Baritones Sweep Wigmore/Kohn Song Competition

The "Battle of the Baritones" at the Wigmore Hall/Kohn Foundation International Song Competition ended up with baritones taking all three of the top prizes. It repeats the baritone trifecta of the last competition in 2015, when Swiss bass Milan Siljanov took 1st Prize, German baritone Samuel Hasselhorn took 2nd Prize, and British baritone James Newby took 3rd Prize.

What started with 150 singers from 42 countries ended up coming down to the baritone trio, plus mezzo-soprano Clara Osowski, who walked away for the Richard Tauber prize for the best Schubert singing. You can watch the entire final round HERE.

First Prize went to New Zealand baritone Julien Van Mellaerts who received £10,000 and a Wigmore Hall recital offered at the discretion of the Director, Second Prize went to American baritone John Brancy who received £5,000 and Third Prize went to American baritone Josh Quinn who received £2,500.

The Wigmore Hall/Kohn Foundation International Song Competition has been around for fourteen years and attracts some of the top young vocal and piano talent in the world. Singers compete in tandem with an accompanist. This Competition recognizes the song tradition as a whole and requires contestants to perform in at least three languages. At the same time it honors the Lied’s place at the heart of the song repertoire and celebrates the Shakespearean stature of Schubert in the genre.

Baritones have historically fared well at the competition, with the amazing German baritone Dominik Köninger winning the top prize in 2011, Gavan Ring taking 2nd Prize in 2013, the famous 2015 trifecta and this year's repeat of baritones taking all three top prizes.  The Competition is held only in odd numbered years.

Battle of the Baritones at Wigmore/Kohn Competition?

John Brancy, Josh Quinn and Julien van Mellaerts

Three of the most talented young baritones in opera have made it to the final round of the Wigmore Hall/Kohn Foundation International Song Competition, which will be held on Thursday, September 7th. John Brancy, Josh Quinn, Julien van Mellaerts and compete alongside mezzo-soprano Clara Osowski, setting up a Battle of the Baritones (plus a low-voice female singer!).

You can watch the final round live online at the Wigmore/Kohn website at 6 PM GST/1 PM EST/10 AM PST.

You can watch the semi-final round HERE. Josh Quinn performed  Schubert's Memnon, Poulenc 4 Poèmes de Guillaume Apollinaire, Finnissy's Outside Fort Tregantle and Schubert's Der Zwerg. John Brancy performed Schubert's Liebeslauschen and Erlkönig, Frank Bridge's Love went a-riding, Faure's Dans la nymphée and Wolseley Charles' The green-eyed dragon. Julien van Mellaerts performed Der Einsame and Wandrers Nachtlied II, Gurney's In Flanders, Butterworth's Is my team plouging? and Poulenc's Les gars qui vont a la fete.

Half of Wigmore/Kohn competitors are low male voices; Watch live online!

Will Liverman, Josh Quinn, Nick Mogg, Peter Mazalán (top row)  Ed Ballard, John Brancy, Lawrence Halksworth, and Peter Kellner (bottom row)

There will be no shortage of low male voice to root for in the upcoming 2017 Wigmore Hall/Kohn Foundation International Song Competition, as half of the competitors are baritones or basses. The impressive group includes British baritone Ed Ballard, American baritone John Brancy, British baritone Lawrence Halksworth, British baritone Gareth Brynmor John, Icelandic baritone Oddur Jónsson, Slovakian bass Peter Kellner, American baritone Will Liverman, Slovakian baritone Peter Mazalán, British baritone Nicholas Mogg, American baritone Josh Quinn and New Zealand baritone Julien Van Mellaert.

We didn't see a single tenor amongst the competitors!

Ed Ballard sings Handel's 'Volate Più Dei Venti":

Baritones have historically fared well at the competition, with the amazing German baritone Dominik Köninger winning the top prize in 2011, Gavan Ring taking 2nd Prize in 2013 and the famous 2015 trifecta, when Swiss bass Milan Siljanov took 1st Prize, German baritone Samuel Hasselhorn took 2nd Prize, and British baritone James Newby took 3rd Prize. The Competition is held only in odd numbered years. 

The Wigmore Hall/Kohn Foundation International Song Competition has been around for fourteen years and attracts some of the top young vocal and piano talent in the world. Singers compete in tandem with an accompanist. This Competition recognizes the song tradition as a whole and requires contestants to perform in at least three languages. At the same time it honors the Lied’s place at the heart of the song repertoire and celebrates the Shakespearean stature of Schubert in the genre.

First Prize will receive £10,000 and a Wigmore Hall recital offered at the discretion of the Director, Second Prize receives £5,000 and Thrid Prizze receives £2,500. The Richard Tauber Prize for the best interpretation of Schubert lieder receives £3,000 and the best pianist receives £5,000.

You can watch the semi-finals live on September 5th and the finals on September 7th.

Baritones SWEEP top prizes at Wigmore/Kohn Song Competition

Low male voices swept the 2015 Wigmore/Kohn International Song Competition, walking away with almost trophy in site.

28-year-old Swiss bass Milan Siljanov took 1st Prize and was awarded £10,000. He performed songs by Bennett, Mahler, Sviridov, Poulenc, Schoenberg, Warlock and Wolf.

Milan Siljanov & Nino Chokhonelidze - Gruppe aus dem Tartarus. Schubidu Quartet on Vimeo.

Samuel Hasselhorn took 2nd Prize and won £5,000. His program included Duparc, Schubert and Reimann.  22-year-old James Newby took 3rd Prize, as well as the Richard Tauber Prize given for the best interpretation of Schubert. His program included Finzi's Let us garlands bring and Schubert's An Sylvia?

Baritones have historically fared well at the competition, with Gavan Ring taking 2nd Prize in 2013 and Dominik Köninger winning the top prize in 2011. The competition is held in odd numbered years. 

The jurors including Iain Burnside, Wolfgang Holzmair, Graham Johnson, Angelika Kirchschlager, Sir Ralph Kohn, Christoph Prégardien, Thomas Quasthoff, Maxine Robertson, David Stern and Ailish Tynan.

Baritones dominate finals of Wigmore/Kohn competition

James Newby, Milan Siljanov and Samuel Hasselhorn (L-R)

Barihunks continue to dominate the competition at the 2015 Wigmore Hall/Kohn Foundation International Song Competition, as 3 of the 5 finalist will be baritones. The final round will be held at 6 PM on Thursday, September 10th at Wigmore Hall.

The finalist are baritone Samuel Hasselhorn and accompanist Renate Rohlfing, baritone James Newby and accompanist Panaretos Kyriatzidis, bass-baritone Milan Siljanov and Nino Chokhonelidze, soprano Aoife Miskelly and accompanist William Vann and tenor Spencer Lang and accompanist Dan K. Kurland.

 Samuel Hasselhorn & the Lazarus String Quartet perform Wolf's "Die Nacht":

Each finalist will give a recital lasting a maximum of 30 minutes, which may consist of songs in any language, but must include at least one song written after 1950. 1st prize takes home £10,000, follow by £5,000 for 2nd prize and £2,500 for 3rd prize.

Low voices dominating Wigmore Hall Song Competition

Samuel Hasselhorn, Dashon Burton and James Newby

Barihunks are dominating the semi-final round of the 2015 Wigmore Hall/Kohn Foundation International Song Competition, which will take place on Tuesday, September 9th at Wigmore Hall. Low voices among women and men seem to be dominating this year, as their are 5 baritone and bass-baritones joining 4 mezzo-sopranos in the final 12 singers.

The men include Samuel Hasselhorn, Dashon Burton, Will Liverman, Milan Siljano and James Newby. The sole tenor in the semi-finals is Spencer Lang. The women include mezzos Kate Howden, Rebecca Jo Loeb, Angharad Lyddon and Hagar Sharvit. The two sopranos reaching the semi-finals are Aoife Miskelly and Magali Simard-Galdes.

The program for the semi-final round must be a maximum of 20 minutes and must include songs in German (at least two of which must be by Schubert), songs in French and in English by a British composer. The final round will consist of four finalists, each of whom will give a recital lasting a maximum of 30 minutes, which may consist of songs in any language, but must include at least one song written after 1950. 1st prize takes home £10,000, follow by £5,000 for 2nd prize and £2,500 for 3rd prize.

Samuel Hasselhorn at the Hugo Wolf Song Competition:

Baritone Samuel Hasselhorn, born in Göttingen, Germany in 1990, won first prize in the 2013 International Schubert Competition, as well as the Prix de Lied in the 2013 Nadia and Lili Boulanger International Voice-Piano Competition. He was a fellow of Ravinia’s Steans Music Institute, and has performed in New York’s prestigious Carnegie Hall as a participant in Marilyn Horne’s The Song Continues programme. Samuel’s first CD Nachtblicke with Lieder by Schubert, Pfitzner, and Reimann was released in December 2014. Recent debuts include concert appearances at Gewandhaus Leipzig and Hamburg’s Laeiszhalle.

Baritone James Newby is currently studying at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance under the tutelage of Alison Wells. He is winner of the Joyce Budd second prize at the junior Kathleen Ferrier Bursary awards, the Trinity Laban English Song Competition and the Trinity Laban Oratorio/Cantata award. James is a great lover of song and has performed in recital throughout the UK. He is also very fortunate to have performed in masterclasses with some of the world’s leading figures on Lieder and song: Graham Johnson, Wolfgang Holzmair and Ian Partridge.

Praised for his ‘nobility and rich tone’ by The New York Times Dashon Burton is a two time Grammy Award winner. In 2012, Burton won top prizes from the ARD International Music Competition in Munich and the 49th IVC in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, Holland. These awards followed First Place wins in both the 2012 Oratorio Society of New York's Competition and the Bach Choir of Bethlehem’s Competition for Young American Singers. He studied with James Taylor at the Yale Institute of Sacred Music and graduated with his Master’s Degree in Voice in 2011.