The New Voices Singing Competition is a major nationwide hunt for the best UK classical vocal talent, with cash prizes of £7k, and a distinguished judging panel led by one of Britain’s best-loved sopranos, Dame Felicity Lott.
Join the excitement, and watch the semi-finalists go head-to-head LIVE in Aldborough on Tuesday 20 June at 12pm and 3pm at St Andrew’s Church.
The winner of the Final on Wednesday 21 June will receive The Seastock Trust Prize of £5,000, with a second prize of £1,500 from The Yorkshire Music Future Fund, and a third, Audience Prize of £500. You can see a snapshot of the semi-finalists below, and do look out for our upcoming newsletters, where we’ll be introducing each of the final acts in more detail, so you can hear their dreams, inspirations and what winning means to them!
Aileen Baker (mezzo-soprano) and Daniel Silcock (piano)Mezzo-Soprano Aileen has a BMus (Hons) in Vocal Performance from the University of Chichester Conservatoire, and MA (Performance) from the Royal Academy of Music. She has performed opera and oratorio arias, French mélodie, English song and German lieder all over the world.Pianist Daniel Silcock is currently studying song accompaniment under Joseph Middleton at the Royal Academy of Music, following a diploma at the RAM and an MMus degree at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.
Rachel Barnard (mezzo-soprano) and Beth Haughan (piano)Mezzo-Soprano Rachel has a BMus (Hons) in Vocal Studies from the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, and MMus in Vocal Performance from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. She has recently performed in recital in Birmingham and London, and for Waterperry Opera and is looking forward to taking part on the Leeds Lieder Young Artist programme in June.Scottish-born Beth was a Weingarten Scholar at the Franz Liszt Academy in Budapest. Previously, she gained a BMus (Hons) from the Royal College of Music and an MMus from the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire.
Alexandra Beason (soprano) and Yupeng He (piano)
Alexandra has a postgraduate place and scholarship at the Royal Academy of Music, and a BMus in Music Performance, also from the Royal Academy of Music. She recently made her recording debut under the baton of Barbara Hannigan, and performed at Opera Holland Park.Pianist Yupeng He holds a scholarship at the Royal Academy of Music, has performed in venues worldwide including The Forbidden City Concert Hall in China and the Kodály Pedagogical Institute in Kecskemét, and has participated in several prizes and competitions including The Kathleen Ferrier Awards.
Jack Holton (bariton) & Max Bilbe (piano)Jack is currently a Young Artist on the National Opera Studio’s Global Talent Programme, having previously trained at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama. He has recently sung with companies including Opera Holland Park, British Youth Opera and West Green House. Max Bilbe is a repetiteur at the National Opera Studio, and graduated from the Royal Academy of Music with distinction. He was a Leeds Lieder Young Artist in 2021.
Betty Makharinsky (soprano) and Vladyslav Kuznetsov (piano)Betty is a soprano working as a recitalist, opera, concert, and consort singer, and has performed at several European festivals. She has a BA in Music from the University of Oxford, trained at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, and on the Barock Vokal programme in Germany. She performs with Ukrainian composer and pianist Vladyslav Kuznetsov, who studied at the National Music Academy in Kyiv and is a member of the National Union of Composers of Ukraine.
Georgie Malcolm (soprano) and Edward Campbell-Rowntree (piano)Soprano Georgie Malcolm has an MMus and PGDip from the Royal Northern College of Music. Edward read music at King’s College London and the University of Oxford before joining the Royal Northern College of Music as a postgraduate. Together they have won the Williams-Howard Memorial Prize, resulting in a performance at Buxton Festival, and have performed recitals in Manchester and Oxford. They will be Leeds Lieder Young Artists in 2023.
Camilla Seale (mezzo-soprano) and Evi Wang (piano)Mezzo Soprano Camilla has PGDip and MMus from the Royal Northern College of Music, where she won a number of awards. She made her stage debut at Buxton International Festival and has recently performed in Glyndebourne Festival Opera. Evi Wang began her piano studies aged 4 in Shanghai. She studied in Sweden, and graduated from the Norwegian Academy of Music, and is currently doing a postgradudate course at the Royal Northern College of Music.The duo have recently performed lunchtime recitals for music societies in Bury and Rochdale and been selected for the Llangollen International Eisteddford.
Lea Shaw (mezzo-soprano) and Kristina Yorgova (piano)Mezzo-Soprano Lea graduated from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland with a Masters in Opera and was a Scottish Opera Emerging Artist (2021-2023), where her roles included Hermia (A Midsummer Night’s Dream), Zerlina (Don Giovanni) and Mercedes (Carmen).Bulgarian pianist Kristina Yorgova is a master student at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, where she won the Bach Prize, and was a winner at the 23rd National Svetoslav Obretenov Competition in Bulgaria.
We look forward to an exciting contest!