Will Frost wins International Handel Singing Competition
Florence Lockheart
Wednesday, April 24, 2024
Frost took home the £5,000 first prize, while the second prize was awarded jointly to sopranos Charlotte Bowden and Isabelle Haile
Bass baritone Will Frost has been announced as the winner of the International Handel Singing Competition, following a final round which took place at London’s St George’s Church, Hanover Square last week in the final days of the 2024 London Handel Festival.
Frost takes home a cash prize of £5,000 while the competition second prize was awarded jointly to sopranos Charlotte Bowden and Isabelle Haile, who also received the audience prize. The three winners, along with finalists Hannah de Priest and Angharad Rowlands, performed with the London Handel Orchestra for a jury including Jette Parker Young Artists programme artistic director David Gowland; Samir Savant, CEO of Bristol music venue, St George’s; contralto Sonia Prina; soprano Anna Dennis; and Academy of Ancient Music CEO John McMunn.
London Handel Festival musical director Laurence Cummings said: ‘What an amazing finish to my tenure as Musical Director of the London Handel Festival! The atmosphere was electric and all of the finalists sang with immense style and engagement. Will Frost, this year’s winner, committed himself to every note and he used his beautiful voice to paint the rhetorical intentions of the text. I feel sure that Handel would have thoroughly enjoyed the whole evening.’
The competition aims to emulate George Frideric Handel’s tradition of encouraging and training emerging singers. Inaugurated in 2002, the event received over 165 applicants from over 20 countries this year, with applicants taking part in a preliminary digital round before travelling to Craxton Studios in north London for the first live round and St George’s church in London for both the semi-final and final. All competitors are required to submit all-Handel programmes at each stage.
A graduate of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, this year’s winner Will Frost is set for a busy year. As well as covering Cithéron and the Satyr in Garsington Opera’s upcoming production of Rameau’s Platée, he will also join the Confidencen Opera & Music Festival for a production of Handel’s Alcina before joining the Graz Opera young artist programme in Austria in August for its next season. He joins a legacy of previous winners including Iestyn Davies, Lucy Crowe, Grace Davidson, Tim Mead and Ruby Hughes.
