Now in its third year, the nationwide search spanning concert halls and conservatoires has become a beacon for emerging talent, with a £7,000 prize fund.
2025’s judging panel features arguably England’s most famous living operatic baritone, Sir Thomas Allen, the pioneering female conductor Dame Jane Glover, and pianist Sholto Kynoch.
The competition has fast made a name in classical music, thanks to its judges who in previous years have included Sir John Tomlinson CBE, Dame Felicity Lott, and the principal conductor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Edward Gardner OBE.
The semi-finalists will go head-to-head in a thrilling live performance in the historic St Andrew’s Church in the North Yorkshire village at the 2025 Northern Aldborough Festival this June.
First prize is The Seastock Trust Prize with a £5,000 cash award. The second prize of £1500 has been generously sponsored by The Yorkshire Music Future Fund. The Armitage Prize, chosen by the audience, a heartfelt nod to the audience favourite, will be a £500 award. Winners get the chance to perform a paid recital at next year’s Northern Aldborough Festival alongsiderecitals, also paid through a donation from the Yorkshire Music Future Fund, at Leeds Lieder and Harrogate International Festivals.
The New Voices Competition was launched in 2023 by Northern Aldborough Festival in response to the funding cuts the classical music sector faced, to provide a platform for emerging talent.
The inaugural winner of the New Voices Competition was the mezzo-soprano Lea Shaw, who was consequently picked as a BBC Music Magazine ‘Rising Star.’ The festival has this year assisted Lea in securing professional management with one of the UK’s leading agencies.
Festival director Robert Ogden had a career as an operatic countertenor and is also on the judging panel. Robert Ogden said: “Lea Shaw’s success shows how our competition can really make a tangible difference to young musicians who face enormous challenges entering an increasingly tough industry.”
Robert added: “This year is set to be the biggest year. The calibre of young singers is truly exceptional. In today’s landscape of music and arts funding cuts, we see the competition as a valuable platform to support young classical singers to launch their careers, as well as to get in front of some of the industry’s leading and influential figures. It’s also a unique and unmissable chance for audiences to witness major musical stars on their ascent.”
The 2025 New Voices Singing Competition semi-finalists are:
- Caroline Taylor (Soprano) and Sebastian Issler (Piano)
The British soprano Caroline Taylor has already attracted national acclaim for her “glittering soprano” (The Times), with effusive reviews for her ‘extraordinarily beautiful’ singing. She graduated from the Royal Northern College of Music with Distinction, winning the Kennedy Strauss Award.
She’s accompanied by Sebastian Issler, the inaugural pianist-in-residence at City Music Foundation, who won the 2022 Wigmore Hall/Bollinger International Song Competition Jean Meikle Prize for Best Duo, alongside being a finalist at the International Schubert Competition in Dortmund.
- Eiry Price (Soprano) and Matthias De Smet (Piano)
A graduate of the Royal College of Music and the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama, Welsh soprano Eiry Price is an Associate Artist at the Welsh National Opera. This season, she will also appear in recital with pianist James Baillieu, as part of the WNO Associate Artists’ annual showcase.
Eiry was a finalist in the Welsh Singers Showcase competition, 2024. She’s accompanied by Matthias De Smet, a Belgian pianist who studied piano at the Royal Conservatory of Ghent and at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama.
- Lydia Shariff (Mezzo Soprano) and Daisie Sitlani (Piano)
The British Mezzo-Soprano is a rising star in the operatic world. A graduate of the Opera School at London’s prestigious Guildhall School of Music and Drama, she has trained with The Glyndebourne Academy and British Youth Opera. Lydia was named a 2024 Wagner Prize Nominee in the Netherlands and has been distinguished as a Britten Pears Young Artist (2023) and Serena Fenwick Artist with British Youth Opera.
Daisie Sitlani is a professional pianist, director, and musician with a First-Class BA in Music from Newcastle University and an Artist Masters from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.
- Natalka Pasicznyk (Soprano) and Matthew Clemmet (Piano)
A third-generation Ukrainian soprano, Natalka grew up singing Ukrainian folk music with her father and sister. She is a First-Class music graduate of King’s College London currently pursuing postgraduate vocal studies at the Royal College of Music with Patricia Rozario. She won First Prize in the 2024 Dean and Chadlington Singing Competition and was a 2025 Leeds Lieder Young Artist.
Matthew studies with Roger Vignoles, Simon Lepper and Kathron Sturrock at the Royal College of Music and regularly plays for masterclasses in the British Youth Opera. He recently won the Alasdair Graham Pianist Prize in the RCM Lieder competition.
- Nikki Martin (Soprano) and Esther Ersfeld (Piano)
Nikki and Esther are both originally from Scotland. The voice and piano duo formed whilst studying at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (RCS). They have performed in recitals and competitions, such as the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland Lieder competition, and the Ashburnham English Song Competition.
Esther is a keen chamber musician and has formed a number of musical partnerships throughout her time at the Conservatoire. She has performed in masterclasses led by Scottish pianist Steven Osborne, and American pianist Andrew Armstrong.
- Rachel Munro (Soprano) and Jia Ning Ng (Piano)
An exciting new duo, Scottish soprano Rachel and Singaporean pianist Jia Ning met during their time at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and bonded over a shared love of telling important stories through music.
They became an official performing pair in 2024 and have since been entering major UK vocal competitions, as well as collaborating within the RCS.
Jia Ning Ng is a concert pianist and collaborative pianist currently based in Glasgow, where she works as Staff Accompanist at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. In 2024, she was endorsed by Arts Council England under the Global Talent visa, recognising her as an exceptional artist in her field.
- Zhang Shuai (Bass) & Daisy Rentong Zhao (Piano)
Zhang Shuai is an award-winning bass who graduated from the Conservatorio di Musica Giuseppe Verdi in Milan. He is currently studying for the Advanced Postgraduate Diploma at Royal Birmingham Conservatoire. He has been a prize-winner in numerous international competitions, including First Prize at the Vicenza International Vocal Competition. He has also been awarded top prizes in competitions across Italy, Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, Bulgaria, Russia, Canada, and the USA.
Chinese pianist Daisy Rentong Zhao was born in 2001, has had great success in competitions in China, including second place in the International Steinway Piano Competition, first prize in Shanghai International Youth Piano Competition and second prize in the Harbin Bach Festival. She currently studies at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire with Daniel Browell.
- Solveig Neseth Kassar (Soprano) and Alexandra Standing (Piano)
From the USA, Solveig has a Master of Music in Opera Performance and Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance from Oklahoma City University. As a soprano soloist, Solveig has performed in Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana, Thomas Dubois’ Seven Last Words, Gabriel Faure’s Requiem, and George Frideric Handel’s Messiah.
Alexandra is a London-based award-winning pianist and chamber musician. She graduated with distinction in 2020 from the Royal Academy of Music in London, where she studied collaborative piano with the renowned James Baillieu and Christopher Glynn. She has several prestigious awards, cementing her status as a rising freelance pianist.
2025 marks the 31st year of the Northern Aldborough Festival, which sees remarkable talent from around the globe gather for ten glorious days, from 12-21 June.
Audiences can experience concerts in a village church normally the preserve of up-scale concert halls in New York, London, and Europe.
The line-up includes the mezzo soprano Dame Sarah Connolly with Dame Imogen Cooper as a headline act. Also performing this summer, fresh from their Proms debut, is the Fantasia Orchestra with violinist Tamsin Waley-Cohen, the leading jazz vocalist Jacqui Dankworth, and one of the UK’s most exciting opera companies, Wild Arts, will perform Donizetti’s The Elixir of Love. This year’s guest speaker is the respected journalist, Matthew Parris.
Aldborough is a picturesque Roman village, just half an hour from York or Harrogate, and its festival has become a leading fixture on the classical music calendar. Its patron is Dame Judi Dench.
Tickets are now on sale to attend the live semi-finals and final: aldboroughfestival.co.uk