The search is on to find the Commonwealth's new Black or South Asian opera st

• International competition launches to find the most talented opera singers in the Commonwealth
  
  
• £10,000 prize awaits the winner of the Voices of Black Opera 
  
  
• Past winners have gone on to perform with world-renowned opera companies
  
  
• Image of the 2022 winner Rachel Duckett, who is of Jamaican heritage, attached

The Voices of Black Opera (VOBO) competition, organised by British charity the Black British Classical Foundation (BBFC), was created to help boost the careers of talented Black and Asian singers who, due to their race, struggle to secure a foothold in the overwhelmingly white operatic world.

This year marks the third time the competition has invited singers from across the 56 Commonwealth countries – spanning Africa, Asia, the Americas, Europe and the Pacific – to come forward to take the first step to international recognition.

The overall winner will be crowned the Voice of Black Opera 2025 in a gala ceremony in London on 25 October.

They will receive the prestigious Sir Willard White Trophy, which includes a £10,000 cash prize. The trophy is named in honour of Sir Willard, the world-renowned Jamaican-born opera singer who was knighted in 2004 for his outstanding service to music.

The Samuel Coleridge-Taylor Trophy will be awarded for the best performance of a song by a Black composer, alongside a specially commissioned song cycle and a guarantee of three paid performances, to help kick-start their career.

In all, 12 singers will be shortlisted to travel to the UK – flights and accommodation costs will be covered for international competitors, to ensure they can focus on delivering world-class operatic performances.

BBFC CEO, founder and artistic director Vincent Osborne said: “The Voice of Black Opera is a unique competition specifically designed to identify the next generation of Black and South Asian operatic talent and provide a springboard for them to forge careers in the operatic world.

“VOBO is more than a competition, it’s an opportunity to be seen, to grow, and to join a network of artists redefining the future of opera.

“It is a travesty that people of colour are so visibly absent from the international operatic scene, despite having the talent and commitment.

“The VOBO competition is a shop window for Black and South Asian talent – we aim to identify, nurture and promote the singers and force open the doors of world’s greatest opera companies and arenas that are so often closed to singers of colour.”

While in the UK, competitors will have the opportunity to be coached by leading repetiteurs of opera and take part in a series of masterclasses, to hone their skills ahead of the live public battle to become one of the competition’s five finalists.

A high-calibre judging panel of established opera professionals and representatives of Opera North, English National Opera and the Royal Northern College of Music, will decide which singers will progress to perform with a full orchestra at the competition’s Gala Final at the Fairfield Halls, Croydon, London.

The 2023 VOBO competition included finalists from Britain, Canada, South Africa and Jamaica, with British-born Rachel Duckett, who is of Jamaican heritage, scooping the top prize.

The Samuel Coleridge-Taylor Award was won by South African tenor Thando Mjandana, who has gone on to perform with the Cape Town and Dutch National Operas and sing at London’s iconic Royal Opera House.

For details of how to apply to be the Voice of Black Opera 2025 visit: https://bbcf.uk/vobo