{"id":33215,"date":"2026-01-08T09:48:12","date_gmt":"2026-01-07T22:48:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/?p=33215"},"modified":"2026-01-08T09:48:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-07T22:48:12","slug":"donna-balson-leads-adjudicators-in-2026-ifac-handa-australian-singing-competition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/?p=33215","title":{"rendered":"Donna Balson Leads Adjudicators in 2026 IFAC Handa Australian Singing Competition"},"content":{"rendered":"

IFAC Handa Australian Singing Competition announces that Australian singer and vocal coach Donna Balson will be their 2026 National Adjudicator. Entries for the competition open on 6 February 2026.<\/p>\n

Donna Balson spent over three decades in Germany and the United States, performing as a soloist in opera and concert in repertoire ranging from Bach through Verdi to Nono with international ensembles and opera companies including the Prague Symphony, the Residentie Orchestra Den Haag, Ensemble Modern, Canterbury Opera, Opera Australia and Opera Frankfurt. Her repertoire highlights include Angelina in Rossini\u2019s La Cenerentola<\/em>, Leonora in La Forza del Destino,<\/em> the title role in Tosca,<\/em> and the Verdi and Mozart Requiems.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Alongside her singing career, Donna has an extensive resum\u00e9 as an opera coach and voice teacher, working as a visiting coach with major performing companies and preparing singers for leading roles at houses such as Opera Frankfurt, La Scala, and the Metropolitan Opera, New York. Now based in Sydney, she teaches at the Sydney Conservatorium and maintains a busy private studio working with many of Australia\u2019s leading professional singers.<\/p>\n

Key dates for the 2026 competition
\nENTRIES
\nFriday 6 February 2026\u00a0 – Entries open
\nFriday 13 March 2026 – Entries close<\/p>\n

Monday 16 March 2026 – Closing date for Late Entries (Late Fees Apply)<\/p>\n

HEATS
\nMonday 20 April 2026 \/ Heats: Sydney
\nTuesday 21 April 2026 \/ Heats: Sydney
\nWednesday 22 April 2026 \/ Heats: Melbourne
\nFriday 24 April 2026 \/ Heats: Perth
\nSunday 26 April 2026 \/ Heats: Brisbane
\nSEMI-FINALS
\nThursday 13 August 2025 \/ Semi-Finals Workshop
\nFriday 14 August 2025 \/ Semi-Finals Private Adjudication
\nSunday 16 August 2025 \/ Semi-Finals Public Concert
\nMASTERCLASS
\nMonday 17 August 2025 \/ MasterClass for Finalists
\nFINALS
\nThursday 8 October<\/p>\n

More about the competition and how to enter<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

IFAC Handa Australian Singing Competition announces that Australian singer and vocal coach Donna Balson will be their 2026 National Adjudicator. Entries for the competition open on 6 February 2026.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":33216,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"sls_format":[],"class_list":["post-33215","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":{"deck":"","is_featured":false,"media_type":"standard","audio_embed":"","video_url":""},"yoast_head":"\nDonna Balson Leads Adjudicators in 2026 IFAC Handa Australian Singing Competition<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"IFAC Handa Australian Singing Competition appoints Donna Balson as 2026 National Adjudicator. Entries open 6 February 2026.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/?p=33215\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Donna Balson Leads Adjudicators in 2026 IFAC Handa Australian Singing Competition\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"IFAC Handa Australian Singing Competition appoints Donna Balson as 2026 National Adjudicator. Entries open 6 February 2026.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/?p=33215\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Sounds Like Sydney\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-01-07T22:48:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Screenshot-2026-01-08-094606-1.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1160\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"412\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\\\/?p=33215#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\\\/?p=33215\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/0a3852eddeb5f8e3971a7ee828b5176e\"},\"headline\":\"Donna Balson Leads Adjudicators in 2026 IFAC Handa Australian Singing Competition\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-01-07T22:48:12+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\\\/?p=33215\"},\"wordCount\":266,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\\\/?p=33215#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/Screenshot-2026-01-08-094606-1.png\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\\\/?p=33215\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\\\/?p=33215\",\"name\":\"Donna Balson Leads Adjudicators in 2026 IFAC Handa Australian Singing Competition\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\\\/?p=33215#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\\\/?p=33215#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/Screenshot-2026-01-08-094606-1.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-01-07T22:48:12+00:00\",\"description\":\"IFAC Handa Australian Singing Competition appoints Donna Balson as 2026 National Adjudicator. Entries open 6 February 2026.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\\\/?p=33215#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\\\/?p=33215\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\\\/?p=33215#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/Screenshot-2026-01-08-094606-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/Screenshot-2026-01-08-094606-1.png\",\"width\":1160,\"height\":412},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\\\/?p=33215#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Donna Balson Leads Adjudicators in 2026 IFAC Handa Australian Singing Competition\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\\\/\",\"name\":\"Sounds Like Sydney\",\"description\":\"Connecting with Music\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Sounds Like Sydney\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/SLS-LOGO.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/SLS-LOGO.png\",\"width\":1000,\"height\":361,\"caption\":\"Sounds Like Sydney\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/0a3852eddeb5f8e3971a7ee828b5176e\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/25547aeb88bd329b67e6faa3eceee732614589699ca47c42b4e7638f39d89257?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/25547aeb88bd329b67e6faa3eceee732614589699ca47c42b4e7638f39d89257?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/25547aeb88bd329b67e6faa3eceee732614589699ca47c42b4e7638f39d89257?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Donna Balson Leads Adjudicators in 2026 IFAC Handa Australian Singing Competition","description":"IFAC Handa Australian Singing Competition appoints Donna Balson as 2026 National Adjudicator. Entries open 6 February 2026.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/?p=33215","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Donna Balson Leads Adjudicators in 2026 IFAC Handa Australian Singing Competition","og_description":"IFAC Handa Australian Singing Competition appoints Donna Balson as 2026 National Adjudicator. Entries open 6 February 2026.","og_url":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/?p=33215","og_site_name":"Sounds Like Sydney","article_published_time":"2026-01-07T22:48:12+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1160,"height":412,"url":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Screenshot-2026-01-08-094606-1.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/?p=33215#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/?p=33215"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/#\/schema\/person\/0a3852eddeb5f8e3971a7ee828b5176e"},"headline":"Donna Balson Leads Adjudicators in 2026 IFAC Handa Australian Singing Competition","datePublished":"2026-01-07T22:48:12+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/?p=33215"},"wordCount":266,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/?p=33215#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Screenshot-2026-01-08-094606-1.png","articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/?p=33215","url":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/?p=33215","name":"Donna Balson Leads Adjudicators in 2026 IFAC Handa Australian Singing Competition","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/?p=33215#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/?p=33215#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Screenshot-2026-01-08-094606-1.png","datePublished":"2026-01-07T22:48:12+00:00","description":"IFAC Handa Australian Singing Competition appoints Donna Balson as 2026 National Adjudicator. Entries open 6 February 2026.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/?p=33215#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/?p=33215"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/?p=33215#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Screenshot-2026-01-08-094606-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Screenshot-2026-01-08-094606-1.png","width":1160,"height":412},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/?p=33215#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Donna Balson Leads Adjudicators in 2026 IFAC Handa Australian Singing Competition"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/#website","url":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/","name":"Sounds Like Sydney","description":"Connecting with Music","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/#organization","name":"Sounds Like Sydney","url":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/SLS-LOGO.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/SLS-LOGO.png","width":1000,"height":361,"caption":"Sounds Like Sydney"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/#\/schema\/person\/0a3852eddeb5f8e3971a7ee828b5176e","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/25547aeb88bd329b67e6faa3eceee732614589699ca47c42b4e7638f39d89257?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/25547aeb88bd329b67e6faa3eceee732614589699ca47c42b4e7638f39d89257?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/25547aeb88bd329b67e6faa3eceee732614589699ca47c42b4e7638f39d89257?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au"],"url":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33215","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=33215"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33215\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/33216"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=33215"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=33215"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=33215"},{"taxonomy":"sls_format","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fsls_format&post=33215"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}