Déroulement des épreuves
Conditions d'inscription
Concours International d'Art Lyrique de Namur Jodie Devos
January 26, 2026 - February 07, 2026
Jury - 2026
President of the jury
Guido Jardon
LIVRAISON
Recipient of the Belgian Government's Virtuosity Prize for piano - the highest national distinction in classical music - with the highest honors and the jury's commendations, Guido JARDON earned the Advanced Diploma with great distinction from the Royal Conservatory of Music in Liège, and was awarded the Vermeil Medal by the Government.
He was also awarded the Henrijean Prize for the most talented student in the Advanced Piano Competition and the Marie Prize, given to the top-ranked competitor for the Medal. It was during this competition that he received a Steinway & Sons piano as a reward for being the top-ranked participant across all levels.
He further honed his skills at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Munich and obtained the Concert Artist Diploma.
As the First Laureate of the International Competition of the European Musical Institute in Besançon, he also received the First Prize with the jury's commendations at the "Young Virtuosos" Competition in Antwerp.
Guido JARDON, who also holds a First Prize in trumpet, has given numerous concerts throughout Europe and in South America. As a soloist, he has performed with orchestras on numerous occasions.
His musical activities extend to chamber music and conducting, as he has served as a conductor, choir director, and musical director for various ensembles.
After teaching piano at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Liège and at the IMEP, the Higher Institute of Music and Pedagogy in Namur, Guido JARDON currently serves as the General Director of this Higher School of Arts.
Director General of IMEP
Patrizia Ciofi
LIVRAISON
Lyrical artist
Hailing from Tuscany, Patrizia Ciofi is universally recognized as one of the leading sopranos of her generation. The flexibility of her voice allows her to perform a wide repertoire spanning from the Baroque period to the 20th century, encompassing operas, oratorios, and recitals. Her international career has taken her to some of the world's most prestigious stages, including La Scala in Milan, the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, the Paris National Opera, the Vienna State Opera, the Munich State Opera, the Grand Theatre in Geneva, the Teatro Real in Madrid, the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, the Deutsche Oper Berlin, the Opernhaus in Zurich, La Fenice in Venice, the Lyric Opera of Chicago, and the New National Theater in Tokyo.
She has performed under the batons of renowned conductors such as Riccardo Muti, Antonio Pappano, Zubin Mehta, Seiji Ozawa, Myung-Whun Chung, Lorin Maazel, John Nelson, Richard Bonynge, James Conlon, Kent Nagano, Daniel Oren, Alberto Zedda, Roberto Abbado, Evelino Pidò, Paolo Arrivabeni, Maurizio Benini, René Jacobs, Alan Curtis, Fabio Biondi, Ottavio Dantone, Emmanuelle Haïm, Christophe Rousset, and more.
Among the most well-known operas she has interpreted are Verdi's "La Traviata," "Rigoletto," "Falstaff," and "Luisa Miller," Bellini's "La Sonnambula," "I Capuleti e i Montecchi," "I Puritani," and "Norma," Donizetti's "Lucia di Lammermoor," "Don Pasquale," "L'elisir d'amore," "La Fille du Régiment," and "Maria Stuarda," Rossini's "Tancredi," "Il Turco in Italia," "Le nozze di Teti e di Peleo," "Adelaide di Borgogna," "Zelmira," and "Il signor Bruschino," Puccini's "La Bohème," "Gianni Schicchi," and "La Rondine," Massenet's "Manon" and "Cendrillon," Bizet's "Les Pêcheurs de Perles" and "Carmen," Mozart's "Don Giovanni," "Le Nozze di Figaro," "Così fan tutte," "Idomeneo," "La Clemenza di Tito," "Die Zauberflöte," and "Die Entführung aus dem Serail," Handel's "Alcina," "Radamisto," "Siroe," and "Tamerlano," and more.
Her extensive discography includes numerous rare works such as Bellini's "La Straniera," Donizetti's "Pia de' Tolomei," Meyerbeer's "Il Crociato in Egitto," "Robert le Diable," and "Dinorah," Massenet's "Chérubin," Berlioz's "Benvenuto Cellini," and Mozart's "Le Nozze di Figaro."
Marcel Vanaud
Lyrical artist
Marcel Vanaud entered the Brussels Conservatory and honed his voice under the tutelage of Frédéric Anspach. He earned a first prize in singing with the highest distinction and a first prize in lyrical art. He then continued his studies at the Liège Conservatory under Pierre Fleta, obtaining a higher diploma. He also received laurels in several international competitions. He made his debut at the Opéra Royal de Wallonie (ORW) in the roles of Orfeo in Glück's "Orfeo and Euridice" and Papageno in Mozart's "Die Zauberflöte." Subsequently, he portrayed Ourrias in Gounod's "Mireille," Escamillo in Bizet's "Carmen," Lescaut in Massenet's "Manon Lescaut," and other significant roles. In 1982, Marcel Vanaud made his U.S. debut in Pittsburgh in Ravel's "L'enfant et les sortilèges," conducted by André Previn. A year later, he performed the role of the High Priest in Glück's "Alceste" and appeared in a production of "Un ballo in maschera" at the Grand Théâtre de Genève. In 1984, he performed in "Les pêcheurs de perles" at New York Opera. In 1986, he sang in Mozart's "Cosi fan tutte" in a production by La Monnaie in Paris and Vienna. He recorded Offenbach's "Les contes d'Hoffman" for EMI and played the title role in Mozart's "Le nozze di Figaro" at the Santa Fe Festival. In 1987, Marcel Vanaud continued his international career by portraying Lescaut in "Manon Lescaut" in Montreal and later in San Francisco. He also performed in "Don Giovanni" in Brussels, "Don Carlo" in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and "L'Enfance du Christ" at the Théâtre du Châtelet. He was involved in several recordings, including a recital of opera arias with the ORW orchestra under the direction of Robert Bléser, "Les Béatitudes" by César Franck with the Radio-France choirs and the new Radio-France Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Armin Jordan, and "Le Roi d'Ys" alongside Barbara Hendricks with the Radio-France orchestra under the direction of Armin Jordan. He also participated in the recording of "La Marseillaise" conducted by Michel Plasson. In 1989-90, he played the role of Giorgio Germont in "La Traviata" at the Palais des Sports in Liège. He took on the role of Athanaël in Massenet's "Thaïs" for the first time at the Opéra d'Avignon, later reprising it in Liège. He made his debut at La Scala in Milan in Giacomo Manzoni's "Doctor Faustus," directed by Bob Wilson. In 1990, he sang in Verdi's "Simon Boccanegra" and "Don Carlo" at the Opera of Flanders. That same year, he also recorded Enesco's "Oedipe" for EMI and performed Faust at the Chorégies d'Orange. In 1991, he made his debut at the Dutch National Opera in Gluck's "Iphigénie en Tauride" and achieved great success at the Opéra Comique in "Les Pêcheurs de Perles" and at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino in the title role of Paul Hindemith's "Cardillac." In September, he played the role of Chorèbe in Berlioz's "Les Troyens," conducted by Charles Dutoit in Los Angeles. In 1991-92, he sang his first Capriccio in Strasbourg, "Le Roi d'Ys" in Rouen, and "La Damnation de Faust" for the 25th-anniversary celebrations of the Opéra Royal de Wallonie. In 1992-93, he performed in "La Traviata" in Los Angeles and played the role of Wolfram in Wagner's "Tannhäuser" in Rouen. He also appeared at the Lyric Opera of Chicago in "Le Cid" alongside Placido Domingo and portrayed Ourrias in "Mireille" at the Opéra Comique. In the following years, he sang "Stiffelio" at the Vienna State Opera, "Rigoletto" in Saint-Étienne and at the Rendano in Cosenza, and Béatrice in "Béatrice et Bénédict" at La Monnaie. He performed Chausson's "Le Roi Arthus" and "Il Trovatore" and "Tosca" at Liège, "Carmen" in Amsterdam, "Oedipus Rex" in Nice, "L'Enfance du Christ" in Buenos Aires, "Aïda" in Geneva, "Simon Boccanegra" and "Thaïs" in Toulon, "La Traviata" in Carcassonne, Maastricht, Liège with the ORW, and in Macao, "Falstaff" in Strasbourg, and "La Damnation de Faust" in Saint-Étienne, "Manon Lescaut" in Seville.
Marcel Vanaud is also a voice teacher at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels. He recorded a CD featuring great Verdi arias and a selection of arias from the French Opera, conducted by Roger Rossel (Lygia Digital).
Ayrton Desimpelaere
Conductor, pianist, Principal conductor of the Slovenian National Opera and Ballet Ljubljana
Ayrton Desimpelaere (1990) is the Principal Conductor of the Slovenian National Opera and Ballet in Ljubljana since November 2022. In June 2015, in Moscow, Ayrton Desimpelaere gained recognition by stepping in at the last minute to conduct the Moscow Soloists of Yury Bashmet during the semi-finals of the International Tchaikovsky Competition. A few months later, the Royal Opera of Wallonia in Liège engaged him as an assistant conductor for four seasons. Born in 1990, Ayrton Desimpelaere graduated in piano and orchestral conducting from the Regional National Conservatories of Paris and Versailles, as well as from the Royal Conservatories of Brussels and Mons. He also studied Art History and Musicology at the Sorbonne and ULB. Since 2017, he has been teaching orchestral conducting, choral singing, and vocal coaching at IMEP while regularly conducting the institute’s orchestras. For honoring Wallonia and contributing to its influence, the Walloon Government awarded Ayrton Desimpelaere the Medal of Walloon Merit on September 12, 2019.
His recent engagements include conducting the Orchestra Sinfonica Siciliana with cellist Natalie Clein, the orchestra and choir of the Teatro Verdi Trieste (Romeo and Juliet – Giselle – Don Kihot, symphonic concerts, Al Cavallino Bianco). In March 2025, he conducted the Tonkünstler-Orchester at the St. Pölten Festspielhaus (Austria). In April and May 2025, he is invited by the Rijeka Opera Ballet in Croatia to conduct Cinderella (Prokofiev/Leo Mujic). In December 2020, he was invited for four concerts with the Bilkent Symphony Orchestrain Ankara. After conducting Mozart's The Magic Flute (a participatory opera) at the Royal Opera of Wallonia, he created #Folon(Campogrande) in 2018, Don Quichotte (Massenet/Le Herissier) in 2019, Little Red Riding Hood (Guagnini) in 2020, Ursule and Hirsute (Polis/Borbé) in 2021, and The Last Sorcerer (Viardot) in 2022. In 2018, he conducted Cimarosa's Il Matrimonio Segreto staged by Stefano Mazzonis di Pralafera at the same opera house. The same year, he conducted two performances of Verdi's Aida and one performance of Puccini's Madama Butterfly. He also led the ORW orchestra in gala concerts for the International Lyric Art Competition in Namur in April 2019, and in April 2022, he conducted Sinfonia Eroïca, a ballet by Michèle-Anne de Mey created in 1990. Ayrton also conducted Don Giovanni at the PBA in Charleroi in a staging by Jaco van Dormael. His repertoire includes more than 40 operas and ballets, as well as an extensive symphonic and choral repertoire. At BOZAR, he conducted the Belgian National Orchestra for the projects "Cantania" and "Move 2.0." and the choir of the Regional A Cœur Joie of Brussels in Dvořák's Stabat Mater. He frequently collaborates with the Royal Chamber Orchestra of Wallonia (with creations for the "Ars Musica" Festival: Machina Ex Uomo by Gwenaël Grisi and Doudou by Mathieu Lebrun). Ayrton has been invited to several festivals: Festivals of Wallonia, Festival de l’Été Mosan, MuCH Festival at the Queen Elisabeth Chapel, Cavatine, Kidzic, Est-Ouest, Lyrics of Leers, Musical Walks of Rixensart, Ars Musica, Summer Festival in Hainaut, Mozart Festival, Classissimo, Midis-Minimes, Piccolo Opera Festival, Pula Summer Festival, Zagreb Opera Festival, and more. Ayrton Desimpelaere is supported by the Wernaers Fund. In 2017, he received the Lekime Frison and Gerofi Baschwitz Prizes, and in 2018, the Maurice Lefranc Prize (Heritage Commission). He was appointed an expert to the Interdisciplinary Council of Performing Arts before joining the Council of Contemporary Music until 2019. In 2016, he joined the artistic committee of the André Dumortier International Competition. He participated with Cécile Lastchenko in the complete Debussy edition released by Warner in 2018 for the centenary of Debussy's death. He recorded Golijov's Three Songs alongside Jodie Devos and the Camerata IMEP. In 2019, he served on the jury of the International Lyric Art Competition in Namur.
Veruska Reho
Casting Manager at the Royal Opera of Wallonia-Liège
Ouri Bronchti
Vocal coach and conductor
Head of Musical Studies and Assistant to the Music Director at La Monnaie / De Munt
Manuel Rondal
Artist Manager – Intermezzo, Paris
Manuel Rondal holds a Master’s degree and an Agrégation in Musicology from the Free University of Brussels. Alongside his academic studies, he pursued his musical training at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels, where he was awarded a First Prize in Singing. Having been exposed early on to the world of opera, its challenges, and its repertoire, he held various positions at the Royal Theatre of La Monnaie and then at the Royal Opera of Wallonia-Liège, working in Public Relations, Communication, and Marketing. He subsequently served as Artistic Assistant at the Royal Opera of Wallonia-Liège alongside Stefano Mazzonis di Pralafera.
In 2021, he joined the Paris-based artist management agency Intermezzo Management, specializing in the representation of opera artists both in France and internationally.
Martine Dumont-Mergeay
Journalist and music critic for La Libre Belgique
Camille De Rijck
Journalist at La Libre Belgique, Diapason, and Director of Forumopera
Camille De Rijck launched Forumopera.com in 1999, and he continues to serve as its Editor-in-Chief to this day. The website is the first French-language media dedicated to opera and garners approximately 180,000 monthly visitors.
From 2006 to 2015, he was the Co-Artistic Director of the Cypres label, where he acted as an executive producer for recordings by La Monnaie and the Paris Opera. In this capacity, he produced and assembled all of the recordings of the composer Philippe Boesmans, of whom he is a prominent specialist. Boesmans dedicated his latest opera, "On Purge Bébé," to Camille De Rijck, and it premiered at La Monnaie in 2022.
On Musiq3, the classical and cultural channel of the RTBF (Radio Télévision Belge de la Communauté Française), he produced and hosted various programs between 2014 and 2023, including "La Matinale," "Demandez le programme," "Chambre avec vue," and "La Conversation." On La Première (RTBF), he was a cultural columnist on the shows "Déclic" and "Week-end Première" and authored the column "Divas et vieilles dentelles."
Between 2014 and 2019, and again in 2023, he presented the Queen Elisabeth Competition on television and radio. He created numerous radio portraits and documentaries, including one on the American writer Paul Bowles.
In 2022, he joined the Culture team at the Belgian daily newspaper La Libre Belgique.
He is a contributor to the magazine Diapason, where since 2018, he has conducted extensive interviews with artists. He has written numerous discographical notes for labels such as Harmonia Mundi, La Dolce Volta, NoMadMusic, Deutsche Grammophon, Hyperion, and Naïve. He has also penned texts for La Monnaie, the Paris National Opera, the Aix-en-Provence International Festival, and the Britten/Pears Foundation in Aldeburgh.
In 2017, he published a book of interviews with Christophe Rousset, titled "Pour que l'instrument chante" (Philharmonie de Paris). On the occasion of Philippe Herreweghe's 70th birthday, he released a book of interviews with him (Phi). He is currently working on a new book of interviews with the pianist Pavel Kolesnikov.
He is the co-director of the Via Appia book series on music, developed within the Humensis group, along with Sylvain Fort. This series features texts by André Tubeuf, Jean-Guihen Queyras, and Philippe Jaroussky, and will soon include a book by René Jacobs on Mozart.
In 2019, he delivered lectures on music journalism at the University of Bologna and the University of Geneva. In 2020, he conducted a media training session for Alain Altinoglu's conducting class at CNSDMP. In 2020, he became a professor at the Royal Institute of Music and Pedagogy (Namur), where he leads seminars and, since 2023, teaches Marketing and Communication courses. In 2023/2024, he will give a series of lectures at the National Orchestra of Lille, the Palais des Beaux-Arts de Charleroi, and the Royal Academy of Belgium.
Camille De Rijck is a Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters of the French Republic.