Warner Music Group announced today the creation of a new $100,000 classical award, the Warner Music Prize, aimed at recognizing young musicians at the start of their careers. It will be funded by Len Blavatnik, who purchased the record company in 2011 and awarded annually to an instrumentalist or singer between 18 and 35 years.
For the first edition, 16 candidates have been nominated, all of whom drawn from the roster of Carnegie Hall’s 2014-15 season (Carnegie is mentioned as partner on the award). The winner will be announced in the spring of 2015. The nominees are sopranos Sarah Shafer and Jennifer Zetlan; mezzo-sopranos Jamie Barton, Rachel Calloway, Cecelia Hall, Alisa Kolosova and Peabody Southwell; bass-baritones Aubrey Allicock and Evan Hughes; tenor Dominic Armstrong; violinists Augustin Hadelich and Itamar Zorman; cellist Brook Speltz; double bassist Roman Patkoló; harpist Sivan Magen; and pianist Behzod Abduraimov.
