
Academy soprano successes
Soprano Céline Forrest (pictured here), a student with Royal Academy Opera, has been awarded entry to the final of BBC Cardiff Singer of the World 2015. This valuable opportunity is part of her prize for winning the Welsh Singers Competition in Cardiff on Monday 23rd June, performing at St David’s Hall with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales.
Céline also recently won the Academy’s prestigious Richard Lewis / Jean Shanks Award.
Wales Online praised the ‘gloriously voiced Céline Forrest, a remarkable 24-year-old from Swansea, oozing personality and charm’.
Soprano Christina Gansch, winner of the 2014 Kathleen Ferrier Award, will graduate from the Academy in July 2014. She has recently been signed for represenation by Askonas Holt.
Christina will join the International Studio of the Hamburgische Staatsoper this Autumn, where roles in her first season will include Gretel Hänsel und Gretel, Oscar Un ballo in Maschera and Frasquita Carmen. Her 2014/15 also includes a return to the Opéra national de Montpellier for Servilia La clemenza di Tito.