It is with this in mind that Siemens aims to both encourage the younger generation and increase the public's interest in art through its annual arts awards. This year the qualification rounds of the 7th Siemens Opera Competition will be held on 17th May and semi-final and final will be held on 18th and 19th May. The semi-final and final stages of the competition will be held in front of a public audience and the results will be announced in an awards ceremony held on 20th May in which the artists who receive prizes will also perform on stage.

The Siemens Arts Awards, which have been presented since 1993, were initiated with the aim of increasing the interest of the young people and the community in art and due to the great interest shown by art lovers these awards have become an annual event. Previously awards were given in painting and design, photography, sculpture and short film, but in the last six years the awards have been given in Opera. The success attained by Turkish youngsters both in Turkey and abroad encouraged Siemens to pursue its course in this field and the competition was renamed the Siemens Opera Competition.

The winner of this competition will be awarded with a one-year scholarship at the Karlsruhe Opera and a four-month scholarship to study German at the Goethe Institute Inter Nationes in Istanbul. The runner-up will receive a six-week summer scholarship at the Salzburg Mozarteum Music Academy and a two-month scholarship at the Goethe Institute. The second runner-up will receive a cash prize of €2000. The jury will be composed of Opera Director Associate Professor Yekta Kara, State Sponsored Artist Mete Uğur, General Art Director of the Dresden Opera Professor Gerd Uecker, General Art Director of the Karlsruhe Opera Achim Thorwald and the Siemens Corporate Representative Özen İncecik. All Opera singers with Turkish citizenship born after 1st January 1975 are eligible to enter the competition.

The final application date for the competition is 10th May, 2005. For more detailed information please go to
www.siemens.com.tr