Tyrone tenor Owen Lucas has won the 12th Glenarm Festival of Voice competition which took place on Sunday 28 August. The competition is a regular feature of the Glenarm Festival of Voice, run by NI Opera, and selects five singers from across the island of Ireland to compete for the Deborah Voigt Opera Prize and to become the NI Opera Young Opera Voice of 2022. This year is the festival’s first year back in Glenarm, County Antrim, after the pandemic. 

The five finalists each performed an aria, an ensemble piece and a song written by an Irish composer. In preparation, the singers spend three days working with opera coaches Kathryn Harries, Dr Ingrid Surgenor and pianist Simon Lepper, and then perform for a live audience and judging panel in an event hosted by BBC Radio 3 broadcaster Sean Rafferty.

Lucas won the competition’s overall prize – the Deborah Voigt Opera Prize – and also the Audience Prize. He performed Puccini’s ‘E lucevan le stelle’, ‘The Midnight Quartet’ by Von Flotow, and ‘Nocturne’ by Michael Head. The winner of the Song Prize was Louth Soprano Hannah O’Brien for her performance of ‘Bid Adieu’ by James Joyce. 

The other singers who took part in the competition final were mezzo-soprano Heather Sammon, tenor Michael Bell and baritone David Kennedy. 

Commenting on the competition, Fionnuala Jay-O’Boyle, Vice Chair of NI Opera, said: 

The music making in Glenarm this weekend has been superlative. Five of this island’s most promising young opera voices have had the opportunity to work with several of the top coaches in the opera world…  NI Opera’s commitment to nurturing this talent is as strong in the festival’s twelfth year as ever. We look forward to our return in 2023.

As part of the prize, Lucas will feature in recitals with NI Opera during the year. In addition, he will make his debut with the company as part of their production of La Traviata (10–17 September), playing the role of Gastone de Letorières. 

For further information, visit: https://niopera.com/