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Opera Prize 2021
Sponsored by Ann Driver Trust
Sat 6 February, 7pm
Just 1 day to go now until this year’s Opera Prize Concert.
‘Come’ and cast your vote tomorrow. This event will be available for one week following broadcast, but voting ends at noon on Monday 8th February.
Past Winners Include
Alfie Boe (Royal College of Music) 1998
As a young boy, Lancashire-born Alfie Boe (from the fishing port of Fleetwood) dreamed of a career as a singer. Having conquered the world’s most prestigious opera stages, led the cast of Les Miserables for nearly a year, and stolen the show at the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Concert at Buckingham Palace, he has certainly succeeded. Always striving to bring good music to different audiences, after three sold-out UK Tours (including the Royal Festival Hall and the Royal Albert Hall), Boe has hundreds of thousands of fans, having achieved Platinum album sales in the UK, and four top ten album placings.
Camilla Tilling (Royal College of Music) 1999
Swedish soprano Camilla Tilling made her Royal Opera debut in 2000 as Sophie Der Rosenkavalier and has since sung Pamina Die Zauberflöte, Dalinda Orlando, Oscar Un ballo in maschera, Arminda La finta giardiniera, Gretel Hansel and Gretel and Susanna Le nozze di Figaro for The Royal Opera. Tilling was born and brought up in Linköping, where she sang gospel and jazz music at school and in her church choir. She studied at the University of Gothenburg and then at the Royal College of Music, graduating in 1998. Her international opera career was launched the following year with her acclimed performances as Corinna Il viaggio a Reims for New York City Opera. She has since performed extensively on both sides of the Atlantic, and has worked with such conductors as Semyon Bychkov, Andrew Davis, Antonio Pappano and Simon Rattle. Her operatic repertory includes many Mozart roles, Sophie, Mélisande Pelléas et Mélisande, Adina L’elisir d’amore, Donna Clara Der Zwerg and the Angel Saint François d’Assise. Tilling regularly performs in concert, engagements including Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 at the Carnegie Hall and numerous performances of Brahms’s Ein deutsches Requiem. Her discography includes songs by Schubert and Strauss and a DVD of Ilia Idomeneo for La Scala, Milan.
Kate Royal (Guildhall School of Music & Drama) 2003
Born in London, Kate Royal studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and the National Opera Studio. Awards include the 2004 Kathleen Ferrier Award, the 2004 John Christie Award, and the 2007 Royal Philharmonic Society Young Artist Award. In concert she has appeared with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment/Sir Simon Rattle (BBC Proms and Festspielhaus Baden-Baden), the Bach Akademie Stuttgart/Helmuth Rilling, at the Edinburgh Festival/Sir Charles Mackerras, the National Symphony Orchestra (Washington)/Rilling, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic/Vassily Petrenko, the Orchestra of La Scala Milan/Myung-Whun Chung, the Los Angeles Philharmonic/Pablo Heras-Casado, the Boston Symphony/Thomas Adès, the New York Philharmonic Orchestra/Alan Gilbert, Cleveland Orchestra/Franz Welser-Möst, Le Concert d’Astree/Emanuelle Haïm, the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra/Robin Ticciati, the Philharmonia/Esa-Pekka Salonen, the BBC Symphony/Jiri Belohlavek, the London Philharmonic/Vladimir Jurowski and Yannick Nézet-Séguin, the Rotterdam Philharmonic/Nézet-Séguin, the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra/Daniel Harding at the Baltic Sea Festival and the BBC Proms, and both the Berlin Philharmonic and the Orchestra of Bavarian Radio under Rattle. She has appeared in recital throughout Europe and North America. In opera she has sung Marschallin Der Rosenkavalier, Pamina Die Zauberflöte, Micaela Carmen, Female Chorus The Rape of Lucretia and Donna Elvira Don Giovanni for the Glyndebourne Festival; Pamina for the Baden-Baden Festival with the Berlin Philharmonic and Rattle, the Lucerne Festival with Harding, and the Royal Opera; Countess Le nozze di Figaro and Governess The Turn of the Screw for Glyndebourne on Tour; Helena A Midsummer Night’s Dream for both the Teatro Real, Madrid and the Glyndebourne Festival; Poppea for English National Opera; Miranda Ades’ The Tempest for the Royal Opera; Handel’s L’Allegro, Pamina Die Zauberflöte, for the Paris Opera; and Countess Almaviva for the Aix-en-Provence Festival. She made her Metropolitan Opera debut as Euridice, returning for Micaela. Kate has recorded Schumann Liederkreis with Graham Johnson for Hyperion and Mahler Symphony No. 4 with the Manchester Camerata. In October 2006 she signed an exclusive contract with EMI Classics for whom her first solo recording was a self titled musical portrait with the Academy of St Martin-in-the-Fields conducted by Edward Gardner, followed by 20th century arias (“Midsummer Night”) with the Orchestra of English National Opera and Gardner, and a song recital disc with Malcolm Martineau (“A Lesson in Love”) and Mahler 2 with Simon Rattle and the Berlin Philharmonic.
Kathryn Rudge (Royal Northern College of Music) 2009
Born in Liverpool, Kathryn completed her studies at the Royal Northern College of Music with Susan Roper on the International Artist Diploma scheme in 2011. During her studies Kathryn’s operatic roles included a critically acclaimed Carmen, Erika in Barber’s Vanessa, Annio La Clemenza di Tito, Cherubino Le Nozze di Figaro, Sorceress Dido & Aeneas and Olga Eugene Onegin, the latter for Haddo House and the RNCM. She also covered the role of Helénè La Belle Helénè and sang excerpts from Handel’s Ariodante. She was a BBC New Generation artist between 2015 and 2017 and between 2010 and 2013 was a YCAT artist (Young Classical Artists Trust). Featured as The Times Rising Star of Classical Music 2012, Kathryn made her debut to critical acclaim with English National Opera as Cherubino The Marriage of Figaro in a production directed by Fiona Shaw, and at Opera North as Sesto Giulio Cesare. Her concert work has included recitals at Wigmore Hall, Bridgewater Hall, the Brighton, City of London Festivals, and Cheltenham Festival (Broadcast by BBC Radio 3), and a performance of Carmen as part of Charles Hazlewood’s 2012 Orchestra In a Field music festival at Glastonbury Abbey. She repeated the role of Cherubino Le Nozze di Figaro with Glyndebourne Touring Opera and in 2013 returned to Opera North in the roles of Annio La Clemenza di Tito and Hermia A Midsummer Night’s Dream. On the concert platform Kathryn has appeared as soloist on several occasions with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra working with conductors Vasily Petrenko, Carl Davis and John Wilson. She has sung Beethoven’s Symphony No.9 with the Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by Paul Daniel at the Royal Festival Hall, Mahler’s Das Knaben Wunderhorn at Bridgewater Hall, Mendelssohn’s St Paul with the Huddersfield Choral Society, Karl Jenkins The Armed Man with Manchester Camerata and Berio and Hesketh Songs with the RLPO Ensemble 10/10. In summer 2014 Kathryn appeared with the RLPO in the premiere of Michael Nyman’s Hillsborough Memorial Symphony and she has recently recorded a CD of English song with pianist James Baillieu which was released by Champs Hill Records under the title ‘Love’s Old Sweet Song’. Recent and future engagements include Dorabella Cosi fan tutte for Garsington Opera, Rosina The Barber of Seville for English National Opera, Nancy Albert Herring for the Buxton Festival, Zerlina Don Giovanni for Opera North as well as concerts with the BBC Philharmonic and BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestras, Hamburg Symphony Orchestra, Bach Choir, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, the Philharmonia at the Three Choirs Festival, BBC National Orchestra of Wales at the BBC Proms, as well as recitals at the Wigmore Hall, Oxford Lieder Festival, Glynde Place, Milton Court, Pembroke College and at the Chiltern Arts, Oxford Lieder, Ryedale and BBC Proms Festivals. Recordings include Leoncavallo’s Zaza and Bellini’s Adelson e Salvini as well as Donizetti’s Il Paria all for Opera Rara, Elgar Songs and Coates songs both for Somm, Songs by Donald Swann for Hyperion as well as many recordings for the BBC.
Natalya Romaniw (Guildhall School of Music & Drama) 2010
Natalya won the Clonter Opera prize in 2010, and performed the title role in Lucia di Lammermoor for Clonter in 2011. She went on to cover Armida in Handel’s Rinaldo for Glyndebourne on tour, and successfully auditioned for the young artist programmes at the MET, New York, The Jette Parker young artist programme, Covent Garden and Houston Grand Opera, Texas, which was the offer she accepted. In 2012 Natalya was the first ever recipient of both the Lovely Song Prize and first prize at the Kathleen Ferrier Awards. Subsequent accolades include representing Wales in the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition, where she was a Song Prize finalist. Last season Natalya was nominated for the Times Breakthrough Category at the South Bank Sky Arts Awards. Most recent roles include Tatyana Eugene Onegin for Garsington Opera, Lisa Queen of Spades in a return to Opera Holland Park, Jenufa for Grange Park Opera in their new Theatre in the Woods at West Horsley Place. In 2017-18, Natalya sings Tatyana Eugene Onegin, in her house debut with Welsh National Opera, and for Scottish Opera in a new production by Oliver Mears. Looking further ahead, Natalya will make her debut with English National Opera as Mimì La bohème. Last summer she returned to Garsington Opera as Marenka The Bartered Bride. Also last season she made her first solo recital recording in a collaboration with the pianist Lada Valesova, featuring repertoire by Dvořák, Janáček, Novák and Rachmaninov.
Anush Hovhannisyan (Royal Conservatoire of Scotland) 2012
Since winning the Clonter Opera Prize in 2012, and performing in the Opera Gala of the same year, Anush joined the Jette Parker Young Artist Programme, Covent Garden. In 2014 Anush won the 1st Prize in Concours Suisse Ernst Haefliger International Competition. As a Jette Parker Young Artist she performed at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden in 2013-2015, and has worked under the direction of renowned conductors such as Jonathan Santagada, Renato Balsadonna, Semyon Bychkov, Gianluigi Gelmetti, Nicola Luisotti, Daniel Oren, Mark Wigglesworth, Esa-Pekka Salonen and Sir Antonio Pappano. Anush is the winner of First and Public Prizes, Deutsche Grammophon and Royal Danish Opera special prizes at the 2016 Stella Maris Competition. Most recent and upcoming performances include Violetta Valery, La traviata, for Scottish Opera, Amaltea, Mose in Egitto, in Cadogan Hall, Berg Seven Early Songs and Beethoven Symphony No 9, with the Southbank Sinfonia, Strauss Four Last Songs with Amicus Orchestra, and performing debut as Donna Anna, Don Giovanni, at New Generation Festival in Florence. Further to the unanimous praise on her debut as Violetta Valery La traviata, for Scottish Opera, Anush made a house debut at the Welsh National Opera in the 2018/2019 season in the same role.
Kang Wang (Royal Northern College of Music) 2014
Australian-Chinese tenor Kang Wang is quickly becoming one of the most sought-after young lyric tenors in the opera world. He is a former member of the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program of the Metropolitan Opera and a finalist in the 2017 Cardiff Singer of the World competition. Highlights of the 2019-2020 season include a return to the Metropolitan Opera for Edmondo in Puccini’s Manon Lescaut opposite Sonya Yoncheva and Marcelo Álvarez, a house debut with Opera Australia as Alfredo in Verdi’s La Traviata, a house and role debut as Don Ottavio in Mozart’s Don Giovanni with Pittsburgh Opera, and a role debut as the Duke in Verdi’s Rigoletto with Opera Austin. On the concert stage, Mr. Wang performs Tan Dun’s Buddha Passion for his debut with the Accademia di Santa Cecila in Rome, and Verdi’s Requiem with the Orquesta Sinfonica di Minerva in Mexico. He joins the Darwin Symphony Orchestra for a program of opera arias and duets, and sings Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde alongside baritone Nathan Gunn in a staged performance at the Krannert Center. During the 2018-2019 season, Mr. Wang made an important role and house debuts as Alfredo in Verdi’s La Traviata with Welsh National Opera, also singing the role for his debut with the Glimmerglass Festival, Tamino in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte for Opera North, and Rodolfo in Puccini’s La bohème at Austin Opera. He made his debut with the Los Angeles Philharmonic led by Gustavo Dadamel performing Tan Dun’s “Buddha Passion,” a work he also premiered with the Müncher Philharmoniker as part of the Dresdner Musikfestspiele, and was the tenor soloist in Verdi’s Requiem with the Eugene Symphony.
Alexey Gusev (Royal Conservatoire of Scotland) 2017
Since performing the role of Marcello in Clonter’s 2018 production of La bohème, Alexey continued as a Scottish Opera Emerging Artist for the 17/18 season with roles in Iolanta, Eugene Onegin, Ariadne auf Naxos and The Fiery Angel, and completed a further season in 2018/19. A keen concert artist Alexey has appeared with the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic / Vladimir Jurowsky in Prokofiev Semyon Kotko and at the Golden Mask, En Blanc et Noir, Malvern, Llandeilo and Salisbury Festivals. He numbers amongst his artistic collaborators the conductors Stuart Stratford, Alexander Polianichko, Andrey Anikhanov, Valery Voronin and Maurizio Dones.
Emma Mockett (Royal Conservatoire of Scotland) 2018
Emma Mockett studied at Alexander Gibson Opera School under the tutelage of Stephen Robertson and Linda Ormiston. Emma was delighted to be supported in her studies by The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland Trust, and J.R.Gibb’s Charitable Trust. Operatic roles include: Fifth Maid Elektra (Edinburgh Opera Players); Agrippina Agrippina (Royal Conservatoire of Scotland); Aunt Norris Mansfield Park (Edinburgh Studio Opera); Marianna Il Signor Bruschino and Clarina La Cambiale di Matrimonio (Raucous Rossini); The Witch Hänsel and Gretel (RCS); and Marguerite Faust (Fife Opera). Concert work includes: soprano soloist Mass in C Minor and Exultate Jubilate (Edinburgh Royal Choral Union); soprano soloist Serenade to Music (RCS); soprano soloist Elijah (Cupar Choral Society); and Coryphée Le Martyre de saint Sébastien (Edinburgh International Festival).
Alexandra Lowe (Guildhall School of Music & Drama) 2019
Alexandra is a Spanish/English soprano who recently completed her training at the Guildhall Opera School. She previously graduated with a Bachelor of Music degree and a Masters of Music from the RNCM. Most recent competitions and awards include The Clonter Opera Prize, the Elisabeth Harwood Prize and the Kennedy Award for Singing Strauss. She is a recipient of a Silver Medal from the Worshipful Company of Musicians and of the Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation Sarah Brightman Scholarship. In 2018 she became a Samling Artist. Operatic roles performed at the GSMD and/or the RNCM include Fiordiligi, Helena, Lucia I/II, Anna Gomez, Rose Maurrant, Theodora and Métella. Professionally she has played Fiordiligi (Neville Holt Opera) and Barena (Grange Park Opera). Roles at BYO include The Bride/Wife/Mother and Mrs. Coyle.
Lauren Young (Royal Conservatoire of Scotland) 2020
Stirling-born mezzo Lauren Young is in her final year at the Alexander Gibson Opera School under the tutelage of Linda Ormiston. Operatic experience includes Baba The Turk (Cover) The Rake’s Progress; Angelina (Cover) La Cenerentola (British Youth Opera); Chorus Un Ballo in Maschera/Roméo et Juliette (Grange Park Opera); Marcellina The Marriage of Figaro (Magnetic Opera); Erste Mägde Elektra; Flosshilde Das Rheingold (Edinburgh Players Opera Group); Zita (Cover) Gianni Schicchi; Sorceress Dido and Aeneas; Jade Boucher Dead Man Walking; Cherubino Le nozze di Figaro (RCS); Giovanna Seymour Anna Bolena; Romeo I Capuleti e i Montecchi; Kate Julian Owen Wingrave (RCS Opera Scenes). Upcoming engagements include Lucretia The Rape of Lucretia and Madame de Croissy Dialogues des Carmélites at RCS. Upcoming concert highlights include the Independent Opera Scholar’s Recital at the Wigmore Hall and alto soloist in Handel’s Messiah at the Cadogan Hall in 2020. Lauren is a recipient of an Independent Opera Voice Scholarship and Fellowship. She is also the holder of the John Mather Rising Star Award and WFT Anderson Scholarship. Lauren was the winner of the Elgar-Spedding Memorial Lieder Prize with her duo partner José Javier Ucendo, whom with she was a finalist in the Oxford Lieder Young Artist Platform 2020 and was awarded runner up in the Ye Cronies Opera Award 2019.
‘Pay What You Feel’ Policy
Having presented our digital outreach programme for free for the first half of Covid-19, we have now adopted a mechanism that is helping keep the prospect of theatres reopening globally a possibility, and that any new content is purchased on a ‘Pay What You Feel’ basis. This also enables us to offer this FREE to Friends and Patrons of Clonter.
E-Tickets £5, £10, £20, FREE for Friends and Patrons of Clonter
There is no booking fee applicable for this event.
The link to the performance will be detailed on your e-ticket, which will be emailed to you upon purchase.
This event will be broadcast ‘live’ at 7pm on Saturday 6th February, but the show will be available for one week following broadcast.
If you have any queries, please contact our box office – boxoffice@clonter.org. Please be aware that the box office is currently only being manned on a Wednesday and Friday.
