Six finalists will compete for the 2016 Joan Sutherland and Richard Bonynge Bel Canto Award in September.

The six finalists have been announced for the 2016 Joan Sutherland and Richard Bonynge Bel Canto Award. Bronwyn Douglass, Alexandra Flood, Alasdair Kent, Tabatha McFadyen, Emma Moore and James Olds will compete for the prestigious vocal prize in September.

This year – the competition’s sixth – also marks the 90th birthday of Australia’s ‘La Stupenda’, Dame Joan Sutherland, who passed away in 2010. To commemorate this auspicious anniversary, the Joan Sutherland and Richard Bonynge Bel Canto Award has increased all cash prizes and added several new ones. The total prize pool is valued at over $115,000 and the first prize, donated by Walker Corporation Pty Limited, is now $50,000.

The Bel Canto Award, open to singers from Australia and New Zealand between the ages of 20 and 30, will join forces yet again with Australia’s only international classical singing competition, the third annual Elizabeth Connell Prize for aspiring dramatic sopranos.

The Elizabeth Connell Prize is open to the sopranos from all over the world aged 25-35 years and comes from a legacy left by the late South African soprano, Elizabeth Connell. Anna-Louise Cole (Australia),...