In memory of David Jackson OBE
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The inaugural Sir Bryn Terfel Song Prize: Championing creativity, celebrating Wales and supporting emerging performers.
Celebrating the diverse world of storytelling through song, the Sir Bryn Terfel Song Prize, in partnership with the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama, champions talented new voices, and showcases the potential of powerful expression through different languages.
Prize final public concert, Saturday 8th November, Dora Stoutzker Hall, RWCMD
Celebrating the diverse world of storytelling through song, the Sir Bryn Terfel Song Prize, in partnership with the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama, champions talented new voices, and showcases the potential of powerful expression through different languages.
Competing for a £15,000 prize nominated undergraduate singers from the UK’s major music schools will each perform a programme of three pieces, an art song of their choice, a song that celebrates their own language and culture, and a set Welsh song, Pan ddaw'r nos by Meirion Williams.
Coming from a nation renowned for its love of singing, Bryn is passionate about his cultural heritage, and particularly Welsh Song or Caneuon Cymraeg. Having won the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World Song Prize in 1989, followed by his acclaimed career as an opera singer, it’s particularly important that this prize in his name focuses on the artistry that song requires.
Bringing together a prestigious international panel of singing and opera specialists, Head Judge Bryn will be joined by German classical music producer Ute Fesquet, formerly at Deutsche Grammophon, John Fisher, former Director of Music Administration at the Metropolitan Opera and former Artistic Director of WNO, Austrian mezzo-soprano Angelika Kirchschlager, and international operatic conductor and Conductor Laureate of Welsh National Opera Carlo Rizzi.
There will also be masterclasses with Soprano Rebecca Evans CBE, and Richard Hetherington, Head of Music at The Royal Opera House, and a Q&A session with Soprano April Koyejo-Audiger and young Welsh Tenor Ryan Vaughan Davies who recently represented his country in the Cardiff Singer of the World gala concert.
The finalists are young singers from the UK’s major music schools, completing their undergraduate degree studies and moving towards the important masters training that will set them on their paths to professional careers.
‘You cannot imagine how thrilled I am to have this incredible song prize at the Royal Welsh College as part of our new fund, Cronfa Syr Bryn Terfel. When my singing changed from being an enjoyable hobby to something more serious, my whole perspective changed in a twinkling of an eye. I threw myself into learning more and more about the Welsh song tradition, and performing and recording these songs became a passion.
This passion then opened the doors to the German Lied, the French Chanson, and the English song, culminating in that wonderful 1989 Cardiff Singer of the World where I was fortunate enough to be awarded the Song Prize.
One inspiring Welsh song for all the competitors will be an integral part of this new song competition - and who knows, it might be the catalyst for students to discover a passion for these songs, and for singing in yet another language, Welsh - another memorable feather in their artistic journey.
I am thrilled to think that I am, at last, able to give something back. Hard work, dedication and excellence will still be the students’ end goal, but one of them will win this meaningful award that will help them develop their dreams and aspirations even further in a time of terrible uncertainty in the arts.
Good luck to all the competitors and a big chapeau to the ever-developing Cronfa. Let’s make this a great success now and to the future.’SIr Bryn Terfel
The final on Saturday 8th November is preceded by a fully-funded three-day residency at the College, which will include a lecture from the Archdruid, poet and linguist, Mererid Hopwood, movement workshops, Welsh language coaching with Bryn himself, individual time with mentors, and masterclasses.
‘Choosing a life in the arts is never the easiest path, so it’s essential that we encourage future generations of talented young artists to join us - to innovate, to create exceptional work, and to help shape an industry that continues to make a positive impact.
As Wales’s national conservatoire, we’re passionate about ensuring that young people, from across Wales, the UK, and around the world, discover the cultural richness this country and the College have to offer.
Alongside Bryn, celebrating, championing, and sharing the Welsh language and culture is central to that mission.
We’re thrilled and inspired to be collaborating with him, supporting projects like the Song Prize, to bring his vision alive, and together through the Cronfa Foundation to give something back to Cymru.’TIm Rhys-EvansDirector of Music
Caradog Williams and Iwan Teifion Jones will be the pianists, guiding, and performing with, the young singers as they bring these songs to life.
Editors notes
The Sir Bryn Terfel Song Prize
The new Song Prize will be offered every two years with a prize of £15,000.
The three-day residency and prize is open to young singers who are completing their undergraduate degree studies and moving towards the important masters training that will set them on their paths to professional careers.
For this launch year, conservatoires in the UK will choose a student to compete. In future years, it is planned that the opportunity to participate will be opened up to wider audition and will include young singers from international institutions.
Cronfa Syr Bryn Terfel
Sharing a determination to amplify the importance of the arts in our society and to champion future generations of creators and performers, RWCMD and its Vice President Sir Bryn launched Cronfa Syr Bryn Terfel to build a significant new source of support for talented young artists training at the College.
Cronfa Syr Bryn Terfel, developed with RWCMD, provides similar opportunities with a focus on scholarships and bursaries for students who might otherwise be unable to benefit from its advanced training because of financial barriers.
It will also fund projects that celebrate Bryn’s musical heritage and reflect his passion for the Welsh language and Welsh culture, including his new Song Prize.
The judges
Ute Fesquet, Award-winning Music Manager, German classical music producer, formerly at Deutsche Grammophon. She is best known for work with John Williams: The Berlin Concerto and Live in Vienna, and Anne-Sophine Mutter and Mendelssohn.
John Fisher is a conductor, opera manager, vocal coach and record producer. Formerly he was Artistic Administrator of La Scala in Milan, Director of Music Administration at the Metropolitan Opera, Artistic Director of WNO, as well as the Artistic Director of RWCMD’s David Seligman Opera School.
Angelika Kirchschlager, world-renowned Austrian mezzo-soprano, acclaimed as one of the foremost interpreters of the operas of Richard Strauss and Mozart. Her numerous awards include a Grammy, and in 2007 she was made a Kammersängerin of the Vienna State Opera by the Austrian Government.
Carlo Rizzi, international operatic conductor and Conductor Laureate of Welsh National Opera. He is the Artistic Director of Opera Rara and is the College’s International Chair in Conducting.
