UWTSD has offered its congratulations to Katie Lowe, who has won the prestigious Elizabeth Connell prize.
Katie, who is a graduate of the university’s Wales International Academy of Voice, was awarded the prize at a special ceremony held in Sydney, Australia. The prize includes AUS $30, 000 and an audition at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden.
Katie said: “Nothing prepared me for the shock of actually winning the ECP award. This is a life-changing experience and I intend to fulfill the promise that the esteemed judges have placed in me. It is a privilege to begin my dramatic soprano journey in Elizabeth Connell’s footsteps and I hope to do her memory proud.”
Katie is an English soprano who studied at the Wales International Academy of Voice under the tutelage of Dennis O’Neill. She graduated in 2014 and since then, she has gone on to receive numerous awards including the Ian Fleming Award MBF, Sybil Tutton Award MBF, Countess of Munster Award, Les Azurieles Young Artist Award, Dennis O’Neill Foundation Award and the Josephine Baker Trust. In 2016, she was awarded the Independent Opera Postgraduate Voice Fellowship at the Royal Northern College of Music.
Dennis O’Neill, Director of WIAV, said: “I was delighted to hear of Katie Lowe’s huge success in this very important competition and have sent her our congratulations on behalf of WIAV. It was always a joy to teach her and equally so to see yet another of our singers joining the profession at such a high level.”
The Elizabeth Connell is an annual prize-giving awarded to aspiring dramatic soprano. Finalists were chosen from auditions in Sydney, Melbourne, Moscow, Berlin, London, Zurich, Paris, and New York. For her winning performance, Katie performed the ‘Immolation Scene’ from Wagner’s Götterdämmerung and ‘Suicidio’ from La Gioconda by Ponchiello.
The Wales International Academy of Voice was founded by Internationally renowned Tenor Dennis O’Neill, and now part of the University of Wales Trinity Saint David’s, students will benefit from the expertise of a Master of his field and a world leading Educational Institution to prepare them for the ever changing pace of the Operatic Performance Industry.
The Academy provides a highly specialised and unique environment for a small number of exceptional singers and accompanists at the early stage of their professional career and recruits young artists globally. Students work with the best vocal technicians, coaches, visiting eminent conductors and international stars from the operatic world in order to develop their talent to the highest professional standards.
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