Applications Open for The World's Biggest Stage Competition — Voice Edition

The final round will take place in New York City on Sunday, Jan 15, 2023 and will be live-streamed via The Violin Channel

Open to all vocalists (soprano, alto, tenor, bass) of all nationalities, ages 18 to 33 (by Jan 15, 2023), the Vocal Edition of The World's Biggest Stage Competition has no application fee. The winner will receive 5,000 US Dollars and be the featured vocalist in the 19th Water Island Music Festival.

Taking place in two rounds, the first round will consist of a video recording of a freely chosen 3-5 minute piece from the standard vocal repertoire, for either solo voice, voice and piano, or voice and orchestra or other instrumental configuration. The video should be uploaded to YouTube, Vimeo, or equivalent.

Four finalists will be chosen by Dec 15, 2022, to proceed to the final round. The final round will take place in New York City (venue TBA) on Sunday, Jan 15, 2023 (4-6pm) and will be live-streamed via The Violin Channel.

All four finalists will get to play in front of presenters from the APAP National Conference who will be in attendance. Each finalist will perform two songs selected from the newly composed song cycle by Julian Gargiulo. The songs will be assigned randomly when the four finalists are chosen.

The winner of the final round will be decided 50 percent by the audience (online and present at final round) and 50 percent by a jury consisting of previous winners of the competition plus one celebrity judge.

The winner will be the featured vocalist during the 19th Water Island Music Festival taking place in Jan 2024.  Airfare, lodging, and meals will be provided. Performing in the Water Island Music Festival is compulsory, and not being able to perform will mean forfeiting the prize.

Applications are open until December 10, 2022. To apply you will need to email [email protected] the following information:

1. Biography (including date of birth)

2. Demo video link of 3-5 minute performance

3. E-mail address

Last month, cellist Johannes Gray won first prize in the inaugural World's Biggest Stage competition. During the cello edition, each participant performed a newly composed Cello Sonata entitled "The Time Between Moments" — written by competition founder Julian Gargiulo.