1ST PRIZE (£10,000) & Song Prize (£4000)
The 1st Prize at the 2012 Ferrier Competition, held at Wigmore Hall last Friday evening, was awarded by unanimous decision of the jury, to 25 year old Welsh soprano Natalya Romaniw. Natalya trained at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama and continues to study under the tutelage of John Llewelyn Evans. Past competitions wins include the Young Welsh Singer and Clonter Opera prizes and the GSMD’s coveted Gold Medal. Recently Natalya was a prize winner in the Eleanor McCollum Competition held at Houston Grand Opera. A Miriam Licette and Susan Chilcott scholar, Natalya represented Wales in the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World 2009 where she reached the song prize final. Future engagements include the cover of Countess (Figaro) for Glyndebourne Festival Opera. Natalya also scooped the Ferrier Loveday Song Prize for her performance of a Purcell song in the semi-finals and a Britten song in the final round of the competion.
2nd PRIZE (£5,000) was shared between 25 year old Ruth Jenkins from Newcastle & 24 year old Ben McAteer from Northern Ireland.
MUSICIANS BENEVOLENT FUND ACCOMPANIST’S PRIZ (£3,000) was awarded to British pianist Craig White aged 27.