Rachel Duckett and Thando Mjandana announced as winners of the Voice of Black Opera

Rachel Ducket with WNO Orchestra and Matthew Kofi Waldren (Photo Dan Knott Event Photography)

British singer Rachel Duckett was announced as the winner of the Voice of Black Opera (VOBO) competition which took place on Monday 5 December 2022 at Birmingham Town Hall.

Rachel Duckett [who was in Northern Opera Group's film of Viardot's Cendrillon, see my review] takes home the Sir Willard White Trophy as well as a £10,000 grand prize, repertoire coaching with music staff of Welsh National Opera, and a forthcoming concert appearance with the WNO Orchestra.

South African Thando Mjandana [who we saw as Nemorino in Waterperry Opera's production of Donizetti's L'elisir d'amore, see my review] received the Samuel Coleridge Taylor Award, which included the prize of £5,000 and three forthcoming performances of a specifically commissioned new work by Daniel Kidane for voice and ensemble with Birmingham Contemporary Music Group (BCMG).  

Thando Mjandana, WNO Orchestra, Matthew Kofi Waldren (Photo Dan Knott Event Photography)