Junior jury

Voix 2025 – Junior Jury

After the resounding success of its first edition,
the CMIM Junior Jury returns for a second consecutive year.

The Junior Jury is made up of nine voice students from Montreal’s leading music training institutions: the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal, the Schulich School of Music at McGill University, and the Faculty of Music at l’Université de Montréal.

> It was an immensely rewarding experience to listen to so much high-level playing across three days. It was fascinating to deliberate with the other junior jurors and to see how different our tastes, perceptions and criteria were. This experience has undoubtedly made me a better pianist and musician.
Fiona Wu, Junior Jury, Piano 2024

> Listening to so many pianists of such a high level and being able to be in the same place as the great figures that made up the Grand Jury was an eye-opening, fun, and most of all an inspiring and motivating experience.
Fabrizzio Vargas, Junior Jury, Piano 2024

The Junior Jury is responsible for assessing the performances of the singers, in parallel to the work of the International Jury. Through careful and informed listening and discussion – under the guidance of the Jury President – the Junior Jury will develop its own criteria to evaluate the competitors.

The Junior Jury will evaluate the performances of the 24 competitors in the two stages (Aria and Art Song) of the First Round of the Voice 2025 edition. At the conclusion of these two stages, on May 29, 2025, it will determine the winner of the Junior Jury Prize valued at $1,000 and offered in partnership with Richard Tremblay.

This second appearance of a Junior Jury at the CMIM promises to be an exceptional experience for its members, full of discoveries and encounters. It will offer these classical voice students an invaluable opportunity to enrich their educational and professional careers, while sharpening their critical aptitude.

President of the Junior Jury
2025 Voice Edition

Aline Kutan, Junior Jury President

A Montreal-based soprano of Armenian origin, Aline Kutan enjoys an impressive career on the world’s greatest stages. She has performed over 30 major opera roles in prestigious opera houses such as the Opéra de Paris, Grand Théâtre de Genève, Teatro Colón in Argentina, Glyndebourne in the UK, New York City Opera, Opéra de Yerevan in Armenia, as well as La Scala in Milan. Recently, she created the role of Marie-Eleonore in Opéra de Montréal’s world premiere of La Reine-garçon by Julien Bilodeau, a role she reprised for the Canadian Opera Company this past winter.

A winner of the New York Metropolitan Opera and the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal (OSM) voice competitions, Aline Kutan currently teaches voice at McGill University and the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal. Her recordings can be heard on the ATMA Classique, Analekta, and Sony BMG labels.