CMIM: Big Changes for 2025 Vocal Edition

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The 24^th edition of the Concours musical international de Montréal (CMIM) will once again be dedicated to voice. For its 2025 iteration, 348 singers—including 74 Canadians—applied from 43 countries. A preliminary jury has already winnowed the number down to 24 competitors, ages 25 to 32, who will gather in Montreal from May 25-June 6 to compete for prizes valued at $160,000.

In terms of its place within the firmament of international voice competitions, Artistic Director Shira Gilbert points to CMIM’s position near the top “both in terms of prize money which includes our career development grant, which is significant, the exposure they get in Montreal, and the (artistic) conditions in the hall. …It’s not every competition where you would get to perform with an orchestra, like Orchestre symphonique de Montréal at Maison symphonique.”

Within singer circles, CMIM is known for its warm, welcoming atmosphere that keeps the interests of all competitors at the forefront. To that end, CMIM has established partnerships with four organizations this year to present recitals with singers who have been eliminated from the first round. They will “still have another chance to sing elsewhere for the public … so it’s a way to really just add to their experience of being in Quebec and if they’re feeling discouraged after the first round, at least they have that other opportunity,” says Gilbert.

Another big change in 2025 was that all applicants were required to present two separate programs—one dedicated to arias and the other to song. As Gilbert states, “it was much harder to apply this year. Unlike the previous two voice competitions in 2018 and 2022 where there were completely separate categories for aria and art song, so (singers) either applied to one or the other, or (some) to both … (this year) you had to submit two aria recordings and two art song recordings, and we also asked people to present their complete program, which is five different programs for the competition.” Despite the extra requirements, the number of applicants was the same as in 2022.

This significant change was only made after “a lot of thinking, a lot of discussions, a lot of consultation with people like the professors, people in our extended community,” says Gilbert. This involved questioning the trope that singers are either more suited to opera or art song. “Everyone we talked to agreed that this was not the case—that, really, an artist today should be able to do all of those things and have the musicianship to do both. So the idea is that our resulting laureates would be even stronger, more polyvalent.”

Also new this year is a first-round prize for the best performance of a Canadian work. As Gilbert mentions, “in the past there has been an imposed piece. For me (this) is not great for a voice edition, for obvious reasons that voice types are so different. …There’s an amazing wealth of Canadian opera that is happening right now, so why not take this opportunity to focus on that.” To help the singers, Gilbert and her team created a resource of works by contemporary composers like Julien Bilodeau and Ana Sokolović that includes piano vocal scores, a description and reference recordings. “We’re really pleased, because 12 out of the 24 singers are singing from this list,” says Gilbert.

The guest conductor for the semifinal and final rounds is American opera maestro Patrick Summers, longtime artistic and music director of Houston Grand Opera. “For him it’s going to be very on the fly, like, who’s singing what, when? So (engaging) somebody who was up for that kind of level of excitement, and had all the repertoire at his fingertips … and who will be a good contact for the singers” is key, says Gilbert. “I was really thrilled that Patrick agreed. …It’s going to be fun!”