(Photo credit: Lara Johnson-Perkins)

Mezzo-soprano Ellen Pearson has won first prize in the 2024 Hurn Court Opera Singer of the Year Competition.

Pearson took home the Nigel Beale Grange Festival First Prize as well as the Anthony Lowrey Audience Prize. Coming in second place was baritone Stephen Whitford. The baritone also received the Wendy Blamire Award for outstanding linguistic and artistic commitment to text in at least two European languages other than English. Mezzo-soprano Lily Mo Browne won the Sarah Harrison Prize and bass baritone Jack Sandison was the recipient of the Rosalind Armstrong Prize.

In total there were 84 entrants, 10 semi-finalists, and four finalists. Each finalist delivered a 20-minute program.

Judging the semi-finals and finals were Michael Chance CBE, Rosalind Plowright OBE, and James Black. The competition accompanists were Hamish Brown and Chad Vindin.

‘This year the overall standard of the entries was extremely high, ‘making it challenging to reduce the number to ten for the semi-final round. The first-round judges, Joy Robinson and Philip Curran, were looking for artistry in appropriate repertoire for the individual voices, as well as for the age of the participants,” said Lynton Atkinson, Artistic Director of Hurn Court Opera in a press release.

The Hurn Court Opera Singer of the Year Competition began in 2018 to provide an important platform for young vocal talents. Selected prizewinners perform in recital and opera with us, and all entrants may be considered for future opportunities. For the third year running, the competition was produced in collaboration with The Grange Festival.