Hovahannisyan is Haefliger Prize winner
The Armenian soprano Anush Hovahannisyan is the winner of this year's Concours Suisse Ernst Haefliger, held in Bern and Gstaad.
The first prize is endowed with 10,000 francs. Korean bass Jisang Ryu took second place (6,000 francs) and Swiss baritone Alexandre Beuchat third (4,000 francs). The latter has also been awarded the scholarship for the best candidate with Swiss citizenship (CHF 8,000).
The special prizes for a debut concert at the Lucerne Festival and for contemporary song at the Davos Festival go to the German mezzo-soprano Silke Gäng, while the special prize for a concert at the Menhuin Festival Gstaad goes to Juliette Raffin-Gay (soprano).
The jury consisted of representatives from top-class opera houses and festivals as well as the composer Dieter Ammann, the soprano Christiane Iven and the musicologist Stephan Mösch.
Anush Hovahannisyan began her training in her home country. From 2010 to 2013, she studied in Patricia Hay's class at the Royal Conservatory of Scotland, where she obtained her Master's degree. Since 2013 she has been a member of the Jette Parker Young Artists Program at the Royal Opera House in London, Covent Garden. In 2012 she won the Clonter Opera Prize, the Margaret Dick Voice Award and the Ye Cronies Opera Award as well as 3rd prize in the Les Azuriales singing competition (France).
