Vincent Osborne, founder and artistic director of Black British Classical Foundation, said: \u2018The award-winning interpretations we saw from Rachel Duckett and Thando Mjandana were truly riveting. Through their passionate and committed performances at the Voice of Black Opera Final and throughout the whole competition process, all of our finalists and semifinalists have eloquently espoused the cause of greater diversity and inclusion on our stages.<\/p>\n

\u2018I have no doubt that each of them will continue to inspire us for many years to come.\u2019<\/p>\n

Composer Shirley Thompson on the black composers who changed classical music forever<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n
Chineke! Orchestra: what the black and ethnically diverse ensemble is doing to shine a light on the lack of diversity in classical music<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>
<\/p><\/div> <\/section>
Tom Randle added: \u2018It was a spectacular evening and a very hard decision, like choosing between oranges and apples. Every one of the singers was a worthy winner. In the end it came down to those special, indefinable qualities: listening out for something new, something different \u2013 the voice that astonishes and surprises.\u2019<\/p>\n
At the final concert, five finalists were accompanied by the Welsh National Opera Orchestra, conducted by Matthew Kofi Waldren.<\/p>\n
The Final concert was the culmination of the VOBOs. Competing for coveted prizes, 12 singers were chosen via video auditions open to black and South Asian singers from Commonwealth countries, to come to Birmingham in November to take part in semi-finals and participate in two weeks of intensive professional development workshops, rehearsals and a masterclass, leading to the grand final concert featuring five finalists.<\/p>\n
The Voice of Black Opera Competition is organised by Black British Classical Foundation (BBCF)<\/strong><\/a>, in collaboration with Welsh National Opera, to showcase the finest black and South Asian singers as they launch international operatic careers. BBCF exists to address classical music\u2019s under-representation of people from ethnic minority backgrounds.<\/p>\n
Julian Anderson wins 2023 Grawemeyer composition prize<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n
Jan Willem de With and Ayoub Sisters release video for Help Musicians charity<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n
Composition competition for under 25s: deadline soon<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n
Soprano Jennifer Vyvyan honoured with plaque<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n
Australia-UK orchestra exchange announced<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>
<\/p><\/div> <\/section><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div> <\/body><\/html>\n
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By Steve Wright Published: Tuesday, 06 December 2022 at 12:00 am Soprano Rachel Duckett and tenor Thando Mjandana have been chosen as winners of the Voice of Black Opera competition, held at Birmingham Town Hall. The winners were selected by a panel of judges chaired by tenor and composer Tom Randle. British singer Rachel Duckett […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":22325,"template":"","categories":[1],"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"3"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2022\/12\/voice-of-black-opera-winners-revealed.jpg",2048,1354,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2022\/12\/voice-of-black-opera-winners-revealed-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2022\/12\/voice-of-black-opera-winners-revealed-300x198.jpg",300,198,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2022\/12\/voice-of-black-opera-winners-revealed-768x508.jpg",768,508,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2022\/12\/voice-of-black-opera-winners-revealed-1024x677.jpg",800,529,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2022\/12\/voice-of-black-opera-winners-revealed-1536x1016.jpg",1536,1016,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2022\/12\/voice-of-black-opera-winners-revealed.jpg",2048,1354,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"By Steve Wright Published: Tuesday, 06 December 2022 at 12:00 am Soprano Rachel Duckett and tenor Thando Mjandana have been chosen as winners of the Voice of Black Opera competition, held at Birmingham Town Hall. The winners were selected by a panel of judges chaired by tenor and composer Tom Randle. British singer Rachel Duckett…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/22324"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22325"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22324"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22324"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}