12:00 AM 7th May 2025
Top Classical Singers To Compete For £7,000 Prize At Northern Aldborough Festival
Now in its third year, the nationwide competition for vocalists aged 18-32 has rapidly established itself as a significant platform for emerging classical talent, offering a substantial £7,000 prize fund to be divided amongst winners.
This year's distinguished judging panel features some of the UK's most respected classical music figures, including Sir Thomas Allen, arguably England's most famous living operatic baritone, pioneering female conductor Dame Jane Glover, and acclaimed pianist Sholto Kynoch.
Festival director Robert Ogden, who had a career as an operatic countertenor before taking the helm at Aldborough, expressed his enthusiasm for this year's competition.
The competition was launched in 2023 in response to funding cuts in the classical music sector. Its inaugural winner, mezzo-soprano Lea Shaw, was subsequently named a BBC Music Magazine 'Rising Star' and has secured professional management with one of the UK's leading agencies with assistance from the festival.
"Lea Shaw's success shows how our competition can really make a tangible difference to young musicians who face enormous challenges entering an increasingly tough industry," added Ogden.
The semi-finalists, who include British, Welsh, Ukrainian, Scottish, Chinese and American vocalists accompanied by their chosen pianists, will perform in front of a live audience at the historic St Andrew's Church in Aldborough village.
The first prize, The Seastock Trust Prize, carries a £5,000 cash award, while second prize offers £1,500, sponsored by The Yorkshire Music Future Fund. Audiences will also have their say through The Armitage Prize, worth £500, awarded to the audience favourite.
Winners will gain valuable performance opportunities with paid recitals at next year's Northern Aldborough Festival as well as at Leeds Lieder and Harrogate International Festivals.
The 31st Northern Aldborough Festival, running from 12-21 June, boasts an impressive line-up including mezzo-soprano Dame Sarah Connolly performing with Dame Imogen Cooper, the Fantasia Orchestra with violinist Tamsin Waley-Cohen, jazz vocalist Jacqui Dankworth, and Wild Arts opera company performing Donizetti's The Elixir of Love.
Tickets for the competition's semi-finals and final are now available through the festival website.
The British soprano Caroline Taylor has already attracted national acclaim for her “glittering soprano” (The Times), with effusive reviews for her ‘extraordinarily beautiful’ singing. She graduated from the Royal Northern College of Music with Distinction, winning the Kennedy Strauss Award.
She’s accompanied by Sebastian Issler, the inaugural pianist-in-residence at City Music Foundation, who won the 2022 Wigmore Hall/Bollinger International Song Competition Jean Meikle Prize for Best Duo, alongside being a finalist at the International Schubert Competition in Dortmund.
A graduate of the Royal College of Music and the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama, Welsh soprano Eiry Price is an Associate Artist at the Welsh National Opera. This season, she will also appear in recital with pianist James Baillieu, as part of the WNO Associate Artists’ annual showcase.
Eiry was a finalist in the Welsh Singers Showcase competition, 2024. She’s accompanied by Matthias De Smet, a Belgian pianist who studied piano at the Royal Conservatory of Ghent and at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama.
The British Mezzo-Soprano is a rising star in the operatic world. A graduate of the Opera School at London’s prestigious Guildhall School of Music and Drama, she has trained with The Glyndebourne Academy and British Youth Opera. Lydia was named a 2024 Wagner Prize Nominee in the Netherlands and has been distinguished as a Britten Pears Young Artist (2023) and Serena Fenwick Artist with British Youth Opera.
Daisie Sitlani is a professional pianist, director, and musician with a First-Class BA in Music from Newcastle University and an Artist Masters from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.
A third-generation Ukrainian soprano, Natalka grew up singing Ukrainian folk music with her father and sister. She is a First-Class music graduate of King’s College London currently pursuing postgraduate vocal studies at the Royal College of Music with Patricia Rozario. She won First Prize in the 2024 Dean and Chadlington Singing Competition and was a 2025 Leeds Lieder Young Artist.
Matthew studies with Roger Vignoles, Simon Lepper and Kathron Sturrock at the Royal College of Music and regularly plays for masterclasses in the British Youth Opera. He recently won the Alasdair Graham Pianist Prize in the RCM Lieder competition.
Nikki and Esther are both originally from Scotland. The voice and piano duo formed whilst studying at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (RCS). They have performed in recitals and competitions, such as the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland Lieder competition, and the Ashburnham English Song Competition.
Esther is a keen chamber musician and has formed a number of musical partnerships throughout her time at the Conservatoire. She has performed in masterclasses led by Scottish pianist Steven Osborne, and American pianist Andrew Armstrong.
An exciting new duo, Scottish soprano Rachel and Singaporean pianist Jia Ning met during their time at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and bonded over a shared love of telling important stories through music.
They became an official performing pair in 2024 and have since been entering major UK vocal competitions, as well as collaborating within the RCS.
Jia Ning Ng is a concert pianist and collaborative pianist currently based in Glasgow, where she works as Staff Accompanist at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. In 2024, she was endorsed by Arts Council England under the Global Talent visa, recognising her as an exceptional artist in her field.
Zhang Shuai is an award-winning bass who graduated from the Conservatorio di Musica Giuseppe Verdi in Milan. He is currently studying for the Advanced Postgraduate Diploma at Royal Birmingham Conservatoire. He has been a prize-winner in numerous international competitions, including First Prize at the Vicenza International Vocal Competition. He has also been awarded top prizes in competitions across Italy, Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, Bulgaria, Russia, Canada, and the USA.
Chinese pianist Daisy Rentong Zhao was born in 2001, has had great success in competitions in China, including second place in the International Steinway Piano Competition, first prize in Shanghai International Youth Piano Competition and second prize in the Harbin Bach Festival. She currently studies at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire with Daniel Browell.
From the USA, Solveig has a Master of Music in Opera Performance and Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance from Oklahoma City University. As a soprano soloist, Solveig has performed in Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana, Thomas Dubois’ Seven Last Words, Gabriel Faure’s Requiem, and George Frideric Handel’s Messiah.
Alexandra is a London-based award-winning pianist and chamber musician. She graduated with distinction in 2020 from the Royal Academy of Music in London, where she studied collaborative piano with the renowned James Baillieu and Christopher Glynn. She has several prestigious awards, cementing her status as a rising freelance pianist.