* Last year’s winner baritone Emyr Lloyd Jones.
Twenty-five of the
world’s finest young singers will be heading to North Wales to compete for a
prestigious international prize.
Entrants from five
continents will be battling for the title of Pendine International Voice of the
Future at the Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod.
It will be the first
full festival since before the Covid-19 pandemic and it all gets underway on Tuesday,
July 4, when thousands of international competitors will once again be flocking
to the Dee Valley town where “Wales meets the world”.
The Pendine
International Voice of the Future competition is celebrating its 10th
anniversary and is being sponsored by the arts-loving care organisation,
Pendine Park, via the Pendine Arts and Community Trust (PACT) which
supports cultural and community initiatives across Wales.
In the past decade the
contest has become one of the Eisteddfod's major highlights and Camilla King,
the festival’s executive producer, said the aim was to advance the careers of
the world’s most gifted young singers.
Last year’s winner,
baritone Emyr Lloyd Jones, from Bontnewydd, near Caernarfon, was dubbed the new
Bryn Terfel after his powerhouse performance.
He will be returning to
Llangollen to take part in a concert called The White Flower: Into the Light
where he will be sharing the stage with ‘Lleisiau Llan’, a massed choir of 200
voices brought together specially for this concert, and the NEW Sinfonia
orchestra.
Camilla King said: “The
Pendine International Voice of the Future has become a very popular competition
and the 43 entries we received this year is one of the highest number we've
ever had.
"The standard is
again very high, and although at the selection stage you can determine a
promising singer, hearing someone live is an altogether different and more
thrilling experience. We knew that Emyr (Lloyd Jones), last year's winner, was
talented we watched his application video, but seeing him on stage blew the
judges and the audience away.
"There’s something
about the human voice heard live, and witnessing someone’s stage presence which
you just can’t capture on film, and this is one of the things thatmakes this
competition so exciting," she said.
The selection panel
have whittled down the entrants to the 25 singers who hail from Wales and
Scotland as well as further afield from Canada, South Africa, China, Korea,
Australia and the Philippines.
They will have to
navigate a preliminary round on Thursday, July 6, and a semi-final the following
day before the final competition on the famous International Pavilion stage on Saturday,
July 8.
Competitors, who are
aged between 20 and 32, 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. Camilla said the programmes must include works from oratorio, opera,
lieder or song and be sung in the original language.
Eisteddfod officials
have agreed to a significant change in the competition with three singers set
to take part in the final rather than the two last summer.
"We're having
three singers in the final this year. It was such a strong final last year and
the audience enjoyed it so much that we thought why not give the platform to a
third finalist," said Camilla.
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.
The International
Accompanist competition, which is linked to the main singing competition,
carries a prize of £1,000.
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 incredibly high again
this year.
"I wish all 25
young singers all the very best in this year's Pendine International Voice of
the Future competition. I do not envy the task of the adjudicators as the
singers are all so extraordinarily accomplished."
The prize will be
jointly presented to the winner by Nia Davies Williams, Pendine Park’s
musician-in-residence and Sarah Edwards, the organisation’s
artist-in-residence.
Looking forward to this
year's Eisteddfod, Camilla said: "We have a new improved outdoor site, the
ever popular Everbright Parade of Nations will be back and will be bigger and
better than ever, this time finishing on the Eisteddfod Maes with a massed song
and dance number, with town spectators invited to come onto the field with free
entry, and some exciting new competitions on our closing Sunday, meaning our
competitor experience offers even more.
"The concert
programme is looking great, with Alfie Boe kicking things off on the Tuesday
evening, along with Britain's Got Talent semi-finalists Welsh of the West End.
They will have a solo set in the programme and will present their version of
the rock-opera Nia Ben Aur.
"And on the Friday
well known jazz musician and conductor, Guy Barker with his 17 piece Big Band
will collaborate with top soloists such as Tommy Blaize, lead singer on
Strictly Come Dancing, and soul and jazz musicians, Clare Teal, Giacomo Smith
and Vanessa Haynes.
* 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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