Lea Shaw Takes Four Prizes at 59th IVC 's-Hertogenbosch

By Tom Whitfield

American mezzo-soprano Lea Shaw won the Grand Prix 's-Hertogenbosch on Oct. 10, taking four prizes worth €20,500 in total at the 59th International Vocal Competition 's-Hertogenbosch (IVC) in Opera and Oratorio.

's-Hertogenbosch Mayor Mikkers presented Shaw with the top award of €15,000 following the Grand Finale concert. She also collected the Van Amelsvoort Prize (€2,500), the ANED Fund Audience Prize (€1,500), and the Press Jury Prize (€1,500). Winning the audience and press juries alongside the official one is an unusual sweep; the IVC has not said how the three verdicts aligned, but the convergence is hard to dismiss.

Shaw is based in Glasgow and has performed with Scottish Opera and English National Opera. She has also won awards at the Aldeburgh Festival New Voices Competition. Her engagement prizes include a Lunch Concert in the Kleine Zaal of the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam on Oct. 14 — a first step, though the IVC's track record of converting its prizes into sustained careers is something only time will test.

Who else won?

British tenor Jack Lee took second prize and the Toonkunstprijs (€7,500), plus the Bierens Foundation of the Arts Operetta Prize (€3,500). Swiss bass-baritone Evan Gray received third prize and the Staetshuys Fund prijs (€4,000).

Ukrainian soprano Viktoriia Shamanska won both the Young Talent Prize and the Marianne Blok Prize, each worth €3,500. Ukrainian soprano Maria Knihnytska received the Friends of the IVC Prize (€1,500), and Chinese baritone Chao Liu took the Junior Jury Prize (€1,000).

Two Dutch singers picked up named engagements rather than cash: soprano Irene Hoogveld received the Händel Choir Award 2026, and tenor Milan de Korte received the Andrew Wise Talent Award 2026.

How did the competition run?

The Main Rounds ran Oct. 2 to 5 and featured 36 young singers. Eight finalists advanced: Shaw, Lee, Gray, baritone Yuriy Hadzetskyy (Ukraine), soprano Viktoriia Shamanska (Ukraine), tenor Aaron Casey Gould (USA), baritone Chao Liu (China), and baritone Thomas McGowan (UK). Note the list skews heavily toward baritones and Eastern European voices — three Ukrainians among eight finalists, at a time when Ukrainian singers are visibly prominent across European competitions.

Karen Kamensek conducted Philzuid in the Grand Finale concert.

The jury carried real institutional weight. Director Sir David Pountney chaired it, alongside soprano Susan Bullock, tenor Paul McNamara, bass Peter Rose, Natascha Ursuliak of Opernhaus Zürich, Susanne Schmidt of Opera Ballet Vlaanderen, Dieter Kaegi of Theater Orchester Biel Solothurn, Tobias Hasan of Staatsoper Unter den Linden, and Damià Carbonell Nicolau of De Nationale Opera. Six casting-adjacent institutions sat in judgment — a jury that doubles as a hiring network, provided the laureates convert the exposure.

What does this change for Shaw?

An immediate Concertgebouw date on Oct. 14, prize money of €20,500, and a panel that includes decision-makers from Zürich, Berlin, Antwerp and Amsterdam. The rest depends on bookings that do not yet exist. Audiences can judge for themselves: a recording of the Grand Finale airs on NPO Klassiek as part of the NTR program "Opera Live" on Oct. 24, from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. local time.