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Mezzo-soprano Rebecca Leggett has been awarded First Prize in competition supporting emerging musical talent.

Now in its third year, the Coro Nuovo Young Musician of the Year competition is open to singers and instrumentalists aged 18 to 25 who are studying at a UK conservatoire, and have a connection to Sussex. The winner receives a prize of £1000 to support their continued musical training.

Rebecca Leggett, who completed four years of undergraduate training at Trinity Laban this summer, was one of the five talented finalists competing on Saturday 14 July at St Andrew’s Church, Burgess Hill.

The mezzo-soprano performed vocal works by Bach, Mozart, and Richard Rodney Bennett with pianist and fellow alumnus Ashley Beauchamp.

The judging panel – Gareth Hancock (Director of Opera, Royal Academy of Music), Jeffrey Lloyd-Roberts (international opera singer), and Kate Kent (Chair of Coro Nuovo) – were captivated by Rebecca’s overall performance and crowned her this year’s winner.

Whilst studying for her BMus at Trinity Laban, Rebecca won the conservatoire’s Elisabeth Schumann Lieder Competition (2016), performed the role of Charlotte in the world premiere of Stephen McNeff’s opera Banished (2016), and sang with the conservatoire’s leading vocal ensembles: the Old Royal Naval College Chapel Choir, the Chamber Choir, and Rubythroat.

Rebecca has worked with Glyndebourne Tour, Opera di Firenze, and Hampstead Garden Opera. In 2016, she was member of the prestigious Genesis Sixteen young artists’ scheme.

Rebecca commented –

“It means a great deal to win Coro Nuovo’s Young Musician of the Year, a competition that supports young musicians from Sussex – I have lived here all my life and this county is very special to me. There are very few music competitions like this in Sussex and it just shows that you can run a wonderful choir and support young musicians at the same time.

Studying at Trinity Laban was a great decision because the undergraduate course allowed me to have a good balance between college commitments and external engagements – I had a wonderful time and made some brilliant friends.”

As well as receiving a financial prize, Rebecca will also have the opportunity to perform at future concerts with Coro Nuovo, a leading Sussex choir directed by international tenor Andrew Rees. 

The promising singer is set to continue her studies, commencing Masters level study at Royal College of Music this September.

 

For more information about the competition and choir, visit the Coro Nuovo website.

To find out more about studying at Trinity Laban, visit our vocal pages.