner at the VII María Bonilla Singing Competition, 2017. He is currently pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in Renaissance-Romantic Singing at Schola Cantorum Basiliensis in Basel, Switzerland.

Kieran White

Kieran White (32) from the UK is an established tenor/Haute Contre as soloist with leading European ensembles, including Amsterdam Baroque and the Edvard Grieg Choir in Norway. He performs regularly with the Monteverdi Choir under Sir John Eliot Gardiner and with Copenhagen Soloists. Recent operatic engagements include Castor in Castor et Pollux by Rameau with Warsaw Kamerlana, Poland; Damon in Handel’s Acis and Galatea with Dorset Opera, and Ruggiero in Caccini’s La liberazione di Ruggiero at Brighton Early Music. Kieran received 2nd Prize at the 2021 Froville International Baroque Competition. He holds a Master’s degree from the Royal Academy of Music in London.

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