This is the winner of ARIA

Sílvia Sequeira has won the MAX opera talent show ARIA. On Sunday night, she competed in a spectacular final against her two fellow candidates, Pim van Drunen and Mira Alkhovik.

The three talented final candidates each sang one more aria, accompanied by the National Youth Orchestra of the Netherlands conducted by Leonard Evers. Sílvia sang ‘Dich, teure Halle’ from Richard Wagner’s romantic opera Tannhäuser. The judges praised her performance as ‘phenomenal’ and said she was ‘born for the big, heavy opera repertoire’.

Sílvia wins a traineeship at the Dutch National Opera Studio programme, which aims to prepare young talent for an international opera career. The artistic leader is the internationally renowned soprano, Rosemary Joshua. 

After weeks of speculation, the identity of the mysterious Secret Judge was revealed in the finale. None other than opera singer Marco Bakker had the deciding vote this season to send candidates through to the next round.

On Monday, November 21 at 2 pm, winner Sílvia will discuss her participation in ARIA in depth on NPO Radio 4's Maatwerk.

Have you missed ARIA? You can replay the episodes on MAX Vandaag.