Voices of the Overseas Territories the grand finale of the 7th edition

After a year of training and their victories in each of the territories, the 12 candidates from the Overseas Territories, united in Paris during the Voix des Outre-mer Academy, the final preparation before the grand finale.

This competition is part of a desire for access to culture for all. It fights against discrimination in the world of music and particularly that of opera. It does not impose an age limit and is completely free. Its primary purpose is to prepare candidates for a path to professionalization.

Founded in 2018 by Martinique countertenor Fabrice di Falco and the association Les Contres Courants, this vocal competition unlike any other aims to discover and train new talents from overseas territories while creating bridges between overseas cultures and the world of opera. The twelve finalists of the 7th edition testify to this. Interviewed by the evening’s presenters, Laurence Roustandjee and Fabrice di Falco, they speak of « lyric » as an El Dorado, a land of plenty that seemed forbidden to them because of their origins and that they discover with wonder.

The competition is structured in several stages, of which the national final, organized at the Opéra Bastille, is only the tip of the iceberg. Before this final event, regional selections and masterclasses were held to support these young voices who have often not had the chance to have training commensurate with their talent. Guadeloupe, Martinique, Mayotte, Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon, among others, do not have a music conservatory.

The great voices of the overseas angels at the Olympic Games

Axelle Saint-Cirel, winner of the 2023 Voix des Outre-mer Grand Prix, sang La Marseillaise on the roof of the Grand Palais during the Opening Ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games on July 26. Axelle’s performance, draped in a dress in the colors of the national flag, remains a lasting memory of this exceptional evening. The Guadeloupean mezzo-soprano was present during this final.

Soprano Luan Pommier, winner of the Jury’s Favorite Prize at the second edition of the Voix des Outre-mer competition in 2020, took part in the Opening Ceremony of the Paralympic Games, performing the games anthem. The young Guadeloupean also performed I will survive at the foot of the Arc de Triomphe, during the Grand Parade Paris 2024, on September 14, 2024.

But even before the opening of this evening, and throughout in particular to the sound of the melancholic or intensely mournful lyrical airs chosen by certain candidates, the time is also for sadness and solidarity for the inhabitants of Mayotte struck by the terrible Cyclone Chido.
The presenters of the evening, Laurence Roustandjee and Fabrice di Falco (who insisted on being present with the support of crutches for his travels and who will also sing the tender melancholy of the Barcarolle from The Tales of Hoffmann in the final tutti) are also wearing a ylang-ylang flower on the lapel of their jackets as a tribute.

Five prizes were awarded, with a new feature this year, a public prize

It was at the end of a finale rich in discoveries and emotions, which brought together 12 finalists from overseas and mainland France, that the jury chaired by Richard Martet, editor-in-chief of Opéra magazine and opera critic, awarded:

• The Overseas Voices Prize to Laetitia Volcey (Réunion)
• The Young Talent Prize to Orleonne Divo Prince (Réunion)
• The Young Talent Encouragement Prize to Helena Lopez (Mayotte)
• The Public Prize to Mytsuru Kato (French Polynesia)
• The Overseas Voice Encouragement Prize to Livio Heafala (New Caledonia)

The winner of this evening 2025, winning the Overseas Voices Prize presented by the Minister of Culture, all smiles, Rachida Dati, is of course Laetitia Volcey, originally from Reunion Island. She is a teacher of lyrical singing. The stakes, as she also announces, are however important because it is about showing that she knows how to put into practice what she preaches to her students. She succeeds in the great breadth and heights of the lyrical repertoire, choosing in fact to interpret Wagner’s « Dich, teure Halle » that a certain Marie-Laure Garnier sang in 2021, becoming a Revelation lyrical artist at the Victoires de la Musique Classique. Laetitia Volcey thus offers an intensely lyrical voice, vibrant even when the volume is somewhat lacking. The phrases lengthen towards a final softness, through a constant accuracy with a support of the consonants reinforcing the expressiveness of her crescendi, all in full agreement with the spirit and the letter of the piece that she visibly knows how to make work well, first and foremost on herself.

Mytsuru Kato from French Polynesia wins the Audience Award (and the heart), as a matter of course for her too, as her laughter is contagious in interviews, as her Carmen in red and gold captivates the audience, shamanic hands or on the hips, accompanying bursts and intense vibrato. The throat barely tightens, not limiting the volume for the acoustics of the place and the voice does not lack breath. As for her, the Polynesian mezzo-soprano is 48 years old and attracts sympathy as a matter of course.

The Overseas Voice Encouragement Award is awarded to Livio Heafala from New Caledonia, who modified his technique in less than 24 hours thanks to the advice of Fabrice di Falco. His vibrant and valiant interpretation of « O Sole mio » earns him the Overseas Voice Encouragement Award, one of the five awards given out during this grand finale.

Encouragement is also awarded in the « young talents » category to the soprano from Mayotte Helena Lopez, a « rough diamond » according to the established formula, like the other finalists whose potential cannot hide the margin of progress if they want to undertake a lyrical career. Recently entered the Limoges conservatory, who sings Lascia ch’io pianga, all the more difficult because it requires a series of outfits that can seem straight. The young singer holds them like this and even when she finishes out of breath, she uses them as a tool for expressiveness. The voice is otherwise well-held (but tightens and moves a little, before losing accuracy in the melodic journeys).

Age is not a parameter to take into account in this ascent of the opera steps. The Young Talent Prize is awarded to Orleonne Divo Prince from La Réunion who immediately places an intense lyrical voice on the Summertime of Porgy and Bess. At only fifteen years old, receives the « young talent » prize. The interpretation certainly abandons all the soulful warmth of the piece but for a version in operatic altitudes: the high notes radiate and barely tense blossom quickly, the phrasing is very rhythmic and above all the young artist already controls mezza voce and messa di voce (half-voice and voice leading varied in intensity). It is enough for the young soprano, guest of the show Prodiges last December of an already lyrical « Summertime », already controlled both in emission and in intensity to convince of her potential.

The 2025 Jury

• Richard Martet, editor-in-chief of Opéra magazine and opera critic, president of the Jury
• Angélique Boudeville, opera singer
• Valérie Chevalier, director of the Montpellier National Opera Orchestra
• Sabine Devieilhe, opera singer
• Jérôme Gay, president of Génération Opéra
• Frédérique Gerbelle, director of Céleste Productions and Grandes Voix
• Alain Lanceron, director of Warner Classique and Erato France
• Julien Leleu, president of the Les Contres Courants Association
• Myriam Mazouzi, director of the Paris Opera Academy
• Alexander Neef, director of the Paris National Opera
• Sonia Rolland, actress and director
• Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt, writer • Claudia Tagbo, comedian and actress
• Jean-Philippe Thiellay, President of the National Music Center
• Marc Voinchet, Director of France Musique
• Zahia Ziouani, Conductor.

Fabrice di Falco, Martinique soprano and countertenor, imagined and organized this competition with the support of the association Les Contres Courants chaired by Julien Leleu. The objective is to detect, support and give real visibility to the talents of tomorrow’s overseas territories.

Beyond the competition, the promotion of lyrical art in the overseas territories is achieved through various concert projects and artistic collaborations. During the jury’s deliberation, a few excerpts from Porgy and Bess, performed by a troupe of singers from mainland France and overseas, provide a preview of a show that will be presented at the Avignon Festival next summer – and in Paris at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in June 2026.

©2025 – IMPACT EUROPEAN

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