2025 Competition rules

All competitors that complete an application must agree to comply with our competition rules. If you have any queries about any of our rules, please feel free to get in touch and we will be happy to clarify anything. 

2025 Competition rules

All competitors that complete an application must agree to comply with our competition rules. If you have any queries about any of our rules, please feel free to get in touch and we will be happy to clarify anything. 

The Rules

1. The Competition is open to all singers from 20 to 32 years. Age to be taken as of 1st January 2025.

2. There is a non-refundable application fee of €100 payable online as part of the application form. This fee is only refundable upon cancellation of the competition.

3. Repertoire for live auditions / video link: Two contrasting arias of own choice, not to exceed 10 minutes. These arias can be repeated in the Competition itself, should the competitor be successful in being accepted. The video applications must have been made within one year of the date submitted and this must be verified by a timestamp on the video.

4. Competition Rounds
Preliminary Round: Competitors to sing 2 contrasting operatic arias, not to exceed 10 minutes in total.
Quarter-final: Competitors to sing another 2 contrasting operatic arias, in 2 different languages, not to exceed 15 minutes in total.
Semi-final: Competitors to sing a programme, not to exceed 20 minutes, to include at least 2 operatic arias. The remainder of the programme is at the discretion of the competitor and can include other operatic arias, oratorio arias or songs.
Final: Competitors to sing a programme of three operatic arias with orchestra – not to exceed 16 minutes in total. You must choose at least two arias that you have NOT performed in a previous round, while one can be a repetition from a previous round. Competitors must select this 16 minute programme from the list of repertoire found on the following pages.
These time limits must be strictly adhered to or there will a penalty applied.

5. All arias and songs must be performed from memory and in the original language. Arias must be sung in the original key. Scores are permitted for oratorio arias. No duplication of arias or songs is permitted in the submitted programmes, with the exception of the Final.

6. All competitors must provide one copy of their music for the accompanist.

7. Strict adherence to time limits must be observed.

8. The order of the performances will be determined by ballot.

9. Competitors who are not available to perform when called upon to do so by the Jury may be disqualified.

10. The decisions of the Jury are final and beyond appeal. The Jury may award or withhold any prize as deemed fit.

11. The First Prize cannot be tied.

12. The winner of the Competition contracts to perform at a concert organised by the Veronica Dunne International Singing Competition within 2 years of the Final.

13. The first prize of the Competition is €10,000, plus a separate prize of €2,000 in respect of the performance by the winner at a VDISC engagement in the future as detailed above.

14. Rights to any Competition performance, whether broadcast, televised, recorded or filmed, belong to the Competition. No fee is payable on account of these performances or any recordings, broadcasts, transmissions or film.

15. Official accompanists will be available and rehearsal times will be arranged with them. Competitors may bring their own accompanist if they wish.

16. Twenty-four (24) Competitors will be admitted to the Quarter Final. Twelve (12) Competitors will be admitted to the Semi-Final. Six (6) Competitors will be admitted to the Final.

COMPETITION RULES

Download a PDF of our 2025 Rules and Repertoire List for the Final.

Download rules

Repertoire list for the 2025 Final

Competitors are to select three choices from our repertoire list for the Final.

Soprano repertoire


Adams “Madame Mao”, Nixon in China

Balfe “I dreamt I dwelt in marble halls”, The Bohemian Girl

Beethoven “O wär ich schon mit dir vereint”, Fidelio

Beethoven “Abscheulicher! Wo eilst du hin?”, Fidelio

Bellini “Eccomi in lieta vesta”, I Capuletti e I Montecchi

Bellini “Qui la voce”, I Puritani

Bellini “Col sorrizo d’innocenza”, Il Pirata

Bellini “Ah non credea… Ah non giunge”, La sonnambula

Bellini “Care compagne…come per me sereno”, La sonnambula

Berg “Wenn sich die Menschen”, Lulu

Bizet “Je dis, que ne rien”, Carmen

Britten “How beautiful it is”, The Turn of the Screw

Catalani “Ebben, n’andrò lontana”, La Wally

Charpentier “Depuis le jour”, Louise

Delibes “Ou va la jeune Hindoue”, Lakmè

Donizetti “Scene ed Aria finale”, Anna Bolena

Donizetti “Quel guardo il cavaliere… So arch’io la virtu magica”, Don Pasquale

Donizetti “Prendi, per me sei libero”, L’Elisir d’Amore

Donizetti “O Luce di quest anima”, Linda di Chamoumix

Donizetti “Regnava nel silenzio”, Lucia di Lammermoor

Donizetti “Il dolce suono mi colpì di sua voce (Mad scene)”, Lucia di Lammermoor

Dvorak “Mesícku na nei hlubokém”, Rusalka

Gluck “Divinités du Styx”, Alceste

Gluck “Che fiero momento”, Orfeo ed Euridice

Gluck “O del mio dolce ardor”, Paride ed Elena

Gounod “Ah! Je ris de me voir”, Faust

Gounod “Ah! Je veux vivre (in F)”, Romeo et Juliette

Gounod “Ah! Je veux vivre (in G)”, Romeo et Juliette

Gounod “Amour ranime mon courage”, Romeo et Juliette

Handel “Tornami a vagheggiar”, Alcina

Handel “Care selve, Atalanta”, Ariodante

Handel “Piangerò la sorte mia”, Giulio Cesare

Handel “Da tempesta”, Giulio Cesare

Handel “V’adoro pupille”, Giulio Cesare

Leoncavallo “Qual fiamma avea nel guardo! Stridono lassù”, Pagliacci

Massenet “Il est doux, il est bon”, Hérodiade

Massenet “Adieu, notre petite table”, Manon

Massenet “Je suis encore tout etourdie”, Manon

Massenet “Obeissons quand leur voix appelle”, Manon

Massenet “Frère voyez!”, Werther

Mozart “Temerari…Come scoglio”, Cosi Fan Tutte

Mozart “Ei parte … Per pietà”, Cosi fan Tutte

Mozart “Una donna a quindic’anni”, Cosi fan Tutte

Mozart “In uomini, in soldati”, Cosi fan Tutte

Mozart “Smanie implcabili”, Cosi Fan Tutte

Mozart “Bester Jüngling”, Der Schauspieldirektor

Mozart “Ach! Ich liebte”, Die Entführung aus dem Serail

Mozart “Martern aller Arten”, Die Entführung aus dem Serail

Mozart “Durch Zärtlichkeit und Schmeicheln”, Die Entführung aus dem Serail

Mozart “Welcher Kummer … Traurigkeit”, Die Entführung aus dem Serail

Mozart “Welche Wonne, welche Lust”, Die Entführung aus dem Serail

Mozart “Ach, ich fühl’s”, Die Zauberflöte

Mozart “Der Hölle Rache”, Die Zauberflöte

Mozart “O zittre nicht”, Die Zauberflöte

Mozart “Crudele… Non mir dir”, Don Giovanni

Mozart “Or sai che l’onore”, Don Giovanni

Mozart “In quali eccesi… mi tradì quell’ alma ingrata”, Don Giovanni

Mozart “Ah, fuggi il traditor”, Don Giovanni

Mozart “Padre Germani, addio!”, Idomeneo

Mozart “D’Oreste d’Ajace”, Idomeneo

Mozart “S’altro che lacrime”, La Clemenza di Tito

Mozart “Porgi amor”, Le Nozze di Figaro

Mozart “Giunse alfin il momento… deh vieni non tardar”, Le Nozze di Figaro

Mozart “Porgi Amor”, Le Nozze di Figaro

Mozart “Dove sono i bei momenti”, Le Nozze di Figaro

Mozart “Tiger!… Wetze nur die Klauen”, Zaide

Offenbach “Elle a fui, la tourterelle”, The Tales of Hoffman

Offenbach “Les oiseaux dans la charmille”, The Tales of Hoffman

Puccini “Donde lietà usci”, La Bohème

Puccini “Mi chiamano Mimi”, La Bohème

Puccini “Quando m’en vo’”, La Bohème

Puccini “In quelle trine morbide”, Manon Lescaut

Puccini “Vissi d’arte”, Tosca

Puccini “Signore, ascolta”, Turandot

Puccini “Tu, che di gel sei cinta”, Turandot

Puccini “O mio babbino caro”, Gianni Schicchi

Puccini “Che’il bel sogno di Doretta”, La Rondine

Puccini “Un bel di”, Madama Butterfly

Rossini “Ah donato il caro sposa ( Sofie)”, Il signor Bruschino

Rossini “En proie a la tristesse”, Le Comte Ory

Rossini “Una voce poco fa”, Il Barbiere di Siviglia

Tchaikovsky “Tatiana’s letter scene Puskaj pagibnu ja”, Eugene Onegin

Tchaikovsky “Lisa’s scene and aria: Utzh polnochblizitsya/ twill soon be midnight now”, Pique Dame

Thomas “A vos jeux, mes amis (mad scene)(Ophelia)”, Hamlet

Thomas “Ou, pour ce soir… Je suis Titania!”, Mignon

Verdi “Ritorna vincitor”, Aida

Verdi “Qui Radames verrà … O cieli azzurri”, Aida

Verdi “Morrò, ma prima in grazia”, Il ballo in Maschera

Verdi “Tu che le vanità”, Don Carlo

Verdi “Ernani Involami”, Ernani

Verdi “Erriam sotto la luna”, Falstaff

Verdi “Mercè dillette amiche”, I Vespri Siciliani

Verdi “Leonora’s Aria: Tacea la notte”, Il Trovatore

Verdi “D’amor sull’ali”, Il Trovatore

Verdi “Scena, Aria e Miserere”, Il Trovatore

Verdi “Pace, pace, mio Dio”, La forza del destino

Verdi “È strano… ah, fors’é lui … sempre libera”, La Traviata

Verdi “Una macchia è qui tutt’ora”, Macbeth

Verdi “Gualtier Maldè… Caro nome”, Rigoletto

Verdi “Come in quest’ora bruna”, Simon Boccanegra

Verdi “Volta la terrea”, Un Ballo in Maschera

Verdi “Ma dall’arido stelo divulsa”, Un Ballo in Maschera

Wagner “Der Männer Sippe” Die Walküre

Wagner “Elsa’s Dream”, Lohengrin

Wagner “Dich, teure Halle”, Tannhauser

Weber “Kommt ein schlanker Bursch gegangen”, Der Freischütz

Weber “Leise, leise, fromme Weise”, Der Freischütz

Mezzo-soprano & Contralto repertoire


Bizet “Les tringles des sistres tintient”, Carmen

Bizet “Seguidille”, Carmen

Bizet “L’amour est un oiseau rebelle”, Carmen

Donizetti “O mio Fernando”, La Favorita

Gluck “Che farò senza Euridice?”, Orfeo ed Euridice

Gounod “Faites-lui mes aveux”, Faust

Gounod “Que fais-tu, blanche tourterelle”, Romeo et Juliette

Handel “Verdi prati”, Alcina

Handel “Dopo notte”, Ariodante

Handel “Scherza infida”, Ariodante

Handel “Cara speme”, Giulio Cesare

Handel “Svegliatevi nel core”, Giulio Cesare

Handel “Stille amare”, Tolomeo

Massenet “Letter Scene: Werther, Werther”, Werther

Massenet “Va!  Laisse couler mes larmes”, Werther

Meyerbeer “Nobles seigneurs, salut!”, Les Huguenots

Mozart “Smanie implcabili”, Cosi Fan Tutte

Mozart “Il padre adorato”, Idomeneo

Mozart “Deh per questo istante solo”, La Clemenza di Tito

Mozart “Parto, Parto ma tu, ben mio”, La Clemenza di Tito

Mozart “Voi che sapete”, Le Nozze di Figaro

Mozart “Non so più cosa son”, Le Nozze di Figaro

R. Strauss “Sein wir wieder gut”, Ariadne

R. Strauss “Wie du warst! Wie du bist!”, Der Rosenkavalier

Rossini “Una voce poco fa”, Il Barbiere di Siviglia

Rossini “Cruda sorte”, L’Italiana in Algeri

Rossini “Nacqui all’affanno… non più mesta”, La Cenerentola

Saint-Saëns “Mon coeur s’ouvre a ta voix”, Samson et Dalila

Tchaikovsky “Pauline’s Aria”, Pique Dame

Verdi “O don fatale”, Don Carlo

Verdi “Re dell’abisso”, Un ballo in Maschera

Countertenor Repertoire


Gluck “Che farò senza Euridice?”, Orfeo ed Euridice

Handel “Furibondo spira il vento”, Partenope

Handel “Ombra cara”, Radamisto

Handel “Cara sposa”, Rinaldo

Handel “Dove sei”, Rodelinda

Handel “Vivi, tiranno”, Rodelinda

Handel “Ombra mai fu”, Xerxes

Mozart “Venga pur, minacci e frema”, Re di Ponto

Rossini “Oh, patria – Di tanti palpiti”, Tancredi

Strauss “Ich lade gern mir Gäste ein”, Die Fledermaus

Tenor repertoire


Bellini “A te o cara, amor talora”, I Puritani

Bizet “La fleur que tu m’avais jetée”, Carmen

Boito “Dai campi, dai prati”, Mefistofele

Donizetti “Cerchero lontana terra”, Don Pasquale

Donizetti “Una furtiva lagrima”, L’Elisir d’Amore

Donizetti “Ah! Mes amis”, La Fille du Régiment

Donizetti “Fra poco a me ricovero”, Lucia di Lammermoor

Gounod “Salut! Demeure chaste et pure”, Faust

Gounod “Ah, lève-toi, soleil”, Romeo et Juliette

Handel “Fatto inferno e il mio petto… Pastorello d’un povero armento”, Rodelinda

Massenet “Ah, fuyez douce image”, Manon

Massenet “Pourquoi me reveiller”, Werther

Meyerbeer “O Paradis”, L’Africaine

Mozart “Un aura amorosa”, Cosi Fan Tutte

Mozart “Ich baue ganz”, Die Entführung aus dem Serail

Mozart “Konstanze … O wie ängstlich” Die Entführung aus dem Serail

Mozart “Frisch zum Kampfe”, Die Entführung aus dem Serail

Mozart “Dies Bildnis ist bezaubernd schön”, Die Zauberflöte

Mozart “Dalla sua pace”, Don Giovanni

Mozart “Il mio tesoro”, Don Giovanni

Mozart “Vedrommi intorno l’ombra dolente”, Idomeneo

Puccini “Che gelida manina”, La Bohème

Puccini “Donna non vidi mai”, Manon Lescaut

Puccini “E lucevan le stelle”, Tosca

Puccini “Recondita armonia”, Tosca

Rossini “Si ritrovarla io guiro”, La Cenerentola

Rossini “Ecco Ridente”, Il Barbiere di Siviglia

Tchaikovsky “Kuda, kuda”, Eugene Onegin

Verdi “Se quel guerrier io fossi … Celeste Aida”, Aida

Verdi “De miei bollente spiriti”, La Traviata

Verdi “Parmi veder le lagrime”, Rigoletto

Verdi “O inferno … sento avvampar … cielo pietoso rendila”, Simon boccanegra

Wagner “Mein Herr, Der Singer Meisterschlag (Act 1 Scene 2)”, Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg

Weber “Durch Die Wälder”, Der Freischütz

Bass/Baritone Repertoire


Beethoven “Hat Man nicht auch Gold beineben”, Fidelio

Bellini “Ah! Per sempre io ti perdei”, I Puritani

Bellini “Cinta di fiori”, I Puritani

Bellini “Vi ravviso, o luoghi ameni”, La Sonnambula

Bizet “Votre toast, je peux vous le rendre (Toreador Song)”, Carmen

Boito “Ecco il mondo”, Mefistofele

Britten “Look! Through the port”, Billy Budd

Donizetti “Bella sicome un angelo”, Don Pasquale

Donizetti “Come paride vezzoso”, L’Elisir d’Amore

Gounod “Avant de quitter ces lieux”, Faust

Gounod “Le veau d’or”, Faust

Gounod “Vous quifFaites l’endormi”, Faust

Gounod “Ballade de la reine Mab”, Romeo et Juliette

Handel “Tu sei il cor”, Giulio Cesare

Handel “Lascia Amor”, Orlando

Korngold “Mein Sehnen, mein Wähnen”, Die tote Stadt

Leoncavallo “Si può”, Pagliacci

Massenet “Vision fugitive”, Hérodiade

Mozart “Rivolgete a lui lo sguardo”, Cosi Fan Tutte

Mozart “O, wie will ich triumphieren”, Die Entführung aus dem Serail

Mozart “O Isis und Osiris”, Die Zauberflöte

Mozart “In diesen heil’gen Hallen”, Die Zauberflöte

Mozart “Deh vieni alla finestra”, Don Giovani

Mozart “Fin ch’han dal vino”, Don Giovanni

Mozart “Madamina!”, Don Giovanni

Mozart “Non più andrai”, Le Nozze di Figaro

Mozart “Hai già vinta la causa”, Le Nozze di Figaro

Mozart “Se vuol ballare”, Le Nozze di Figaro

Mozart “Tutto è disposto…Aprite un po’quegli occhi”, Le Nozze di Figaro

Mozart “La vendetta, oh, la vendetta”, Le Nozze di Figaro

Puccini “Questo amor, vergogna mia”, Edgar

Puccini “Vecchia zimarra”, La Bohème

Rossini “Miei rampolli femminini”, La Cenerentola

Rossini “Largo al factotum”, Il Barbiere di Siviglia

Rossini “La Calunnia”, Il Barbiere di Siviglia

Rossini “Resta immobile”, William Tell

Stravinsky “Fair lady, gracious gentlemen”, The Rake’s Progress

Tchaikovsky “Onegin’s Aria: Kogda bi zhizn domashinim krugum”, Eugene Onegin

Tchaikovsky “Onegin’s Arioso: Uzhel ta sa maja Tatiana (Alas, there’s no doubt)”, Eugene Onegin

Tchaikovsky “Princa Gremin’s aria: Lyubrifse vozrasti pokorni”, Eugene Onegin

Tchaikovsky “Yeletesky’s aria”, Pique Dame

Verdi “Son io, mio Carlo – Per me giunto – O Carlo, ascolta – io morrò”, Don Carlo

Verdi “Introduzione ed scena: Ella giammai m’amò!”, Don Carlo

Verdi “Infelice!… e tuo credevi”, Ernani

Verdi “È sogno, o realtà ?”, Falstaff

Verdi “Il balen del suo sorriso”, Il Trovatore

Verdi “Di provenza il mar”, La Traviata

Verdi “Pietà, rispetto, amore”, Macbeth

Verdi “Studia il passo, mio figlio”, Macbeth

Verdi “Come dal ciel precipita”, Macbeth

Verdi “Il lacerato spirito”, Simon Boccanegra

Verdi “Eri tu che m’acchiavi”, Un Ballo in Maschera

Wagner “Was duftet doch der Flieder”, Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg

Wagner “O du mein holder Abendstern”, Tannhäuser