Luiz Fernando Malheiro to Lead Maria Callas Competition Jury in 2027

Conductor Luiz Fernando Malheiro will preside over the jury of the Maria Callas Brazilian Singing Competition in 2027, the organizers announced. The 25th edition runs as part of Festival Callas 2027, which also marks the 30th anniversary of the Great Voices series and the 50th anniversary of Maria Callas's death.

Malheiro serves as artistic director of the Amazonas Philharmonic Orchestra and the Amazonas Opera Festival in Manaus. He takes the jury president's seat at a milestone edition: three anniversaries in a single festival year.

Who joins the jury as the 2027 guest?

Brazilian soprano Eliane Coelho joins the panel as the edition's Great Voices guest. Coelho sang at leading opera houses and concert halls, including the Vienna State Opera, where she held a position in the permanent ensemble. She celebrates the 50th anniversary of her career in 2026 — one year before her festival appearance.

Who are the international jurors?

The international members bring five countries and five distinct professional backgrounds to the table.

• Daniele Borniquez (Italy) — head of the Music Department at the Teatro alla Scala Academy and secretary general of the Leyla Gencer Voice Competition in Istanbul.
• Karin König (Austria) — pianist, musicologist and stage director; director of opera at the Salzburger Landestheater.
• Richard Martet (France) — writer and music critic; longtime editor-in-chief of Opéra Magazine and president of the Concours Voix des Outre Mer.
• Sabino Lenoci (Italy) — music critic and editor of L'Opera International Magazine.
• Fernando Sans Rivière (Spain) — historian and opera critic; founder and director of the Barcelona-based magazine Ópera Actual.

Which Brazilian figures complete the panel?

The Brazilian members are Jorge Coli, Fabiana Crepaldi and Robson Tirotti. Coli is a librettist, writer, art critic and professor emeritus at the State University of Campinas. Crepaldi is an essayist and music critic and a member of Friends of Cia Ópera São Paulo. Tirotti, a baritone, also belongs to Friends of Cia Ópera São Paulo.

The nine-member panel pairs opera-industry gatekeepers from La Scala, Salzburg and Barcelona with Brazilian critics and performers.

How did the competition reach its 25th edition?

Paulo Esper founded the competition in 1993. It ran every two years for its first two decades, then switched to an annual schedule in 2013. That arithmetic explains the double milestone: 32 years of history, 25 editions. The 2027 festival now carries the competition's silver edition, the Great Voices series' 30th year and a half-century since Callas's death in one program.