The Kathleen Ferrier Awards

News

2012 PRIZE WINNERS

NATALYA ROMANIW    SOPRANO
1ST PRIZE  (£10,000)  & Song Prize (£4000)


The 1st Prize at the 2012 Ferrier Competition, held at Wigmore Hall in April was awarded by unanimous decision of the jury, to 25 year old Welsh soprano Natalya Romaniw.  Natalya trained at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama and continues to study under the tutelage of John Llewelyn Evans.  Past competitions wins include the Young Welsh Singer and Clonter Opera prizes and the GSMD’s coveted Gold Medal. Recently Natalya was a prize winner in the Eleanor McCollum Competition held at Houston Grand Opera. A Miriam Licette and Susan Chilcott scholar, Natalya represented Wales in the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World 2009 where she reached the song prize final. Future engagements include the cover of Countess (Figaro) for Glyndebourne Festival Opera.   Natalya also scooped the Ferrier Loveday Song Prize for her performance of a Purcell song in the semi-finals and a Britten song in the final round of the competition.           

2nd PRIZE (£5,000)
was shared between 25 year old Ruth Jenkins from Newcastle & 24 year old Ben McAteer from Northern Ireland.

Newcastle-born soprano Ruth Jenkins is currently studying with Lillian Watson and Audrey Hyland on the Opera Course at the Royal Academy of Music. She has performed Fiordiligi in Mozart Così fan tutte, Zhou in the world premiere of Peter Maxwell Davies Kommilitonen! and Queen of the Night in Mozart Die Zauberflöte with Royal Academy Opera. Ruth is a Bach Kohn Scholar for the RAM/Kohn Foundation Bach Cantata Series and is a member of Song Circle, through which she made her debuts at King’s Place and Wigmore Hall. She has won the Pavarotti Prize, the Dame Eva Turner Operatic Award and the Jackdaw Vocal Awards.

Ben McAteer is currently studying on the Opera Course at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, with David Pollard.  In 2011, he was named winner of Opera les Azuriales Ozone Prize, and Northern Ireland Opera’s inaugural Festival of Voice.  Recent notable performances include a recital in the Barbican Concert Hall, a concert for BBC Radio Ulster and a Belfast Festival performance with Dame Kiri te Kanawa and the Ulster Orchestra.  Ben’s studies are generously supported by Serena Fenwick, the Countess of Munster Musical Trust, a Susan Chilcott Scholarship, a Dewar Arts Award and the Simon Fletcher Charitable Trust.


MUSICIANS BENEVOLENT FUND ACCOMPANIST’S PRIZE  (£3,000)
was awarded to British pianist Craig White aged 27.

Craig White studied piano accompaniment with Michael Dussek and Diana Ketler at RAM,  followed by two years as a Junior Fellow of Piano Accompaniment at RCM.  In recent years he has been accompanist at the Solti-Te Kanawa Accademia in Italy, Recontres Musicales D’Enghiens in Belgium and the Schiermonnikoog masterclasses in Holland, working with teachers such as Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Jonathan Papp, Daniel Ottevaere and Mitsuko Shirai.  He made his Wigmore Hall debut in 2010 with oboist James Turnbull and in 2011 conducted London Youth Opera’s production of The Magic Flute.

Forthcoming Winners' Recitals

9 May
Public Masterclasses given by two jurors from the 2012 competition
Open to all candidates from the semi-final and final rounds.
Queen's Gate Terrace, London SW7 2.30pm.
Further information available here.
Sponsored by the Ian Smith of Stornoway Legacy
To reserve your seats for these masterclasses e-mail Veronica Davies.

28 June
Kathleen Ferrier and her Musical World performed by Ferrier winners
Further details available here [PDF]
Wigmore Hall 6.00pm
www.wigmore-hall.org.uk

Kitty Whately

14 July
Kitty Whately, Njabulo Madlala & Gamal Khamis
Buxton Festival - Pavillion Arts Centre at 3.30pm
www.buxtonfestival.co.uk

11 August
Kitty Whately, Njabulo Madlala, Sir Thomas Allen & Roger Vignoles
Edinburgh International Festival  Queens Hall, Edinburgh 11am
www.eif.co.uk

20 September
A tribute to Kathleen Ferrier
Alice Coote & Graham Johnson - performing songs from Ferrier's repertoire.
Wigmore Hall 7.30pm www.wigmore-hall.org.uk

You can now donate directly to the Ferrier Awards via your phone


What is it?

JustTextGiving is the UK’s first ever free text donation service which will open up the power and potential of text giving to every single charity in the country.

Why should I use it?

100% of your text donation will go to the Ferrier Awards charity and there are no fees for this service.  There's no cost to you for sending the text message.

For further information, please take a look at our Support Us page.


How do I use it?

All you have to do is text the charities code along with your donation amount to 70070.  This donation amount will then be charged to your phone bill as usual (or deducted from your pay as you go credit).

  • The minimum amount per donation is £1.
  • The maximum amount per donation is £10.
  • Donations can only be in the amount of £1, £2, £3, £4, £5, and £10.
  • An individual can give a maximum of £30 per day (e.g. three text donations of £10 each).

If you'd like to claim Gift Aid on your donation just follow the instructions in the reply text from us.  You can read more about this here.