The Stage

Te Kanawa joins BBC Radio 2 to find new opera star

Published Monday 25 January 2010 at 12:30 by Matthew Hemley

Soprano Kiri Te Kanawa is to lead a hunt for a new opera star as part of a BBC Radio 2 initiative offering one winner the chance to perform at the BBC Proms in the Park this September.

The Radio 2 Kiri Prize will also give the winner, selected by a judging panel that will include Te Kanawa, the chance to attend a three-week residential course at Solti Te Kanawa in Italy this summer.

Singers are invited to enter by sending a recording on CD of themselves singing one opera aria to Radio 2.

Regional auditions will then take place around the country in March, with 15 semi-finalists invited to perform on five special Friday Night is Music Night programmes, accompanied by the BBC Concert Orchestra, in the summer.

Five performers will then be selected to go through to the final, which will be broadcast on Radio 2 on September 3, with the winner singing with Te Kanawa at Proms In The Park this September.

Lewis Carnie, Radio 2 head of programmes, said: “I’m delighted that Radio 2 is offering one gifted musician the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to work, and perform with, one of opera’s living legends – Dame Kiri Te Kanawa.”

Radio 2’s competition is part of a season being broadcast across the BBC focusing on the world of Italian opera.

Called The BBC - A Passion for Opera, the season will include Opera Italia! on BBC4, a three-part series presented by Antonio Pappano, music director of the Royal Opera, which will explore the role that the art form plays in Italy.

Elsewhere, BBC4 will broadcast the Royal Opera House’s production of Le nozze di Figaro, while BBC2 will broadcast Jonathan Kent’s production of Don Giovanni from Glyndebourne.

BBC2 will also screen Gareth Goes to Glyndebourne, which will follow Gareth Malone, star of BBC2 show The Choir, as he joins the production team at Glyndebourne to become chorus master on his first opera.

Jan Younghusband, commissioning editor for music and events, said: “This is just the first instalment of a continuing journey with further programmes to be announced in due course.”

More information on Radio 2’s competition can be found at bbc.co.uk/radio2.