A singer from Denbighshire won a prestigious award at the 72nd Royal Over-Seas League (ROSL) Annual Music Competition. 

The gold medal was awarded to tenor Dafydd Jones, who hails from a dairy farm in Llanrhaeadr near Denbigh, who combined arias and songs to impress the panel and gathered audience with a spectacular performance.

ROSL's 72nd Annual Music Competition came to a spectacular close on Wednesday night (June 19), announcing Welsh tenor Dafydd as the winner and recipient of the 2024 Gold Medal, he is also the first singer to take home the top prize in eleven years.

Dafydd was joined onstage by duo partner and winner of the 2024 ROSL Collaborative Piano Award, Francesca Lauri.

The Gold Medal final was held at London’s Wigmore Hall where four soloists competed in the impressive final, Jordan Brooks violin, Ignas Maknickas piano, Daniel Shao flute and Dafydd Jones tenor.

The adjudicators John Gilhooly CBE (chair), Geoff Parkin, Alexandra Dariescu, Angela Dixon, Chloë Hanslip, Gavin Henderson CBE, Linda Marks, Tom Randle, Melvyn Tan and Sue Thomas had the task of choosing the winner and the £15,000 award.

While the judges deliberated, the ROSL 2024 Ensemble Category winners, Trio Archai and Apollo’s Cabinet performed, following which the panel of adjudicators took to the stage to announce Dafydd Jones as the winner.

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Artistic Director Geoff Parkin said: “In a set of exceptional performances from all the musicians, Dafydd impressed the jury with his magnetic stage presence, stunning voice control and interpretation of his programme of music by Welsh and French composers, and we are proud to welcome him to the ROSL list of gold medal winners.”

Welsh tenor Dafydd is an Aldama scholar studying with Nicky Spence and Caroline Dowdle at the Royal College of Music International Opera Studio.

Dafydd is a Samling Artist and his highlights on the operatic stage include singing Clotarco in Haydn’s Armida at the Bregenzer Festspiele last year, his debut in the title role of Albert Herring for Opera North and is currently covering the role of Tamino in Die Zauberflöte for Glyndebourne Opera Festival this season.

Upon receiving the award, Dafydd said: “I’m absolutely delighted to have picked up the prestigious ROSL Gold Medal at the finals on Wednesday. It was an incredible experience to perform with my fabulous pianist and friend, Francesca Lauri, on the world-class Wigmore Hall stage in front of such a receptive audience. I’m grateful to all family and friends who managed to be in attendance to share this special moment with me.”

“Next up, I’ll be travelling to the Verbier Festival in the Swiss Alps to perform the role of Fenton in Verdi’s Falstaff before my big move to join the Studio at the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich in September. I’m very excited about these next steps in my career and am extremely grateful to all teachers and staff at the Royal College of Music for their support and guidance over the past 7 years and especially to Ann Atkinson, Brian Hughes and my grandmother, Brenda Jones, who layed the foundations to this exciting journey.”