After 13 months of tense communication and the eventual involvement of the Flemish Ministry of Culture, singers who participated in an international vocal competition in Ghent have finally been paid the prize money owed to them.

Five singers joined together to confront the non-profit cultural organisation Lyrica after they did not receive promised prize money awarded during the second annual Rita Gorr Opera Contest in June 2022.

The outstanding payment, amounting to €5000 [approximately $8,250), was owed to singers from Belgium, Israel, China and Australia.

Jessica Harper, Nofar Yacobi and Alice Wielant at the Rita Gorr Opera Contest, 2022

The singers who participated in the competition ranged in age from 18 to 40 and were overwhelmingly students or recent graduates from conservatories. All contestants were required to pay a €90 ($150) application fee to Lyrica in addition to paying for their own travel and lodging expenses without reimbursement.

Singers have reported that John Boeren, then the Artistic Director of Lyrica and a former music critic for Het Laatste Nieuws, grew increasingly evasive and threatening in his email responses to inquiries regarding payment of prize money.

Competition entrant Jessica Harper, an Australian soprano who...