Bampton Classical Opera has announced that applications are now open for the fifth biennial Bampton Classical Opera Young Singers Competition, the public final of which will take place on Sunday, Nov. 28, 2021.

Singers who are UK residents and aged 21-32 years old are welcome to apply with their accompanists. Applications are available on the company’s website and are due Aug. 25, 2021.

Previous winners include mezzo-soprano Anna Starushkevych (2013), soprano Galina Averina (2015) mezzo-soprano Emma Stannard (2017), and soprano Lucy Anderson (2019). In 2017 an Accompanists’ Prize was introduced, and the first winner was Keval Shah. Several vocalists who have taken part in past competitions have gone on to sing at national companies such as The Royal Opera, English National Opera, and Opera North.

The First Round is closed to the public and will be held at Manoukian Music Centre in London on Oct. 30 or 31, 2021, while the Final Round will occur at Holywell Music Room in Oxford. First Prize is £2,000; Second Prize, £1,000, and the Accompanist’s Prize, £600.

For the First Round, contestants must prepare for a 15-minute performance maximum with three selections from which the judges will ask to hear two. Vocalists who make it to the Final Round must prepare a 20-minute performance maximum that includes a varied and balanced repertoire of contrasting items, with a mix of song and opera. One piece must be in English, and a single work from the First Round is acceptable.

Judges for the competition include British tenor Bonaventura Bottone, Royal Academy of Music vocal teacher Professor Jennifer Dakin, and accompanist and conductor Phillip Thomas, a vocal coach and répétiteur ENO, and the official accompanist to the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World for many years.