Irish opera singers can now apply for funding and mentorship to the Veronica Dunne Bursary. The aim of this new bursary is to assist young singers to develop their talents so they can flourish in their professional careers.

The Veronica Dunne Bursary is an initiative of the Veronica Dunne International Singing Competition. The international competition takes place every three years in Dublin and attracts the best young singers from all over the world to compete for the prestigious prize.

The bursary fund is €15,000 and will be distributed at the discretion of the jury.

Applications to the bursary are invited from singers, born on or after February 1st 1989, who live in Ireland or abroad, and singers of any nationality who are resident or studying in Ireland.

Singers are asked, in the first instance, to submit an online application, comprising a recent video recording of two arias and a CV showing relevant training or experience.
Applications to be made on www.vdiscompetition.com, to arrive no later than Saturday October 24th at 11.59pm.

An artistic panel will assess the applications based on the standard of each recording and relevant experience.
Up to 30 short-listed competitors will be invited to compete in live rounds in front of an international jury. These will be held during the weekend of Saturday November 7th and Sunday November 8th in MoLI (Museum of Literature Ireland) in Dublin.

For the 1st Round, competitors will be required to sing two contrasting operatic arias (of no longer than 10 minutes duration). 10 competitors will be admitted to the 2nd round. This will consist of an interview with the international jury and a performance of two arias (one of which can have been sung in the first round).

Full competition rules and information for the Veronica Dunne Bursary can be viewed on www.vdiscompetition.com.