Somerset Song Prize

11/05/2024

SSP 2024 winners of the most promising young singer Aksel Rykkvin (left) and most promising young pianist Lucas Cunha (right)

11/05/2024

And then there were eleven…..

An afternoon of fabulous music-making has narrowed down the competitors from twenty three talented young musicians to eleven. These will be competing in Taunton tomorrow afternoon for the Somerset Song Prize, and it promises to be a thrilling occasion. Please visit https://somersetsongprize.org.uk for details of the final, and come along to hear these stars of tomorrow

03/05/2024

The photograph ((c) Craig Stone) offers a great reminder of the line-up of finalists and adjudicators of the SSP2022 competition. What a great occasion! We cannot wait for the SSP 2024 finals weekend across 11 and 12 May. Will we see you there?

29/04/2024

We are excited to reveal the 12 duos invited to participate in our finals weekend...

28/04/2024

Introducing the final member of our adjudicators for the SSP2024 final, British mezzo-soprano Claire Barnett-Jones is fast becoming one of the most sought-after voices on the operatic stage and the concert platform, recently being named amongst Operawire’s Top 10 Rising Stars after being a Finalist and Winner of the Dame Joan Sutherland Audience Prize at the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World 2021.

This season, Claire makes her company debut with Dutch National Opera as The Government in the world premiere ofThe Shell Trial, returns to Bayreuther Festspiele as Waltraute Die Walküre, returns to Frankfurt as Mescalina Le Grand Macabre conducted by Oper Frankfurt’s incoming General Music Director, Thomas Guggeis, and joins Scottish Opera as Gaea in concert performances of Strauss’ Daphne. Claire also appears with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, as 2nd Norn Götterdämmerung with the London Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Vladimir Jurowski, and with the London Symphony Orchestra in a concert performance of Jenůfa conducted by Sir Simon Rattle.

In recent years, highlights have included her company debut at the Bayreuther Festspiele as 2nd Norn Götterdämmerung and Waltraute Die Walküre, her French operatic debut as Jezibaba in Rusalka at the Théâtre du Capitole, role and company debuts as Fricka Die Walküre at the Tiroler Festspiele Erl in Austria and as Madame Flora The Medium for Oper Frankfurt, her European concert debut at The Concertgebouw in Amsterdam in Schumann’s Szenen aus Goethes Faust, Sosostris in Tippett’s The Midsummer Marriage with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, and her BBC Proms debut with a solo recital as part of the Proms at Birmingham 2022.

Forthcoming, Claire will debut at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Bregenz Festival and the Bayerische Staatsoper.

26/04/2024

Introducing the second member of our adjudicators for the SSP2024 final, Benjamin Hulett trained as a choral scholar at New College, Oxford and studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.

He was a member of the Hamburgische Staatsoper from 2005 to 2009. He has made his debuts at the Bayerische Staatsoper, Deutsche Staatsoper Berlin, Teatro Real Madrid, Opera de Lyon, Theater an der Wien, Festspielhaus Baden-Baden, Opera du Rhin Strasbourg, Opera di Roma and the Salzburger Festspiele.

In the UK, Benjamin has performed with Glyndebourne Festival Opera, Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Opera North, Grange Park Opera, Opera Holland Park, Garsington Opera, Welsh National Opera, and has appeared regularly at the BBC Proms.

In 23/24 Benjamin sings The Rector in Peter Grimes at La Scala and Jonathan Prince of Israel at the Royal Danish Theatre in their production of Saul. Benjamin will also make his return to Grange Park Opera as Kudrjas in Katya Kabanova. On the concert stage, Benjamin will sing Bruckner’s Mass with the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra and Collegium Vocale Gent. He will also make a UK tour with Glyndebourne Festival Opera for concerts of Messiah and join the Warsaw Philharmonic for concerts of the same repertoire.

Benjamin’s wide range of recordings have received nominations and awards from BBC Music Magazine, Gramophone, Grammy, L’Orfee d’Or and Diapason.

21/04/2024

21/04/2024

Introducing the first of our adjudicators for the SSP 2024 final on 12 May, none other than our esteemed patron, Roger Vignoles.

ROGER VIGNOLES is one of the most distinguished collaborative pianists of our time, partner to many of the world’s finest singers and instrumentalists, such as Sir Thomas Allen, Christine Brewer, Florian Boesch, Bernarda Fink, Elina Garanca, Susan Graham, Dame Kiri te Kanawa, Angelika Kirchschlager, Mark Padmore, Christoph Prégardien, Elisabeth Soederstroem, Sarah Walker and Roderick Williams.

He has made many notable recordings, including Reynaldo Hahn with Susan Graham, Schumann, Brahms and Dvorak with Bernarda Fink; Schubert, Loewe and Krenek with Florian Boesch; Britten and Finzi with Mark Padmore; a wide range of song from Schubert to Cabaret Songs with Sarah Walker, and most recently a CD of French Song with Roderick Williams.
Much in demand as a teacher, Roger Vignoles gives frequent masterclasses and workshops in Europe, Scandinavia and the USA. He is an Honorary fellow of Magdalene College, Cambridge and Prince Consort Professor of Accompaniment at the Royal College of Music.

Photo credit: Max Fuhrig

16/04/2024

As we near the final stages of this year's Somerset Song Prize competition in Taunton (under four weeks away now!) people are asking for more information about this exciting event. We'll be sharing further details in the coming weeks; in the meantime here is some background to a very lovely and special occasion in Taunton's calendar. Please share this with anyone you know who might be interested

14/04/2024

Only 4 weeks to go until the SSP 2024 Final! We've heard some cracking duos in a big opening round. 12 have been selected for our semi-final, which will be held on 11 May. The finals weekend will, as in previous competitions, be centred at Temple Methodist Church in Taunton. More news to follow as the countdown begins!