© Bayreuther Festspiele, Meistersinger, 2019

Young Artists

The scholarship programme is intended for emerging talented singers, musicians, or other opera related young artists, who may become the future generation of orchestra or stage artists at the Bayreuth Festival.

The International Richard Wagner Association was founded in Lyon in 1991. Since then, all local German Richard Wagner Societies in addition to approximately 40 Wagner Societies from countries all over the world have been supporting the Richard Wagner Scholarship Foundation and have placed young artists from their cities in the Bayreuth scholarship programme.

Richard Wagner Societies both in Germany and from cities in other Western European countries have contributed sufficient additional funds to an "Eastern Europe Pool" to provide approximately 25 young artists from Eastern and Central Europe with scholarships to Bayreuth every year. Approximately 300 of these scholarships have been awarded.

Today, the majority of scholarship holders come from outside Germany, from about 40 different countries.

Further information: www.richard-wagner-stipendienstiftung.de/eng/

Some well-known former scholarship holders

  • Gerd Albrecht
  • Hildegard Behrens
  • Julia Borchert
  • Benjamin Bruns
  • Franz Crass
  • Katarina Dalayman
  • Diana Damrau
  • Helga Dernesch
  • Markus Eiche
  • Christoph Eschenbach
  • Mihoko Fujimura
  • Günther Groissböck
  • Carola Guber
  • Mirella Hagen
  • Franz Hawlata
  • Klaus Hirte
  • Peter Hofmann
  • Heinrich Hollreiser
  • Kasper Holten
  • Gundula Janowitz
  • Thomas Jesatko
  • Manfred Jung
  • Anja Kampe
  • Jonas Kaufmann
  • Michaela Kaune
  • Mario Klein
  • Axel Kober
  • Wolfgang Koch
  • Petra Lang
  • Catarina Ligendza
  • Ralf Lukas
  • Hillevi Martinpelto
  • Christoph Ulrich Meier
  • Waltraud Meier
  • Ricarda Merbeth
  • Kurt Moll
  • Sonja Mühleck
  • Judit Nemeth
  • Allison Oakes
  • Helmut Pampuch
  • Alexandra Petersamer
  • Birgit Remmert
  • Dorothea Röschmann
  • Detlef Roth
  • Julia Rutigliano
  • Roberto Sacca
  • Franz-Josef Selig
  • Manfred Schenk
  • Andreas Schmidt
  • Wolfgang Schmidt
  • Peter Schneider
  • Robert Schunk
  • Michaela Schuster
  • Daniela Sindram
  • Doris Soffel
  • Hans Sotin
  • Elisabeth Strid
  • Bryn Terfel
  • Iréne Theorin
  • Christian Thielemann
  • Christian Tschelebiew
  • Juha Uusitalo
  • Violeta Urmana
  • Stefan Vinke
  • Michael Volle
  • Okka von der Damerau
  • Yvonne Wiedstruck
  • Sebastian Weigle
  • Ortrun Wenkel
  • Erwin Wohlfarth
  • Rainer Zaun
  • Hans Zender
  • Georg Zeppenfeld
  • Ruth Ziesak