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Samantha Clarke wins Guildhall Gold Medal
Asmik Grigorian: Female Singer of the Year 2019
Eric Lu announced as BBC New Generation Artist 2019
On Friday 10 May, Australian-British soprano Samantha Clarke won the prestigious Guildhall School of Music Gold Medal. The award was presented by Sir Bryn Terfel – himself a winner of the title – who was joined on the jury by Jonathan Vaughan, Richard Farnes, Kevin Murphy and Ann Murray DBE. Samantha performed a wonderfully varied programme of works by Strauss, Poulenc, Copland, Mozart, Puccini and Stravinsky.
Lithuanian soprano Asmik Grigorian has been awarded Female Singer of the Year at the 2019 International Opera Awards. The award follows worldwide acclaim for her portrayal of Salome at the Salzburg Festival (“a Salome to end all Salomes” Financial Times); a role for which she has also been nominated for Best Female Lead at the 2019 Österreichischen Musiktheaterpreis (Austrian Music Theatre Prize).
American pianist Eric Lu has been announced as one of the seven artists who will join the 2019 BBC New Generation Artists scheme on 1 September 2019 – the same day he will make his BBC Proms debut with the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra and conductor Long Yu (see right).
This fantastic achievement marks the end of Samantha’s time at the Guildhall and leads into her appearance as Georgiana in the world premiere of Georgiana at the Buxton International Festival, her debut at Opera North as Musetta, and her debut with the Munchner Rundfunkorchester.
A founding member of Vilnius City Opera, Asmik has received several awards from her home country recognising her substantial contribution to Lithuanian culture and heritage. Most recently, she was awarded the Knight’s Cross of the medal “Merits to Lithuania” by the President of the Republic of Lithuania.
Launched in 1999, the BBC NGA scheme supports young musicians on the threshold of an international career. Fellow AH instrumentalists and BBC NGA alumni include Alison Balsom, Veronika Eberle, Alina Ibragimova, Andrei Ioniţă and Cédric Tiberghien.
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6 The Green Room Summer 2019
The announcement follows Eric's win at The Leeds International Piano Competition in September 2018.
