TWENTY FOUR of the world’s best young singers will be vying for a prestigious international prize at a top festival in North Wales.
Competitors from as far afield as China, America, Spain, Latvia and Estonia will be battling for the title of Pendine International Voice of the Future at the Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod.
The contest will be one of the highlights during the 75th anniversary event which gets underway on Thursday, July 7.
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The popular festival had to be cancelled in 2020 for the only time since its inauguration in 1947 due to the impact of the Coronavirus pandemic.
In 2021 it took on a virtual format with performances streamed online but this year the music and dance extravaganza is back in the town where “Wales welcomes the world”.
Organisers were “blown away” by the exceptional standard of entries in the Pendine International Voice of the Future competition.
The near-record 38 entrants have been whittled down to 24 singers who will have to navigate two premliminary rounds and a semi-final before the three finalists compete on the famous International Pavilion stage on Saturday, July 9.
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Competitors are required to perform a contrasting programme of up to seven minutes in length for their preliminary round and up to 10 minutes for the final.
The winner will be presented with the Pendine Trophy, a solid silver salver, and a cheque for £3,000 as well as having the opportunity to perform in concerts at the Eisteddfod and other venues. Meanwhile, the runner up will receive £1,500.
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The festival’s executive producer, Camilla King, said: “The standard of the competitors this year is absolutely phenomenal. The choice is so difficult for the adjudicators as the singers are all so extraordinarily accomplished.
“I used to be a casting manager with English National Opera so I have had lots of experience of sitting in on vocal auditions over the years and I can categorically say we have some truly fine entrants among our 2022 competitors. A number of them genuinely are the stars of years to come.”
Soprano Erin Rossington, 25, was triumphant in 2019 and she said winning the title was a huge boost for her fledgling singing career.
Erin, originally from Llanfairtalhaiarn, near Abergele, is now in her third year of studying at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London.
She said: “Winning the Pendine Voice of the Future competition has gone a long way towards helping me to achieve my dream of becoming a professional opera singer.
“The prize money enabled me financially to take that important step of going to live in London and work my way through music school."
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