* Tenor Zihua Zhang, from China, winner of the 2023 Pendine International Voice of the Future competition at Llangollen Eisteddfod. Picture by Rick Matthews
Twenty-eight of the world’s best young singers are vying for a prestigious international prize at the Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod.
Competitors from as far afield as Australia, India,
China, Singapore and the USA are aiming to win the Pendine International
Voice of the Future competition at the festival.
Organisers say they’re delighted by the
exceptional standard of entries in the Pendine competition, sponsored by the Pendine Park care group via the Pendine Arts and
Community Trust (PACT) which supports arts and community activities.
The final will take place on Saturday, July 6,
and 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.
Since it started
in 2013, the contest has become one of the Eisteddfod's major highlights and
Dave Danford, the festival's recently appointed Artistic Director, said the aim
was to advance the careers of the world's most gifted young singers.
He said: "We
have received 28 entries from all over the world. We've got people from
Australia, India, China, the USA, Singapore, Germany as well as entrants from
Wales, England and Ireland. It looks like a really good field.
"The
competition provides an excellent stepping stone to a professional career for
young singers.”
Last year's winner
was tenor Zihua Zhang from China, who surprisingly only took up singing in his
late teens, having started his music career playing clarinet.
After winning the prize, he said: "The Pendine International Voice of the Future prize will be a big help
in furthering my musical ambitions.
“It means I won’t
have to survive on meal deals anymore! But seriously, it is so good to have
that extra financial boost behind me.
“It’s certainly been an honour and a fantastic experience to compete in Wales at
Llangollen. The International Eisteddfod is well known and respected in China,
and it’s been unforgettable for me just to be here, never mind win.”
During the next
few weeks a selection panel will consider the entries and choose the singers
who will take part in this year's competition. Each entrant has provided an MP3
audio recording or a link to a video.
Competitors, who
are aged over 19 on the first day of the competition, 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 programmes should include works
from oratorio, opera, lieder or song and be sung in the original language.
Pendine Park
proprietor Mario Kreft MBE said: "The standard of the competitors in years
past has been absolutely phenomenal and I have no doubt it will be just as
incredibly high again this year.
"I wish all
the young singers the very best of luck in this year's Pendine International
Voice of the Future competition.
“It chimes perfectly with our ethos at
Pendine Park because the arts in general and music in particular provide the
golden thread running through everything we do to enrich the lives of our
residents and staff alike.”
Looking forward to
this year's Eisteddfod, Dave Danford added: "The concert programme is
looking great, with Tom Jones kicking things off on the Tuesday evening and
Gregory Porter and Katherine Jenkins featuring in concerts later in the week.
"On Wednesday
evening our Wales Welcomes the World concert will feature leading Welsh folk
band Calan, Johns’ Boys Male Chorus who are based in Rhosllannerchrugog and who
have previously won the Choir of the World competition, and Royal Harpist Alis
Huws. All of them will be performing with an orchestra.
"There will
be a musical theatre evening on the Thursday featuring John Owen-Jones and
Kerry Ellis. They are two of the biggest musical theatre stars in the West End
and Broadway. A real spread of things really but it's really important to us to
make sure the main Eisteddfod week remains protected. Our programme this year
has all the aspects our usual audience expect and one thing we're doing is
bringing the finals of some of our competitions into the evening concerts.
"During the
Wales Welcomes the World concert, we'll have the final of our Youth Choir
competition and similarly on the Thursday we'll have the final of the Voice of
Musical Theatre competition. People coming just to see the concerts will get a
flavour of the Eisteddfod itself which is really important to us.
"This year's
Eisteddfod feels like we're back to our best after the troubles with the
Covid-19 pandemic which caused the Eisteddfod to be halted for two years. We've
gone all out with the programme this year, made sure the field is as vibrant as
possible with the outside stages, and we've more international competitors than
before Covid."
* For tickets or for more on Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod and its competitions and concerts go to www.international-eisteddfod.co.uk or check out www.facebook.com/llangollen
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