The jury
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There are 10 jury members this year, some of whom serve on either the orchestral or song panels and some who serve on both. |
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Dr John Evans
Head of Music Programming, BBC Radio 3 since 1993, Dr Evans began his career as Administrator of the Britten-Pears School at Snape Maltings.
He joined BBC Radio 3 as a producer and has been responsible for many landmark projects, including the Sony Award-winning weekend Live from Tanglewood, Danube Week, Barcelona Nights and Dutch Week. In addition to the Sony Gold, he also won Prix Italia and Royal Philharmonic Society awards as music producer for the BBC TV film, Duke Bluebeard's Castle.
As an academic, Dr Evans has lectured extensively. His publications include Benjamin Britten: Pictures from a Life 1913-76, contributions to The Britten Companion and several Britten opera handbooks. He is a director of the Britten estate, a trustee of the Britten-Pears Foundation and chairman of the theatre company, Concentric Circles.
Dr Evans has served on the juries of the Lisbon and Kondrashin International Conducting Competitions and the Laurence Olivier Awards Opera Panel and chairs the opera jury for the Royal Philharmonic Society Awards.
Dr John Evans will sit on the Song Prize jury.
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Luigi Ferrari
A well known figure on the international opera scene, Luigi Ferrari was born in Milan in 1951. He has music degrees from the Verdi Conservatory in Milan and an architecture degree from the Milan Polytechnic.
He has worked at Piccolo Teatro di Milano, as Assistant to the Artistic Director at La Scala Milan, as Musical Director with the Teatro Comunale di Pavia, and as Assistant to the Director of Contemporary Music at La Biennale di Venezia. Between 1985 and 1993 he also served as a member of the Board of Directors of Piccolo Teatro do Milano. He was Artistic Director of the Teatro Comunale di Bologna from 1987 to 1991 and General Manager from 1999 to 2002. From 1992 until 2000 he was Artistic Director of the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro.
Luigi Ferrari has been Artistic Director of Wexford Festival Opera since 1994.
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Anthony Freud
Born in London, Anthony Freud worked at Sadler's Wells Theatre as Theatre Manager after beginning his career as a barrister. In 1984 he joined Welsh National Opera as company secretary, later becoming Director of Opera Planning. He moved to Holland in 1992 as Executive Producer Opera for Philips Classics, a division of PolyGram International.
In 1994 Anthony Freud was appointed General Director of Welsh National Opera and is also a director of the National Opera Studio.
Anthony Freud has been chair of the jury of the Competition since 1995, and will chair both juries this year.
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Gundula Janowitz
Born in Berlin, Gundula Janowitz made her debut in 1960 at Vienna State Opera and became a permanent member of the Deutsche Oper Berlin in 1966. She has performed as guest artist at all the major opera houses of the world, including the Metropolitan, La Scala and Covent Garden, and is well-known for her interpretation of Mozart and Richard Strauss.
Gundula Janowitz's greatest love is Lieder. She has given over 300 Lieder recitals across the world and has twice received the German Recording Prize for her recordings of Schubert. She has been awarded the title Kammersängerin in both Vienna and Berlin and is an Honorary Member of the Vienna State Opera, the Academy of Music in Graz and the Royal Academy of Music, London.
Gundula Janowitz will serve on both juries.
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Graham Johnson
One of the world's leading vocal accompanists, Graham Johnson formed the Songmakers' Almanac in 1976. He has accompanied such distinguished singers as Victoria de los Angeles, Elly Ameling, Arleen Auger, Brigitte Fassbaender, Matthias Goerne, Serge Leiferkus, Lucia Popp, Christoph Prégardien, Dame Margaret Price, Peter Schreier and Dame Elisabeth Schwarzkopf.
He has been chairman of the jury for the Wigmore Hall Song Competition since its inception and devised concerts for the Hall. He is Senior Professor of Accompaniment at the Guildhall School of Music. As well as a long association with Hyperion Records, he has recorded for numerous other labels. Awards include the Gramophone solo vocal award four times. He was The Royal Philharmonic Society's Instrumentalist of the Year in 1998; in June 2000 he was elected a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music.
He has written books about The Songmakers' Almanac and French song. He was made an OBE in 1994 and in 2002 was created Chevalier in the Ordre des Arts et Lettres.
Graham Johnson will sit on the Song Prize jury.
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Brian McMaster
After qualifying as a solicitor, Brian McMaster studied on the first Arts Council of Great Britain's course in Arts Administration before joining EMI Records for five years as a member of their International Classical Division. In 1973 he went to English National Opera as Controller of Opera Planning and three years later joined Welsh National Opera as Managing Director, where he remained until 1991. During the period 1984-89 he also served as Artistic Director to Vancouver Opera. Brian McMaster was appointed Director of the Edinburgh International Festival in October 1991. He is currently chairman of the National Opera Studio, and a member of the Arts Council of England.
He was awarded the CBE in 1987 and a knighthood in the 2003 New Year Honours. He has received honorary doctorates from Bristol University, The University of Edinburgh, Heriot-Watt University University of Glasgow and Napier University.
Brian McMaster has served on the jury of the Competition since its inception. This year he will sit on both juries.
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Sherrill Milnes
As the owner of the world's most thrilling voices, the American baritone Sherrill Milnes sings in every important opera house in the world, with virtually every orchestra, and in solo recitals in the major music centres.
His many masterclasses have included a series at the Juilliard School in New York, the Conservatoire in Moscow and the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester. He is the leading baritone of the Metropolitan Opera and a frequent guest at La Scala, the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Vienna State Opera, Chicago Lyric Opera and in Paris, San Francisco, Berlin, Hamburg and Salzburg. He appears regularly at the Hollywood Bowl, Ravinia, Tanglewood, Wolf Trap and Ambler Festivals.
A prolific recording artist, he has made more than 50 major recordings encompassing all areas of the vocal repertory, with conductors including Böhm, Giulini, Levine, Maazel, Ozawa and Solti. His recordings have won the Grand Prix de Paris, the NARAS, Edison and Premio della Critica Discografica Italiana Awards, and many Grammy Awards.
Sherrill Milnes will serve on the main prize jury.
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Dennis O'Neill
Born in Wales, Dennis O'Neill is one of the world's leading tenors. He appears frequently across Europe and America, including at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, the Metropolitan Opera New York, the State Operas of Vienna, Munich, Berlin and Hamburg. His long association with the Royal Opera House has included all the great Verdi roles.
Dennis O'Neill's television series for the BBC were enormously popular and he has subsequently made television films on Caruso and movie themes. Recent recordings include La fanciulla del West and Verdi's Requiem, both for BMG/RCA; Tosca, La bohème, Cavalleria rusticana, I Pagliacci and operatic arias, all for Chandos; and an Anthology of Italian Song for Collins Classics. Recordings of Aida and Turandot for Chandos will be released later this year.
Recent performances have included Cav and Pag in Sydney, Otello in Hamburg and Munich, Lucia and Aida in Munich, Ballo in Lisbon and Rome, Turandot at the Met and Covent Garden and Gerontius in Munich and London. Future opera performances will be in London, Munich, Sydney, Melbourne, Dresden, Berlin, and Cardiff. He was awarded the CBE in 2000.
Dennis O'Neill will serve on the main prize jury.
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Christoph Prégardien
Widely regarded as among the foremost lyric tenors, Christoph Prégardien's repertory spans a range from the great Baroque, Classical and Romantic oratorios and passions to 20th-century works by Britten, Killmayer and Stravinsky.
An eminent recitalist, Christoph Prégardien regularly appears throughout Europe. Most of his repertory has been recorded by major labels. His many recordings of Lieder have been highly acclaimed by public and press and his awards include the prestigious Orphée d'Or of the Académie du Disque Lyrique - Prix Georg Solti, Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik, Edison Award, Cannes Classical Award and Diapason d'Or. He collaborated with Nikolaus Harnoncourt on two Teldec recordings: the Evangelist in Bach's St Matthew Passion (2002 Grammy winner for Best Choral Recording) and the role of Rinaldo in Armida Haydn with Cecilia Bartoli. His recording of Don Giovanni with John Eliot Gardiner was also nominated for a Grammy.
Christoph Prégardien appears regularly at major European opera houses, performing leading roles as Tamino Zauberflöte, Almaviva Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Fenton Falstaff, Monteverdi's Ulisse. He teaches at Zurich's Hochsule für Musik und theater.
Christoph Prégardien will sit on the Song Prize jury.
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Galina Vishnevskaya
Soprano Galina Vishnevskaya was a leading diva at the Bolshoi Theatre and has sung the great soprano roles in all of the major opera houses of the world. She first performed in the USA during the Moscow State Symphony's 1960 American tour and the following season made her debut with the Metropolitan Opera New York. Since then she has appeared throughout the world in concert, opera and in recital accompanied by with her husband, Mstislav Rostropovich.
She is a Chevalier of France's Legion of Honour and was awarded the title People's Artist of the USSR as well as the Order of Lenin, her country's highest award of recognition for an artist.
Since leaving the opera stage, Galina Vishnevskaya has earned acclaim as the author of a bestseller, Galina: A Russian Story, which was staged as an opera in 1996 with music by Marcel Landowski. To her performing credits she has added those of stage director and film and stage actress and is closely involved with philanthropic projects in Russia.
Galina Vishnevskaya will serve on both juries.
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