The Elizabeth Connell Competition has announced the quarter-finalists for its 9th annual competition.

Twenty-two entrants have been chosen to compete live in London on May 31 and 12 will be chosen for the semi-finals on June 1.

This year’s quarter finalists are Iida Antola (Finland), Angel Azzarra (USA), Claire Barnett-Jones (England), Georgia Mae Bishop Jersey (Channel Islands), Menna Cazel (Wales/Germany), Bronwyn Douglass (Australia), Annabella-Vesela Ellis (Bulgaria/Britain), Anna Erokhina (Ukraine), Rebecca Gulinello (Australia/Italy), Sonja Herranen (Finland), Carolyn Holt (Ireland), Inna Husieva (Ukraine), Chelsea Laggan (USA), Jihyun Cecilia Lee (South Korea), Stephanie Pfundt (USA), Anne-Lise Polchlopek (France), Helena Sá Cavalcante Schuback (Sweden/Brazil), Oksana Sliubyk (Ukraine), Libby Sokolowski (USA), Felicity Tomkins (New Zealand), Annemarie Vergoossen (Netherlands), and Melissa Zgouridi (USA/Brazil).

The panel of judges will include Dame Anne Evans DBE (ECP Patron & dramatic soprano), Simone Young AM (conductor) Peter
Katona (Head of Casting ROH Covent Garden) Bernadette Cullen (ECP Patron & dramatic mezzo soprano) Isabel Murphy (BBC
Cardiff Singer of the World Judge and Casting Advisor to Longborough Festivals Ring Cycle), and Fiona Janes (Founding Trustee & mezzo-soprano). The competition is held under the auspices of the Joan Sutherland & Richard Bonynge Foundation.

The 2023 final of the competition will be held for the first time in London, at Wigmore Hall on June 3.