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The Final of the Competition took place in Wigmore Hall on Friday, 21st April 2023. At the end of the evening, Elaine Padmore, Chair of the Jury, announced the winners. The other members of the Jury were Michael Chance, Pamela Lidiard, and Russell Smythe.

L to R: Dafydd Jones (Ferrier Loveday Song Prize) Harry Rylance (Help Musicians Accompanist’s Prize) Matina Tsaroucha (Joint Second Prize) Felix Gygli (First Prize) George Curnow (Joint Second Prize)

First Prize: Felix Gygli

Swiss Baritone Feliz Gygli is a Young Artist at the National Opera Studio London and a recent graduate of the GSMD under the tutelage of Prof. Rudolph Piernay. In the 2023/24 season, he will be a member of the International Opera Studio of the Opernhaus Zürich.

Click the thumbnail for a picture of Felix Gygli and his pianist, Jong Sun Woo.

Joint Second Prize: Matina Tsaroucha & George Curnow

Soprano Matina Tsaroucha is studying for her Master’s at the Royal College of Musica as an Elaine Hughes-Jones scholar. She holds an honours degree from the Guildhall School of Music & Drama.

George Curnow is a Welsh tenor currently on the opera programme at the Royal Academy of Music under the tutelage of Mark Wildman.

Click the thumbnail for a picture of George Curnow and his pianist, Harry Rylance.

Help Musicians Accompanist’s Prize: Harry Rylance

Harry Rylance is a British-Korean pianist based in London. He studied at the Royal Academy of Music under Joanna MacGregor and graduated in 2020 with a DipRAM and the RAM Silver Medal before being appointed as a Chamber Music and Répétiteur Fellow. He is currently a Musicians Company Young Artist and works regularly for Glyndebourne and the International Meistersinger Akademie.

Ferrier Loveday Song Prize: Dafydd Jones

Welsh tenor, Dafydd Jones, is studying for his Master’s degree under the tuition of Nicky Spence and Caroline Dowdle at the Royal College of Music.

Jury Members

The Jury this year was chaired by Elaine Padmore, former Artistic Director of the Wexford Festival Opera, Artistic Director of the Royal Danish Opera and Director of Opera at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. She was joined by Michael Chance, a Countertenor with an international reputation and an extensive discography, and Artistic Director of the Grange Festival; Pamela Lidiard, Deputy Head of Keyboard Studies at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama and a widely experienced performer with both instrumentalists and singers; and, Russel Smythe, a Baritone with a substantial performing career across the world in both opera and concerts, who now lectures and teaches at the Royal College of Music, London. In the Preliminary Rounds, they were joined by Kathryn Harries, a Soprano with a successful career as recitalist and concert artist and who was Director of the National Opera Studio in London for many years.