Maria Manetti Shrem Emerging Artists Program

International announcement of selection for Opera singers

The Maggio Musicale Fiorentino Academy – Florence opera house announces open the enrolment to the selection of Opera singers for admission to the Maria Manetti Shrem Emerging Artists Program, a two-year artist residency for advanced training and professional development for opera singers and répétiteurs/opera coaches.

Purpose 

The objective of the Maria Manetti Shrem Emerging Artists Program is the opera singer’s professional training and the consolidation of their career. The objective is pursued through intensive work experience activities and highly qualified training programs, having as their aim the improvement of musical, stylistic and interpretive skills, as well as the expansion of cultural knowledge necessary for practicing the profession.

Requirements for admission

Admission is reserved for candidates with significant musical abilities, a predisposition to the profession and a solid theoretical and technical base.

Candidates must meet the following requirements:

• to be at least 18 years old; 
• not to be 32 years old on the deadline for submitting applications;
• to have attended musical and vocal training at public or private Institutions. In the event that the studies were held with a private teacher, the candidate must provide a written declaration signed by the teacher regarding their maturity and suitability to attend the Program.

The selection is open to both European citizens and citizens from countries outside the European Union.

Duration

The artist residency lasts two years.

For the season 2026/2027, activities are due to begin on 2 November 2026, unless otherwise communicated by the Management subsequently the publication of this Announcement.

Classroom and laboratory activities are concentrated in the period between November 2026 and June 2027, while the work experience activities may be extended up to October 2027.

For the second year, the start is scheduled for November 2027 and the end in October 2028.

Program structure

The training program is aimed at achieving highly specialized skills and expertise; it is distinguished by a strong integration between frontal lessons and the experience of stage work, in addition to an intensive and structured interaction between the various professional profiles involved. Therefore, classroom training is supported by a significant work experience, through participation in stage-musical workshops, opera productions and concerts of the Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Academy and partner musical Institutions. 

Specifically, the training program, customized to the needs of each individual participant, is divided into the following sections:

a) Musical improvement: technique, interpretation and style

b) Technical-dramatic improvement

c) Stage-musical improvement

d) Insights into the knowledge of the sector

e) Linguistic studies

f) work experience

Each section will provide for specific disciplines, masterclasses, interdisciplinary stage-musical workshops, related disciplines and integrative activities.

Based on each particular activity and on the intrinsic characteristics of the same, the instruction may be in individual, group or collective lessons.

The Management may integrate the curriculum with other subjects deemed necessary for the artistic advancement of the participant.

The instruction is entrusted to teachers considered among the finest professionals in the sector: renowned artists and experienced professionals capable of transmitting to the young participants a concentration of their theatrical experience, in a multidisciplinary context of the highest level.

In addition, the participants are given the opportunity to attend meetings with conductors, directors and singers of the Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino and to attend all the production phases of the shows on the playbill.

The Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino/Florence Opera House, the Academy and the partner musical Institutions may offer the participants work experiences in their artistic productions.

Admission to the Program is subject to the signing of the internal regulations.

Location

The activities take place primarily at the Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Piazzale Vittorio Gui, 1 - 50144 Firenze. Additional locations may be identified during the Program.

Application to participate in the selection 

The application for admission to the selection must be completed exclusively online (go to the webpage https://www.maggiofiorentino.com/en/academy/announcements, choose the announcement of selection for Opera singers and then click on the button “Enrol now!”). 

The application must be accompanied by the following documentation:

• A digital photograph half-body, format .png or .jpg
• A digital photograph full-length, format .png or .jpg
• Copy of a valid identity document (identity card or passport), format .jpg, .png, or .pdf
• A curriculum vitae, format .jpg, .png, or .pdf 

The size of each file attached to the application must not exceed 2 Mb. 

The application for admission to the selection is accepted subject to positive checking of all statements, attached documentation and proof of successful payment. If the verification has failed, the application is rejected.

The above verification can be done by Maggio Musicale Fiorentino Academy even after admission to the selections or to the Maria Manetti Shrem Emerging Artists Program. If any falsehoods are found, the candidate will be immediately excluded.

The documentation attached to the application for participation in the selection must be mandatorily presented in Italian or English language.

Application deadline

The applications for admission must be submitted by Saturday 28 February 2026, 11:59 pm Italian time.

Selection exams

Admission to the Maria Manetti Shrem Emerging Artists Program is subject to the passing of the following three phases of selection: eliminatory, semifinal, final.

Eliminatory: video recordings assessment

For the eliminatory round the candidate must present video recordings of two different arias. At least one aria must be presented in Italian.

The two video recordings are to be provided by the candidate at the time of enrolment in the selection and must have the following specifications:

• the audio-video quality must be of a good standard;
• the two opera arias must necessarily be recorded on separate tracks;
• the maximum duration of the two arias must not exceed a total of 15 minutes;
• singers must be filmed frontally.

The candidate must make the video recordings available online, through any type of internet platform (personal website, social network, web channels, such as, by way of example, Youtube, Vimeo, etc.). The links to the videos must be inserted in the relevant fields of the application form. 

If the video recordings should allow only the reproduction of the audio, the Commission reserves the right to reject the application or request the missing video. 

The outcome of the exams will be communicated to all candidates by 20 March 2026. The communication will be transmitted exclusively by electronic mail to the e-mail address provided by the applicant in their application form. No other notification systems will be considered. The same methods of communication are provided for the summons of candidates for subsequent selection exams.

Semifinal and final: live auditions

The semifinal and final exams will be held at the Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Piazzale Vittorio Gui, 1 - Firenze (Italy), approximately on the following dates:

• Semifinal: from 17 April to 19 April 2026;
• Final: 20 April 2026.

If necessary, the Academy reserves the right to modify the aforementioned audition dates.

The exact date and time of the individual summons to the semifinal will be communicated to each candidate at the same time as the outcome of the eliminatory round.

The candidates admitted to the live auditions are required to present six opera arias, including at least three in Italian.

The pieces will be performed in the original language and tonality, comprehensive of recitative and cabaletta, where required.

In the semifinal the candidate will perform from memory an aria of their choice; the Commission reserves the right to require the execution of additional pieces of their choice from those presented.

In the final the candidate must perform from memory one or more pieces chosen by the Commission from those presented. 

The Commission reserves the right to listen to all or part of the pieces required.

The semifinal and final exam may be open to the public, at the discretion of the Management. 

The Maggio Musicale Fiorentino Academy will provide the candidates with a piano accompanist with the possibility of a short rehearsal before the semifinal audition. However, the candidate may be accompanied by their own pianist, in which case the applicant must bear the resulting costs. At the exam the applicant must provide scores of the chosen pieces in two copies. The Maggio Musicale Fiorentino Academy, however, reserves the right to request a copy of any piece presented, even before the date set for the live audition.

The examining committee will be composed of the Artistic Directions of the Academy and the Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino; the Management of the Academy reserves the right to appoint external members. Judgment will be based on the following evaluation criteria: quality of the voice, technical and musical preparation, interpretation and style, diction.

The judgment of the Commission is unquestionable; the Academy will not give reasons on the results of the exams and/or on non-admission to the Maria Manetti Shrem Emerging Artists Program.

Admission to the selection is subject to acceptance of all the provisions contained in this Announcement.

Fee for participation in the selection

The enrolment to the selection is subject to payment of a fee equal to euro 90,00 (ninety/00) including vat, to be paid by credit card or PayPal at the end of the application form.

Candidates admitted to the Maria Manetti Shrem Emerging Artists Program

At the end of selection, the assessment Commission will prepare the list of eligible candidates to be admitted to the Maria Manetti Shrem Emerging Artists Program with the right to the scholarship.

The candidates considered eligible but not admitted due to lack of available positions can:

-  be invited to attend the training activities as listeners/observers;

-  be admitted to possible special projects as active participants; 

-  take the place of an active participant in the event of a waiver or exclusion of the latter;

-  be admitted to the Maria Manetti Shrem Emerging Artists Program without scholarship or with allowance to be defined at the moment on the basis of budget availability.

The Management reserves the right to admit additional participants to the Program once started, after verification of the eligibility of the candidates. Such discretion may be applied, without limitation, in the case of exchanges of training and/or productive experiences between academies, both on the national and international level.

Registration to YAP and attendance fee

For admitted participants, enrolment and attendance to the Maria Manetti Shrem Emerging Artists Program are free.

Scholarships

All candidates admitted to the Maria Manetti Shrem Emerging Artists Program at the end of the selection are assigned a scholarship of Euro 1,000.00 (one thousand/00) gross per month, with effect from November 2026 to June 2027 and from November 2027 to June 2028, subject to any changes that will be communicated within the end of the first year.

Artistic Activity

The Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, the Academy and the partner musical Institutions may offer the participants title or cover roles in operas and/or concerts in the programs of their musical seasons. The assignment of roles will be subject to the judgment of the Artistic Direction of the Academy, which will express its evaluation according to the artistic suitability of the participant in the proposed role, the educational and artistic return, the regularity observed in the attendance of the training activities, and the effective motivation demonstrated and the approach adopted by the participant during the Program.

At the end of the Program, the organizations as above may offer graduates additional artistic engagements for roles in productions scheduled in subsequent operatic-symphonic seasons.

Diplomas 

Participants who successfully complete the entire training Program will receive the Diploma of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino Academy.

Florence, 13 October 2025

For further information 
Accademia del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino - ETS 
Piazzale Vittorio Gui, 1 – 50144 Firenze (FI) – Italy 
Tel. +39 055 2779334 
E-mail: [email protected]       
Sito web: www.maggiofiorentino.com/accademia