Gavan Ring takes 2nd Prize at Concorso Lirico Internazionale

Gavan Ring performing in Portofino

Irish barihunk Gavan Ring, who we introduced to readers back in October 2014, took 2nd Prize at the Concorso Lirico Internazionale Vocal Competition in Portofino, which concluded last night.  Two Russian sopranos, Maria Nazarova and Karina Kheruntc, took 1st and 3rd Prize respectively. Ring was awarded €4000.

The finalists were narrowed down from a field of 120 singers from 28 countries and had 10 minutes in the final round to sing the aria of their choice. The jury was headed by Dominique Meyer, the director of the Vienna State Opera. The top three winners will be invited to audition for the
Vienna State Opera.

Gavan Ring at the 2013 Wigmore Hall/Kohn Foundation Competition:

Gavan Ring can next be seen as Bill Bobstay in Gilbert & Sullivan's HMS Pinafore at the Edinburgh International Festival opening on August 23 and Figaro in Rossini's The Barber of Seville at Opera North opening on October 7th. On November 8th, he'll perform a song recital with accompanist Simon Lepper as part of the Dublin Song Series at Hugh Lane Gallery.

Introducing Gavan Ring

Gavan Ring

We've never properly featured Gavan Ring on our site, except for a brief mention in August 2013 when he took second place at 2013 Wigmore Hall/Kohn Foundation International Song Competition. He's currently doing duel duty at the Wexford Festival Opera, where he's singing Lieutenant Gordon in the European première of Kevin Puts' Pulitzer Prize winning opera Silent Night and Fr. Philippe in Holst's The Wandering Scholar.

Gavan Ring's 2nd Place performance at the 2013 Wigmore Hall/Kohn Foundation 

International Song Competition:

We highly recommend this interview with him from the Irish Independent.

Next month he'll be busy singing the baritone solo in Britten's War Requiem at Three Spires Singers Festival from November 7-9 St. Anne's Cathedral in Belfast on November 14 and at St. Patrick's Cathedral in Dublin on November 22.

Don't forget to purchase your 2015 Barihunks calendar by clicking on the LULU button below. 

UPDATED: Barihunk trio in Glyndebourne's Carmen

Paulo Szot, Christophe Gay and Gavan Ring (l-r)

CORRECTION - JUNE 24, 2015: We were informed that we were sent a cast list with the wrong Escamillo, as David Soar is singing the role and not Paulo Szot. We apologize for any inconvenience. David Soar was born in Nottinghamshire and studied at the Royal Academy of Music and the National Opera Studio. Highlights in his 2014/15 season include Pistola in a new production of Falstaff at the Saito Kinen Festival and a return to the Metropolitan Opera as Colline La bohème.

David Soar

ORIGINAL POST: The Glyndebourne Festival will feature a barihunk trio in David McVicar's production of Bizet's Carmen with Paulo Szot as Escamillo, Christophe Gay as Le Dancaire and Gavan Ring as Moralés. The opera will run from June 28-July11 and the cast also includes Stéphanie D'Oustrac as Carmen, Pavel Cernoch as Don Jose and Lucy Crowe as Micaela. 

Tony Award-winning baritone Paulo Szot remains one of the most popular singers in the world of opera. Later this year, he'll reprise the role of Dr. Falke in Die Fledermaus at the Metropolitan Opera alongside Toby Spence, Susan Graham and Lucy Crowe.  Other recent appearances at the Met have included the Captain in John Adams' The Death of Klinghoffer and Kovalyov in Shostakovich's The Nose.

We introduced Gavan Ring to readers in October 2014 after having been impressed by his performance in the Wigmore Hall/Kohn Foundation International Song Competition. After Carmen, Ring heads to the Edinburgh International Festival to perform Bill Bobstay in HMS Pinafore and then to Opera North for Figaro in Il barbiere di Siviglia. Next year, he'll be back at Opera North for Guglielmo in Così fan tutte.

Christophe Gay, who is new to this site, graduated from the Nancy Conservatoire National in Singing and Chamber Music. He made his debut at the Nancy Opera House in Dallapiccolla's Il Prigioniero followed by Re Cefalo in the world premiere of Detlev Glanert's Enigma at the Montepulciano Festival. In September, Gay will sing Monsieur de Brétigny in Massenet's Manon at the Opéra de Marseille, followed by Bobinet in Offenbach's La Vie Parisienne.

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.

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 dominate Wigmore Hall/Kohn Foundation International Song Competition

Johnny Herford (L) and Aarne Pelkonen (R)

As we prepare to watch the finals of the Wigmore Hall/Kohn Foundation International Song Competition, we're amazed at the consistently great baritone voices on the world scene. Five of the eleven singers in the September 1st finals are baritones. They include Johnny Herford, Morgan Pearse, Aarne Pelkonen, Ross Ramgobin and Gavan Ring. Pearse has appeared on this site a few times.

The Wigmore Hall/Kohn Foundation International Song Competition has been around for ten 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.

Dominik Köninger's thrilling 2011 winning set at the Wigmore/Kohn Competition:

The semi-final round will be held from 3-7:30 PM on September 1 and the final round and award ceremony will begin at 6 PM on September 3 with a dinner break. Tickets are available online.

Fans of great baritones may want to hang around until September 7 when Simon Keenlyside and Bryn Terfel join accompanist Malcolm Martineau for an evening of Schumann and Schubert at Wigmore Hall. Tickets are available online.

Mikhail Timoshenko wins Wigmore Hall Song Competition

Elitsa Desseva and Mikhail Timoshenko at Wigmore Hall

25-year-old Russian bass-barihunk Mikhail Timoshenko won the Wigmore Hall International Song Competition, taking home the £10,000 prize money.

Timoshenko performed Holst's Ushas, Vaughan Williams' Let Beauty Awake, Copland's The Boatmen's Dance, Tchaikovsky's Podvig and Mahler's Ich hab' ein glühend Messer.

The £5,000 second prize place was awarded to 29-year-old British soprano Harriet Burns, while third place, with a prize of £2,500, went to British mezzo-soprano Beth Taylor. British tenor Kieran Carrel took home fourth place. Michael Pandya, the 25-year old British pianist who partnered Harriet Burns, won the £5,000 Pianist’s Prize.

The Wigmore finals. Timoshenko appears at 2:03:00

 Baritones have historically fared well at the Wigmore Hall International Song Competition. In 2017, three baritones swept the top honors, including Julien Van Mellaerts, John Brancy and Josh Quinn. In 2015, barihunks Samuel Hasselhorn and James Newby took Second and Third Prize respecively. In 2013, Gavan Ring walked home with the Second Place Prize. In 2011, Dominik Köninger launched his career by winning the top prize.

Timoshenko studied at the Mednogorsk Conservatoire and the Hochschule für Musik Franz Liszt, Weimar. He has won numerous competitions including first prize at the Franz Schubert und die Musik der Moderne Competition in Graz, first prize at the Médoc International Singing Competition in Bordeaux, the Opera Prize by the Cercle Carpeaux, first prize at the Maria Callas International Competition and first prize at the Hugo Wolf Competition.

He joined the Paris Opera Academy in September 2015 and during the 2015-16 season he participated in several of the Academy’s concerts and recitals at the Bastille Amphitheatre. He sang in the French premiere of Joanna Lee’s Vol Retour and performed the role of Plutone in Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo. 

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.