Following a close final at the Wigmore Hall this afternoon, Jackdaws are delighted to announce the winners of the 25th Maureen Lehane Vocal Awards:
First Prize
Ema Nikolovska, Mezzo-Soprano
Second Prize
Joel Williams, Tenor
Third Prize
Kieran Rayner, Baritone
Accompanist Prize
João Araújo
Audience Prize
Ema Nikolovska, Mezzo-Soprano
The judges – Mary Nelson, Rosa Mannion, Christopher Glynn and Saffron van Zwanenberg – declared they were thrilled with the standard and commended all who took part.
All finalists were required to present a programme consisting of four items, two own choice items in addition to one song by each of the two set composers; Handel, of whose music Maureen Lehane was a renowned interpreter, and Peter Wishart, her late husband in whose memory the awards were started.
The 2017 Maureen Lehane Vocal Awards are possible because of supported from The Rosemary Budgen Charitable Trust, Cooper Hall Emerging Artists, Geoffrey & Margaret Batten and a private legacy donation. The Audience Prize was supported by the Jackdaws Trustees.
Ema Nikolovska
Ema Nikolovska is currently on the Artist Masters Course at The Guildhall School of Music and Drama, studying with Professor Susan McCulloch. Ema was born in Skopje, Macedonia and spent most of her life in Toronto, Canada where she studied voice privately with Helga Tucker for seven years, and also completed undergraduate studies in violin performance on full scholarship at The Glenn Gould School with Paul Kantor and Barry Shiffman. Ema was a semifinalist at the Jack Donnelly Memorial Mozart Competition in London as well as the 3rd International Christmas Singing Competition in Minsk, Belarus. Her work in opera has included covering the role of The Mother in The Consul by Menotti (Guildhall School production, October 2017), and covering the role of Ericlea in Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria by Monteverdi (Royal Opera House production, January 2018). In Canada, Ema was named a Jeune Ambassadeur Lyrique for 2016, and has performed with the Cathedral Bluffs Symphony Orchestra.
Ema was a Voice Fellow in the Art of Song Program at the Toronto Summer Music Academy and Festival 2015 (masterclasses with Soile Isokoski and Martin Katz), a Britten-Pears Young Artist in 2016 for the Slavic Song Course in Aldeburgh (masterclasses with Bernarda Fink), and a participant in the 2017 Masterclasses at the Music Academy of Villecroze with Teresa Berganza. Ema was also a recipient of a Jacqueline Desmarais Grant to attend the Franz-Schubert-Institut 2017 on full scholarship in Baden bei Wien, Austria. Recently, Ema was selected to be part of Thomas Hampson’s Lied Akademie at the Heidelberger Frühling Festival, to be held in April 2018. Ema’s studies at Guildhall are generously supported by the Leverhulme Trust and the Elizabeth Sweeting Award.