Admission requirements:

• Emerging artists in the early stages of their professional opera singing careers.
• No age limit.
• Vocal and musical excellence, strong artistic identity, commitment to cultural leadership and the vision of a “Citizen Artist”.

Materials to be submitted:

• CV/biography,
• repertoire list,
• cover letter or introductory video,
• three videos or audio recordings
• at least two professional references (teacher, coach or programme manager).

Details of the call for applications and how to apply are available on the Opera for Peace website.

Applications must be submitted by Friday 20 February; selected candidates will be contacted for an online interview and/or live audition, which will take place between 22 and 26 February 2026.

The results of the selection process will be announced on Sunday 1 March.

Founded in 1935 as the Orchestra della Radio Svizzera Italiana, the Orchestra della Svizzera italiana (OSI) has just celebrated its 90th anniversary, receiving enthusiastic acclaim from audiences and critics alike in major theatres and concert halls throughout Europe, from the Golden Hall of the Musikverein in Vienna (where it will return on 2 March 2026) to the Philharmonie in Berlin, the Grosses Festspielhaus in Salzburg, the Kölner Philharmonie in Cologne, the Opernhaus in Frankfurt and the Prinzregententheater in Munich.

Since 2022, Krzysztof Urbański has been the OSI's principal guest conductor, succeeding Vladimir Ashkenazy in this role, while Markus Poschner has been principal conductor from 2015 to June 2025.

As the resident orchestra at LAC Lugano Arte e Cultura (Ticino, Switzerland), the OSI is the protagonist of three main seasons in Lugano: OSI at LAC, from autumn to spring in the LAC Theatre Hall; OSI in Auditorio at the orchestra's historic home, the Auditorio Stelio Molo RSI in Lugano Besso, and OSI a Pentecoste, introduced for the first time in June 2025 in the wake of the Presenza festival, with the aim of establishing a regular event with the OSI on a particularly interesting weekend, also due to the presence of a potential international audience.

All this is complemented by the innovative be connected format, with special events and concerts throughout Italian-speaking Switzerland to intrigue new audiences, with the aim of breaking down prejudices against classical music and raising awareness of the Orchestra's identity wherever possible, in the spirit of experimentation, interdisciplinarity and involvement of all age groups.

The rich concert programme sees the Orchestra collaborating with numerous internationally renowned conductors and soloists, both in Italian-speaking Switzerland and beyond: notable examples include Martha Argerich, with whom the OSI has enjoyed a privileged relationship for over twenty years, conductor Charles Dutoit, with whom a closer collaboration is planned for 2025/26, and cellist Sol Gabetta, with whom a stable collaboration has developed, leading to the creation of the Presenza festival at the LAC, which will return to Lugano in 2027 (held every three years).

Concert activity is also constantly developing in Bellinzona and the rest of Italian-speaking Switzerland, where the Orchestra regularly performs at various annual events, especially in the field of cultural mediation.

Equally intense is the recording activity, in collaboration with the Italian-language Swiss Radio and Television (RSI): after a first prestigious international ICMA award in 2018 for the Complete Brahms Symphonies on DVD (SONY Classical), the OSI and Poschner won a second ICMA in January 2025 for a CD dedicated to works by Paul Hindemith and Alfred Schnittke (ECM New Series label). The OSI's original and intriguing discography also includes a series of CDs dedicated to Rossini's unpublished works, Tchaikovsky's Symphonies Nos. 5 and 6, as well as an LP to be released soon featuring Tchaikovsky's Manfred.

Also noteworthy are the opera and ballet co-productions with LAC and various international partners. Finally, OSI's commitment to young people is extraordinary: around 10,000 children attend the concerts and shows designed for them every year in May. In the musical education of young people, the OSI qualifies for close collaboration at various levels with the University School of Music of the Conservatorio della Svizzera italiana.

Open-air concerts, film concerts and summer festivals – including the Locarno Film Festival – complete the programme, attracting an ever-wider audience.

The OSI would like to thank all its funders and sponsors, in particular the Republic and Canton of Ticino - Swisslos Fund, the City of Lugano, the municipalities of the ERSL, the Association of Friends of the OSI (AOSI), its main sponsor BancaStato and the Canton of Graubünden.

The OSI is the resident orchestra at the LAC. The OSI is also grateful to its main partner, RSI, for its constant support and regular radio broadcasts.

Information: www.osi.swiss

Conductor, pianist and Indian-American singing teacher Kamal Khan is co-founder and artistic director of Opera for Peace. Alongside his career as a musician, he is passionately committed to opera training. He has performed in the world's most prestigious theatres and has collaborated with major orchestras and internationally renowned singers. A much-loved teacher, he is active in many important study programmes for young artists, universities, music schools and international vocal competitions. “I Live to Sing”, an EMMY-winning documentary, illustrates his work at the University of Cape Town.