A total of 81 singers from 28 countries are vying for top honours, with Poland fielding the largest number of contestants, at 14, followed by South Korea with 11.
The participants were selected from more than 440 applicants representing 51 countries, who submitted video recordings for preselection—an all-time record in the event’s over four-decade history.
An international jury, chaired by John Allison, editor of Opera magazine, includes leading figures from the global opera scene, as well as renowned Polish singers Izabela Kłosińska, Olga Pasiecznik and Mariusz Kwiecień.
Winners will be announced on June 7.
The top prize includes EUR 20,000 and the prospect of future solo engagements with major opera houses.
Founded in 1992 by the late Polish soprano and opera director Maria Fołtyn, a tireless promoter of Moniuszko's legacy, the competition is held every three years.
In 2019, it became a member of the World Federation of International Music Competitions.
Past prizewinnners include outstanding opera singers such as Aleksandra Kurzak and Jakub Józef Orliński, alongside Urszula Kryger, Małgorzata Walewska, Mariusz Kwiecień, Alexey Markov, Vladimir Moroz and Andrzej Filończyk.
Known as the father of Polish national opera, Moniuszko was born in 1819 in Ubiel near Minsk, present-day Belarus, into a patriotic Polish family.
He studied music in Warsaw, Minsk and Berlin, and following early successes, became conductor at Warsaw's Grand Theatre. He died in 1872.
Moniuszko’s best-known operas include Halka, The Haunted Manor, The Raftsman, The Countess and Verbum Nobile.
His broader body of work also includes several operettas, over 250 songs, sacred music, cantatas and chamber pieces.
(mk/gs)