For the second year running, one of the winners of our song competitions has won the prestigious Kathleen Ferrier award. Last year it was mezzo-soprano Lily Mo Browne, and this year, it is baritone Hector Bloggs, who won our Courtney Kenny (now the Dorothy Richardson) English song prize in 2021.

In the Ferrier final, Hector wowed the Wigmore Hall audience. He has a fine voice which sounds at ease throughout his range, and an assured stage presence with great acting ability. He sang the beautiful Tosti ‘Ideale’ with lovely tone, line and feeling, and presented a convincing performance of ‘You wrote to me …’ from Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin. But his most developed talent is in comedy. He gave a splendid performance of Pappageno, and of Wolf’s ‘Abschied’, and had the audience screaming with laughter at his final song, ‘The Whale’ by Flanders and Swann. The cheers when he won said it all!

He has a great career ahead of him, and WordSong supports and promotes the early stages of such a career. Thank you for your support, and let’s continue to help these talented young artists as they set out on this most challenging of professions.

Lynda Morgan, Trustee