National Centre for Early Music

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Handel Singing Competition - York Early Music Festival prize

We are delighted to announce the winners of a new prize offered in the 2012 Handel Singing Competition.  The York Early Music Festival prize was awarded to soprano Raphaela Papadakis and mezzo-soprano Anna Starushkevych. 
 
The prize was an invitation to take part in the 2012 York Early Music Festival, which reflects the Olympian ideals of excellence and international harmony.  As neither singer is free to take part in the York Early Music Festival this year, we look forward to welcoming them to an alternative festival in York in the near future.
 
The Final of the 2012 Handel Singing Competition took place on 15 March 2012 at St. George's Church, Hanover Square, London as part of the London Handel Festival.   

Raphaela Papadakis is currently studying on the Opera Course at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.  Before studying at the Guildhall, she read English Literature at Clare College, Cambridge, graduating with a first-class degree.

Anna Starushkevych was born in Lviv, Ukraine.  After two years of Post Graduate studies at the Guildhall and completing her Master of Music degree, Anna joined the Opera Course in September 2011.  In June 2012 Anna joins the Solti Academy in Castiglione della Pescaia, Italy, where she will have the opportunity of working with some of the world's best opera singers and teachers, including Kiri Te Kanawa, Angela Gheorghiu and Dennis O'Neill.  Anna also won the First Prize and the Audience Prize in the 2012 Handel Singing Competition.