The Joan Sutherland & Richard Bonynge Foundation has named the winners of two major singing competitions.

Australian tenor Alasdair Kent has won the 2016 Joan Sutherland & Richard Bonynge Bel Canto Award, while Russian soprano Kseniia Muslanova has been named the winner of the 2016 Elizabeth Connell Prize. Finals for both competitions were held at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music on September 3. 

Kseniia Muslanova, Maestro Richard Bonynge and Alasdair Kent. Photo supplied

“Meeting and singing for Maestro Bonynge was really a huge privilege,” Kent told Limelight. “He is without question a world authority on how the bel canto repertoire can ideally be sung, and this is the music to which my voice is best suited, especially the florid Rossini tenor roles and the high-lyric French repertoire. To be presented with the Bel Canto Award by Maestro Bonynge, from the foundation honouring two great Australian icons of bel canto, it’s a real thrill and an honour. It hasn’t sunk in yet and I’m not sure it will for quite some time.”

In Dame Joan’s 90th birthday anniversary year, a record 74 entrants competed in the 6th annual Bel Canto...