“Small Performing Arts Event of the Year 2023”

(seventh annual Greater London Enterprise Awards)

Masterclass and Schubert Song Prize

Kindly sponsored by the Schubert Society of Britain

Wednesday 27th November 2024, 2pm and 5.30pm

Lancaster Hall Hotel, 35 Craven Terrace, London W2 3EL (nearest tube, Paddington)

The 2024 London Song Festival masterclass is given by the internationally acclaimed tenor Nicky Spence. It is open to voice and piano duos age 32 and under, selected by audition, who are asked to present two songs (in any language), at least one of which must be by Schubert. Masterclass participants also compete for the Schubert Song Prize.

Important dates: 

• Wednesday 16th October – deadline for applications

• Sunday 20th October – Auditions

• Wednesday 27th November – Masterclass and Schubert Song Prize

The masterclass is open to voice and piano duos age 32 and under.

The auditions are free to enter, but each successful duo will be required to pay a £50 fee to participate in the masterclass.  

Applications can be sent by submitting the attached form: APPLICATION FORM

The masterclass is open to the public, tickets available here*

NICKY SPENCE - TENOR

Biography

Winner of the BBC Musician Magazine Personality of the Year 2022, Opera Singer Nicky Spence is an artist and broadcaster of great integrity and one of Scotland’s proudest sons. Nicky was made an OBE in the King's inaugural Birthday Honours in 2023 for services to Music and received the Singer Award from the Royal Philharmonic Society in 2024.

Nicky was schooled locally in Dumfries and Galloway before receiving a scholarship to the Guildhall School. During his training, he won a record contract with Decca Records before taking a place at the National Opera Studio and latterly a position at the English National Opera as one of their inaugural Harewood Artists. 

Nicky is prized for his portrayal of Janáček roles and is fulfilling his exciting potential as a Heldentenor having recently made his role debut as Parsifal with the Hallé orchestra under Sir Mark Elder. Nicky has recorded prolifically and is a regular featured recitalist at the Wigmore Hall, London though he can mostly be found on the International stages of Opera de Paris, Covent Garden and the Metropolitan Opera, New York. In 2020, he won both the BBC Music Magazine Vocal Award and Gramophone’s Solo Vocal Award for his critically acclaimed recording of Janáček’s vocal work The Diary of One who Disappeared with Julius Drake.

Recent operatic successes include his debut at the Deutche Staatsoper as Albert Gregor in Věc Makropulos, his debut as Siegmund Die Walküre directed by Richard Jones, Laca in Claus Guth’s new production of Jenůfa at the Royal Opera, Erik in Der Fliegender Holländer alongside Sir Bryn Terfel for Grange Park, a tour with Jakub Hrůša in Janáček's The Eternal Gospel (Santa Cecilia, Rome / l'Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France), his role debut as Loge in a new Wagner Ring for La Monnaie with Romeo Castellucci, Thomas Adès' The Exterminating Angel in Paris and Jenůfa in concert with the LSO and Sir Simon Rattle.

Upcoming appearances include important title role debuts: Peter Grimes WNO; The Excurisons of Mr Brouček Brno Janáček Festival and a return to Glyndebourne Festival and ROH to sing Boris Katya Kabanova and Laca Jenůfa respectively.  24/25 also brings an artist's residency at the Wigmore Hall entitled Nicky Spence: A Celebration and concerts with the Hallé, Orquestra sinfonica Barcelona, Kings Place, Oxford International Song Festival, Britten Sinfonia and the CSBO. 

Nicky is using his space to bring more people to classical music than ever before and recently presented an acclaimed run of TV programmes: Anyone can sing and Sing when you're winning (Sky Arts), and is host of the English National Opera's new podcast, Opera Actually. Considered a force for good in the classical music world, Nicky is President Elect for the Independent Society of Musicians, an official Ambassador for charity Help Musicians UK and patron for the Scottish Opera Young Company. Nicky gives masterclasses Internationally and is a visiting professor at both the Royal Academy of Music and the Royal College of Music, London.