91�ȱ�

A round-up of some of the things that have been happening for 2009 Cardiff Singers since June, along with news of some alumni from previous competitions.

The 2009 winner, Ekaterina Scherbachenko, was immediately signed up by the leading agency IMG Artists. In order to have more freedom to explore other opportunities, she is leaving the Bolshoi Opera, but will continue to perform with them - including Tatiana in Beijing, Madrid and Lucerne and Iolanta in Warsaw and Dresden next year. Poised for international stardom, Ekaterina's future plans include her Metropolitan Opera debut as Micaela; as Liù in a new production of Turandot at Bayerische Staatsoper, Munich with Zubin Mehta and as Tatiana at the Opéra de Monte-Carlo.

Yuriy Mynenko (now known as Yuri Minenko) and Jan Martiník have both been signed up by the distinguished agency, Askonas Holt, following their appearances in the 2009 final. Yuri's diary is filling up very nicely with a big range of future engagements. These include Marc-Andre Dalbavie's Sonnets with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, title role in Xerxes with New Zealand Opera, Eustazio in Rinaldo with Opera de Lausanne, Corrado in Vivaldi's Griselda opposite David Daniels with Santa Fe Opera, Cavalli's La Didone with Les Arts Florissants conducted by William Christie and recitals at the Wigmore Hall, Washington DC, Vancouver and Montreal. He is also pencilled to sing the title role in Tamerlano with the Nationale Reisopera in the Netherlands and Baba the Turk with the Deutsche Staatsoper Berlin.

Jan Martiník remains a member of the ensemble of the Komische Oper Berlin throughout the 2010/2011 season, and also appears in opera in Prague and Brussels. Concert performances include Carnegie Hall in New York with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and at the Barbican Centre with the 91�ȱ� Symphony Orchestra.

Eri Nakamura, another finalist from this year, is in her last year on the Jette Parker Young Artist Programme at the Royal Opera House. Roles there this year include Musetta La bohème and Frasquita Carmen, and she has been engaged as a guest artist to return to sing Sophie Werther next year and Liù Turandot in 2013. She joins the Bayerische Staatsoper from the 2010-11 season, where roles will include Despina, Zerlina, Adina and Gretel. She will also make her role debut as Juliette Roméo et Juliette at the Teatro Municipal de Santiago de Chile - for which she was approached by casting director Arnold Alons during Cardiff Singer. This is the singer Arnold was being mysterious about in his interview for the website. Incidentally, Arnold also signed up Marc Canturri, the Andorran baritone, to sing Mercutio in the same production when he was at the competition.

News of some previous winners

Shenyang (2007) continues to study in New York, at the Juilliard School and on the Met's Lindemann Young Artist Development Program. Mentored by Renée Fleming, he made his Met debut in April as Masetto Don Giovanni and appears as Colline La bohème this season. He also makes his debut with the New York Philharmonic in Handel's Messiah with Helmuth Rilling. Shenyang has given Lieder recitals in Hong Kong and Shanghai as well as in Hoddinott Hall, Cardiff, and has also performed at Carnegie Hall and the Salzburg Festival. This season, he also makes his debut with the Boston Symphony Orchestra under James Levine in the title role of Mendelssohn's Elias.

Nicole Cabell (2005) is well established in her international career, both in the opera house and the concert hall. Highlights from her very busy career include her return earlier this year to the Met in New York as Adina L'elisir d'amore and she performs there again in February as Musetta La bohème. She has also appeared at Deutsche Oper, Berlin as Micaela in Carmen; as the Countess in Le nozze di Figaro at Cincinnati Opera with Sir Roger Norrington and as Clara Porgy and Bess at the Hollywood Bowl. On the concert stage, she appeared in Brahms' Deutsches Requiem both with the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa with Pinchas Zukerman and with the Cleveland Orchestra and Franz Welser-Möst, and will appear with the Accademia di Santa Cecilia and Antonio Pappano in Mahler's Second Symphony in Rome and Milan in May.

Anya Harteros (1999) is rated by many as being among the greatest of today's sopranos. Her career received a great boost with the acclaim she received as Violetta La traviata at Deutsche Oper Berlin in 2007, followed by Amelia Grimaldi in Simon Boccanegra at the Royal Opera House in 2008. She also received critical acclaim in her role debut as Elisabetta in the new production of Don Carlos on the occasion of the opening of the new opera house in Oslo in 2008. In July 2009, she appeared as Elsa opposite Jonas Kaufmann in Richard Jones' production of Lohengrin to rave reviews.

Cardiff Singer stars in the making

It seems unfair to single out singers as so many are enjoying very successful careers. But three in particular are hitting the headlines at the moment.

Elīna Garanča (2001 finalist) is fast becoming a major player on the world stage. Her sensational Met debut as Rosina in 2008 was followed there by the title role in Cenerentola, and she has sung Carmen both there and at Covent Garden to great acclaim. Other recent highlights include Octavian at Vienna State Opera and Charlotte (Werther) with Rolando Villazón in Vienna and Baden-Baden. She has been announced Singer of the Year in the 2010 Midem Special Awards, and Musical America Vocalist of the Year 2010.

Amanda Echalaz (2005 competitor) has been wowing audiences with her voice, in particular in the role of Tosca. She received rave reviews for her Opera Holland Park performances in the role last year, and triumphed at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden in July when she took over at short notice from an indisposed Angela Gheorghiu in the same role. She will reprise Tosca for English National Opera and the Salzburg Landestheater next year. Amanda recently sang Liù in Turandot at English National Opera. Looking further ahead, Amanda will make her debuts with the Teatro Real in Madrid in Britten's Turn of the Screw; La Monnaie, Brussels in the title role of Salome and at the Bregenz Festival as Maddalena in Andrea Chénier.

Nina Stemme (1993 finalist) has been enjoying a very successful career for some years, but has recently received high accolades for her Wagner roles in particular. She has sung Isolde to great acclaim at Glyndebourne (which has been issued on DVD), Bayreuth and Zurich and the Royal Opera House, and on CD opposite Placido Domingo as Tristan. Other triumphs have included her performances as Sieglinde and Brunnhilde in Vienna State Opera's new Ring, plus her role debut as Salome at the Liceu in Barcelona. Her achievements were mentioned in Rupert Christiansen's opera review of the decade.

Of course, we all notice many other familiar Cardiff Singer names in the opera house, concert hall and on CD sleeves, which all goes to prove how high a standard the competition reaches.