On December 13, 2020, the Kathleen Ferrier Awards Competition will stream the finals for this year’s contest, hosted by BBC Radio3 Presenter Martin Handley.

The young artists who made it into the finals include tenor Ted Black and pianist Ana Manastireanu; tenor Liam Bonthrone and pianist Dylan Perez; soprano Jessica Cale and pianist George Ireland; soprano Milly Forrest and pianist Hamish Brown; mezzo-soprano Judith Le Breuilly and pianist Joseph Ramadan; soprano Julieth Lozano Rolong and pianist Lucy Colquhoun; soprano Ella Taylor and pianist Leo Nicholson.

The judging panel for this year includes Rosalind Plowright, Ryland Davies, Christopher Glynn, and Valerie Beale, who has served as jury chair since 2013.

“We began the 2020 Kathleen Ferrier Awards in March and stopped, unfinished, when lockdown was announced. In the following months I couldn’t help thinking of Kathleen Ferrier herself, who gave concerts throughout the war and continued to sing throughout her final illness. While on stage at the Royal Opera House singing Orfeo, a bone in her leg disintegrated but, with help from the rest of the cast, she completed the performance. In view of this, it seemed that the very least we could do was to complete the 2020 Kathleen Ferrier Awards as we have done every year since 1956. Young singers have entered ‘the Ferrier’ every year since then, knowing that winning it opens the door to a career. This year, above all, we wanted them to have the chance of showing what they can do and were determined not to let the pandemic take that chance from them,” said an official statement from the competition organizers.