MS Europa hosts its annual singing competition and crowns winner.

Every year, MS Europa hosts The Stella Maris International Vocal Competition where seven talented classical singers from different international opera houses showcase their skills in opera, lied, and oratorio.

Celebrity tenor Michael Schade was the host of this year’s event, which saw first place and 15,000 Euros awarded to soprano Nadine Sierra, from the San Francisco Opera. Semperoper Dresden’s mezzo-soprano Gaza El-Hadidi placed second and received a test recording at Deutsche Grammophon and a guest performance at the Vienna State Opera. Third place was awarded to Grazia Doronzio from The Metropolitan Opera New York.

The judges were Hamburg State Opera director Simone Young, Vienna State Opera director Dominique Meyer, and Duetsche Grammophon representative Marita Prohmann. It was these three and the audience who determined the winners of the competition.

Sebastian Ahrens, managing director of Hapag-Lloyd Cruises, said, “We have once again successfully gathered outstanding male and female singers on board and offered the jury and the audience first-class concerts.”

The 2012 Stella Maris International Vocal Competition will take place on November 6 – 25 when Europa sets sail from Dubai to Mauritius.

Do you like classical music when you hop onboard a cruise ship?