Events | Calendar
Dorothy Richardson Intermediate Prize Finals 2026
The Recital Room, Tonbridge School, High St, Tonbridge, Kent TN9 1JP
1 Nov 2026 | Times TBA
Read more about this competition
Catherine Lambert 2026 Bonus Award
24 Sep ’26 | 2-5 pm | James Gilchrist Masterclass | Eton College Music School, South Meadow Lane, Windsor, SL4 6ES | Free admission – All Welcome | View Poster
WordSong Member Submission
02 Oct 2026
Fundraising Concert
St Margaret's Organ Restoration Fund
Time | 7:30 pm
Venue | St Margaret’s Church, Lee
Lee Terrace, SE13 5DL
Chamber Music and songs by Bach, Schumann, Quilter, Finzi, Head and many others.
Admission free |
Retiring collection – Donations welcome | View Poster
Recent Events
Patricia Routledge
Senior Prize Finals 2026
Hinde Street Methodist Church, W1U 2QJ
6 July 2026 | Read Report
18 Sep 2026 | WordSong Prizewinners Concert
Fri. 18 September 2026
at 7:30 pm
Venue:
St. Giles Cripplegate
Fore St, Barbican, London EC2Y 8DA
Read more, including the planned programme…
Overheard after the 2026 WordSong Prizewinners’ Concert at St Giles, Cripplegate, London on 18 Sep. 2026
“A Wonderful Evening”
‘When I travel up from Lewes to an event in London I always wonder whether it will be worth the effort, cost and late night; on this occasion there was no doubt. It was an inspiring evening’.
Pat Price Tomes, WordSong member
Blog | Articles | Event Reports | Testimonials
PDF | Dorothy Richardson English Song Prize 2023 | Programme
6 Sep 2025 | Remembering Dame Cleo Laine (1927-2025)
AESS is very sad to hear of the recent death of Cleo Laine. Dame Cleo was, of course, a legend of song and music theatre, well-known and much loved by millions from her performances on stage and screen. AESS is deeply honoured to have had Dame Cleo as an Honorary...
9 Oct 2025 | Remembering Dame Patricia Routledge (1929 – 2025) | Reminiscences from AESS Leaders
Dame Patricia Routledge died on 3 October 2025. She has rightly had many obituaries in the press, and it's wonderful to see how she was respected and loved. We've lost a National Treasure. Dame Patricia has taken an active interest in our association for years now,...
Who was Dorothy Richardson | soprano | (1927 – 2018)?
A Northumbrian by birth, Dorothy Richardson moved to London after winning many music festivals in the north of England. There she won a major London County Scholarship which allowed her to study singing for four years at the Royal Academy of Music with the famous...
11 May 2025 | Unsung Heroes Day 2025 | Warlock, Delius & Grainger | Stone House, London SE4
Rediscovering neglected and forgotten English song repertoire. A chance for our members and their pupils to perform together. Unsung Heroes: Warlock, Delius & Grainger Those of us who came to this had a truly delightful afternoon, with the bonus of glorious...
2025 | Actors’/Speakers Prize | Programmes
The Programmes | 2025 Winners of 2025 Actors'Prize 1st: Emre Gozlugol 2nd: Matthew Ralph 3rd: Grace Dalgarno Song Prize: Sophie Banning Programmes for 2025 Competition Preliminary Round | Judges: Marilyn Cutts, Nicola Blackman, Rohan Gotobed, Pau Leonard....
11 Apr. 2025 | Concert Artistes’ Association Speech Prize for Actors
The final of the annual Speech Prize for Actors took place on Friday 11 April this year at the Concert Artistes’ Association headquarters on Bedford Street. The CAA are our new sponsors of this competition, in association with our staunch supporters John and...
2023 | Actors’/Speakers Prize | Programmes
The Programmes | 2023 Ed Shamwana: Human relationships to power from the absolute to the innocent The Power of Armies is a Visible Thing – Wordsworth Power is not a means, it is an end (from 1984) – George Orwell A letter to Presidential Candidate, Abraham Lincoln –...
16 Mar 2025 | Catherine Lambert Junior Recital Prize 2025 | The Final | St Paul’s Girls School, Hammersmith
Entrants are encouraged to explore the vast wealth of material from five hundred years of songwriting, prose, and poetry, of writers and composers worldwide who employ the English language. About the Prize Prizes Awarded: Isobel Davies First Prize – £300 sponsored by...
Interview | Lily Mo Browne (Routledge Winner 2024)
The mezzo-soprano Lily Mo Browne won WordSong's Patricia Routledge English Song Prize in 2024, and then went on to win the prestigious Kathleen Ferrier competition in 2025. We are watching and supporting her progress with great excitement! In November 2025 Lynda...
21 Oct 1991 | Geoffrey Bush Interview | By Bruce Duffie | 1991
Bruce Duffie was a classical music radio broadcaster for a Chicago-based station. His website includes a huge number of transcribed interviews with world-famous musicians, including Geoffrey Bush… Transcription posted 2009 I am Bruce Duffie, and I worked as a...
Remembering Dame Patricia Routledge | 1929-2025 | Reminisences from AESS leaders
Dame Patricia Routledge died on 3 October 2025. She has rightly had many obituaries in the press, and it's wonderful to see how she was respected and loved. We've lost a National Treasure. Dame Patricia has taken an active interest in our association for years now,...
16 Jul 2015 | On the AESS 40th Anniversary (2015) | Articles by Graham Trew & Sarah Leonard
On the 40th Anniversary of Association of English Singers and Speakers (AESS) | by Graham Trew The Association of English Singers and Speakers (AESS) was formed in 1913 by the eminent laryngologist, Dr W. A. Aikin, to further study in the principles of phonology as...