March
Gerald Finley wins Canada's Juno Award
In March 2011 Gerald Finley’s Great Operatic Arias disc on the Chandos Opera in English label won Canada’s Juno Award for Classical Album of the Year: Vocal or Choral Performance category.

In accepting his award he thanked the Peter Moores Foundation, Chandos, SRI, Edward Gardner and the London Philharmonic Orchestra.

In an interview about the CD posted on Chandos's web site when the CD was launched in 2010, Gerald Finley said,

“My joy at singing past repertoire is also influencing my choice for future repertoire, and although my performing has not as yet included Sachs and Wolfram, they are very much to be part of my future.”

And certainly, Wagner’s Die Meistersingers has featured strongly for him this year, 2011, with his much heralded performance as Hans Sachs at Glyndebourne.

The Independent

'a significant night for Gerald Finley whose Hans Sachs could well prove to be the pinnacle of his career... the beauty and intelligence of his singing, the clarity of his words and toughness and charisma of his persona dominated the stage.'

Check out the CD...
October
Music Theatre Wales's production of Greek wins major award
Music Theatre Wales has won the Outstanding Achievement in Opera Award for its production of Greek in the recent Theatre and Theatre Management Awards UK 2011.

The re-launched annual Theatre and Theatre Management Awards are given to honour creative excellence and the outstanding work seen on stages throughout England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Carole Strachan, Executive Director of Music Theatre Wales, wrote to Peter Moores Foundation:

'This truly is a wonderful achievement for the company and for everyone involved in the production. Thank you for the support you gave us which made this production and tour possible – we are extremely grateful.'

The Daily Telegraph

‘The enthusiastic applause the performance received was primarily a tribute to the force and brilliance of Mark Anthony Turnage’s incandescent score, blisteringly realised in a first-rate new production by Music Theatre Wales.’

The Guardian

‘All the singers play multiple roles except Eddy, affectingly portrayed by the baritone Marcus Farnsworth. Fearful and unpleasant at first, spitting his angry adjectives, Eddy ineluctably wins our sympathy. I've no idea what the talented Farnsworth's glottal stops are usually like – his biography suggests he wasn't born within the sound of Bow Bells – but he negotiated the tricky task of singing cockney without sounding fey...The Music Theatre Wales Ensemble, conducted by Michael Rafferty, together with the other three versatile singers – Sally Silver, Louise Winter and Gwion Thomas – gave an outstanding performance, fierce with raw immediacy.’