Congratulations to Samantha Clarke, winner of Second Prize and the Audience Prize at this year’s Clonter Opera competition.
The postgraduate soprano, who performed the role of Fiordiligi in the RNCM’s 2016 production of Mozart’s Cosí fan tutte, was one of five singers from UK conservatoires to take part in the annual event at Clonter’s home in Congleton, Cheshire.
Clonter Opera provides the highest quality training and performance opportunities for young singers with the aim of bridging the gap between conservatoire and professional work. To date, numerous RNCM students and alumni have benefitted from its Opera Studio, established through the Clonter Farm Music Trust (CFMT). Previous winners of its Opera Prize include mezzo-soprano Kathryn Rudge and tenor Kang Wang.
Last year Samantha, whose studies are supported by the Lady Maria Fisher Opera Scholarship, won the Joyce and Michael Kennedy Award for the Singing of Strauss and was awarded a Vocal Scholarship from Independent Opera at Sadler’s Wells.
