Nicholas Tolputt Comes Out on Top of Australian Singing Competition

Last night at the Concert Hall, The Concourse Chatswood, five distinctively different voice types battled it out for over $200,000 in prizes & opportunities in the Australian Singing Competition, the premier singing competition for classical and opera singers. The prizes include 'The Mathy', the most prestigious award given to a young opera singer.

This year the winner of The Mathy, and ultimate winner of the Australian Singing Competition was Nicholas Tolputt, a 25 year old counter tenor from NSW. He gave a stunning performance singing Stille amare from Tolomeo by Handel and I know a bank from A Midsummer Night's Dream by Britten.

In addition to the Marianne Mathy Scholarship valued at $30,000 Nicholas Tolputt also received the Merenda Legacy Prize, The Sydney Symphony Orchestra Award, The Betteru Prize and the Opera Australia Prize.

The four other singers competing last night were Morgan Balfour a 23 year old soprano from NSW; Eliza Boom, a 22 year old soprano from New Zealand; Jarvis Dams a 25 year old baritone from New Zealand; and Sarah Wang a 24 year old soprano from NSW.

The Compere for the evening was ABC Classic FM's Damien Beaumont. The finalists were accompanied by the Australian Opera & Ballet Orchestra conducted by Maestro Benjamin Northey.

Nearly 100 singers from Australia and New Zealand auditioned. The adjudicators were Lyndon Terracini AM, Conal Coad, Michael Halliwell, Emma Matthews and Benjamin Schwartz.

The IFAC Australian Singing Competition for opera and classical singers is Australasia's premier competition and the richest of its kind. Since 1982 more than $2.8million in prizes has been won with nearly 3,000 singers.

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