MILLY FORREST WON THE 69TH ROSL ANNUAL MUSIC COMPETITION SINGERS PRIZE ON TUESDAY 21 SEPTEMBER AND WAS AWARDED £5,000 AND A SOUGHT-AFTER PLACE AT THE GOLD MEDAL FINAL ON 24 NOVEMBER 2021. AMONG FOUR SOLOISTS, MILLY’S TECHNICAL POLISH, PROGRAMMING AND RANGE OF INTERPRETATIONS WON OVER THE AUDIENCE AND JURY ALIKE.
This year’s line-up for the Section Final saw four exceptional singers take to the stage; Sophie Sparrow soprano, Ted Black tenor, Ella Taylor soprano, and Milly Forrest soprano, who battled it out for the £5,000 prize and made for a very exciting evening of performances. The adjudicators James Baillieu, Mhairi Lawson, Njabulo Madlala, and Geoff Parkin had the difficult decision of choosing the section winner and performer who will go onto the Gold Medal Final to compete for the first prize of £15,000.
Lyric soprano Milly Forrest was chosen as the Section Final winner and recipient of the £5,000 prize. Milly studied at the Royal Academy of Music and the Royal College of Music with professors Alison Wells, Kathleen Livingstone, Caroline Dowdle and Gary Matthewman. Since 2019 she has been a Young Artist of Garsington Opera covering roles and being part of Chorus. In 2021 she returned to Wormsley Estate to sing the role of Alice from Le Comte Ory by Rossini. Recent Opera work includes covering Barbarina in the English National Opera’s 2020 production of The Marriage of Figaro and singing Iris in the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra’s 2019 production of Semele conducted by Yu Long.
ROSL Annual Music Competition Section Finals take place each Tuesday 7-9pm at Over-Seas House, Park Place, St James’s Street, London, SW1A 1LR:
- 14 September: Brass, Wind and Percussion – winner Marie Sato flute
- 21 September: Singers – winner Milly Forrest soprano
- 28 September: Keyboard
- 5 October: Strings
- 12 October: Ensemble A (Strings)
- 19 October: Ensemble B (Mixed)
- 26 October: Overseas Award
- 24 November: Gold Medal Final
Tickets: £15. To book tickets, visit www.rosl.org.uk/events, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call 020 7408 0214 ext 219
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CONTACT AND IMAGES
For more information or press images contact Mark Brierley, Head of Communications on T:020 7016 6905 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. visit www.rosl.org.uk
NOTES FOR THE EDITOR
Founded in 1910, the Royal Over-Seas League (ROSL) is a non-profit private members' club dedicated to championing international friendship and understanding. ROSL helps artists and musicians across the Commonwealth connect, collaborate and create.
ROSL supports talented young artists and musicians from the UK and Commonwealth, providing performance and exhibition opportunities which bring their work to the attention of the professional arts community, media and general public.
ROSL ANNUAL MUSIC COMPETITION
The ROSL Annual Music Competition grew out of a series of concerts inaugurated at Over-Seas House in 1947 under the banner ‘Festival of Commonwealth Youth’. The Festival became competitive in 1952, with a first prize of £10. Over the past 68 years the competition has grown in scope and prestige and now awards in excess of £80,000 for solo performers, accompanists and chamber ensembles. Past ROSL prizewinners makes for an impressive alumnus of musicians of the highest calibre who have established prominent careers in the music profession. Find a list of past winners here: https://www.rosl.org.uk/music/music-alumni . To mark ROSL’s centenary in 2010 an appeal was launched to secure the future endowment of the ROSL Annual Music Competition Awards and Commonwealth Music Scholarships, currently worth £125,000 per annum. The funds are held in the ROSL Foundation (registered charity 306095). To make a donation contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.