Thursday 22 March 2012, Guildhall Bath

The Mid-Somerset Festival is delighted to promote this singing competition, made possible by a legacy left by the late Thelma King, where an award of £1,000 will be made to outstanding singer intending to pursue a professional career in order to help with further studies.

NEW FOR 2012. The Mid-Somerset Festival is pleased to offer an additional Song Prize of £250

If their demo CD is successful, singers must present two contrasting pieces for the semi final and have a further piece prepared if they are selected for the Grand Final in the evening. All singers must bring their own accompanists and no official accompanist will be available.

The Song Prize will be awarded after the semi-final sessions and before the Grand Final to the best performance of an individual Art Song within a singer's programme.

(Note: For the purposes of this competition, the Art song is defined as one which is composed as a single entitiy, inspired by good poetry - not opera, operetta or oratorio - to be sung in the original language. It should have been composed after 1800)

This will be the tenth year of running this extremely successful and highly regarded competition which will be held in the Guildhall, Bath on 22 March 2012. Preliminary rounds will be held in the morning and afternoon sessions, with the Grand Final commencing at 7pm followed by a short reception. This will be an absorbing day of singing of the highest quality, and members of the public are welcome to attend all of the sessions.

How to enter: All competitors must be between 18 and 25 years of age .Applications must be accompanied by a non-returnable fee of £20. Preliminary selection from a C.D. or cassette (no mini-discs please), is by an independent adjudicator.These should not be more than ten minutes in total.

Thursday 22 March 2012, Guildhall Bath

See syllabus p.47 and Festival calendar for details