New Zealand soprano Felicity Tomkins has won the 2024 Sydney Eisteddfod Opera Scholarship presented yesterday at The Concourse Theatre, Chatswood.

The Opera Scholarship is valued at $43,000 and includes a $3,000 cash prize and an opportunity to undertake overseas study for career advancement, including language coaching and stagecraft. 

Felicity Tomkins performing at the 2024 Sydney Eisteddfod Opera Scholarship. Photo © BWP Studios

An alum of the New Zealand Opera School, Tomkins has recently completed an Artist Diploma at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. She made her Wigmore Hall debut last year in the Elizabeth Connell Prize final.

On receiving the scholarship, Tomkins said, “I loved performing with the other finalists, and I am thrilled to have won this prestigious award.”

The other finalists competing were Bronwyn Douglass, Ellena Hicks, Ariana Ricci and Molly Ryan. Each singer memorised and performed three contrasting arias from three operas, which must be in at least two different languages. 

The second place prize of $18,000 went to Sydney soprano Molly Ryan, an emerging artist from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music.

On behalf of fellow adjudicators Teddy Tahu Rhodes and Phoebe Briggs, Paul...