Chairman of the Jury, Director, Wigmore Hall

Irish-born John Gilhooly became Director of London’s Wigmore Hall in 2005, making him, then at 32, the youngest leader of any of the world’s great concert halls. As Director of Wigmore Hall, he programmes the largest chamber music and vocal series in the world. He was born in Limerick, which had a strong traditional Irish music, chamber music and opera tradition. He is one of three siblings, all of whom sang in the local church choir and later studied singing. Whilst reading History and Politics at University College Dublin, John, a tenor, also studied singing under Veronica Dunne at the DIT Conservatoire of Music and the Leinster School of Music, winning numerous prizes in Irish competitions. Since 2010, he has been Chairman of the Royal Philharmonic Society, one of the oldest musical societies in the world, and the organisation which presents classical music’s most prestigious honours and awards. He is Chairman of the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World Song Prize and sits on numerous competition panels worldwide. He was an outspoken advocate for the importance of live performance during the coronavirus pandemic and initiated the gradual return to live performance through livestreaming and broadcasting from an empty Wigmore Hall in a landmark series in June 2020. John has been honoured by heads of state and academic institutions. In 2022 he was awarded a CBE, in 2013 an OBE, and in 2015 was made a Knight of the Order of the White Rose of Finland by the President of Finland.

Among the most compelling singing actresses of our time, Roberta Alexander enjoyed international renown for her riveting, incisive characterisations and her miraculous vocal and dramatic range. Roberta Alexander was reared in a musical family and studied at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. She made her operatic debut at the Dutch National Opera in 1975 in La cambiale di matrimonio. Among the operatic heroines she unforgettably portrayed were the title roles of Janáček's Jenufa, Mimì (La Bohème), and especially the great Mozart heroines: Fiordiligi (Così fan tutte), Donna Elvira (Don Giovanni) and Vitellia (La clemenza di Tito). She performed principal roles at the Metropolitan Opera, the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, and at all the major European opera houses. Equally esteemed as an orchestral soloist, Roberta Alexander performed with the Vienna, London and Royal Philharmonic, Cincinnati, Atlanta and Dallas Symphony, Bavarian Radio Symphony, Royal Concertgebouw, Philadelphia and Cleveland orchestras; and collaborated with many distinguished conductors. In recent seasons she performed the role of Curra (La Forza del Destino) at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden and at Dutch National Opera, and Fifth Maid in Patrice Chéreau’s production of Elektra at the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, the Metropolitan Opera, Teatro alla Scala and the Staatsoper Berlin. In 2025, she returned to the Staatsoper Berlin and the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence. Teaching was an important part of her daily life; passing on the expertise drawn from her 45 years of stage experience to the next generation of young singers is a significant purpose for her. Roberta passed away unexpectedly in October 2025; her warmth, insight and humour will  be deeply missed by everyone involved with the Song Competition.

Described by the Daily Telegraph as ‘in a class of his own’ James Baillieu is one of the leading song and chamber music pianists of his generation. He has given solo and chamber recitals throughout the world and collaborates with a wide range of singers and instrumentalists including Benjamin Appl, Jamie Barton, Ian Bostridge, Allan Clayton, Annette Dasch, Lise Davidsen, the Elias and Heath Quartets, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Adam Walker and Pretty Yende. As a soloist, he has appeared with the Ulster Orchestra, English Chamber Orchestra and the Wiener Kammersymphonie. Recent highlights include a recital tour with Lise Davidsen at venues including the Metropolitan Opera House, the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía, Wigmore Hall and the Wiener Staatsoper. He performed at Fundación Juan March and in venues across Japan with Benjamin Appl, at the Festival du Périgord Pourpre and Festival van Vlaanderen with Véronique Gens, at the Concertgebouw with Jess Gillam, and at the Gran Teatre del Liceu and Salzburg Easter Festival with Lise Davidsen and Freddie de Tommaso. James returned to Wigmore Hall for recitals with Louise Alder, Tara Erraught and Tim Mead. James is a frequent guest at many of the world’s most distinguished music centres including Carnegie Hall, Wigmore Hall, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Vancouver Playhouse, Berlin Konzerthaus, Vienna Musikverein, the Barbican Centre, Wiener Konzerthaus, Bozar Brussels, Pierre Boulez Saal, Cologne Philharmonie, and the Laeiszhalle Hamburg. Festivals include Aix-en-Provence, Verbier, Schleswig-Holstein, Festpillene i Bergen, Edinburgh, Spitalfields, Aldeburgh, Cheltenham, Bath, City of London and Brighton.

Olaf Bär lives in his home town of Dresden where he started his musical education as a member of the Dresdner Kreuzchor boys’ choir. His international career was launched when he won the inaugural Walther Gruner Lieder Competition, and since then he has appeared worldwide in recitals and concerts and has made major tours of Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Japan and America. For many years he was a principal member of the Semper Oper Dresden, and has also appeared at Covent Garden, La Scala in Milan, at the opera houses in Vienna, Berlin, Paris, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Zurich, Chicago, Rome, Naples and Turin and at the Glyndebourne, Salzburg, Bayreuth, Aix-en-Provence, Wiener Festwochen and Ruhr-Triennale festivals. Mr Bär has made numerous recordings with EMI, Decca, Philips and other companies. In 1998 Mr Bär was awarded the Schumann-Prize by the city of Zwickau. Since 2004 he has been Professor of Lied Interpretation at the Hochschule für Musik in Dresden. He is regularly invited to be a Juror for international singing competitions and to give masterclasses, specialising in the interpretation of German Lieder.

Bernarda Fink, born in Buenos Aires to Slovene parents, received her musical education at the Instituto Superior de Arte del Teatro Colón. As one of the most sought-after singers in concerts and recitals and much acclaimed for her musical versatility, she frequently performed alongside leading orchestras and conductors in Europe and America. With a repertoire that ranges from ancient to contemporary music, she has worked with the Philharmonic Orchestras of London, Prague, Vienna and Berlin, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Staatskapelle Dresden, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Cleveland and Philadelphia Orchestras, and with the foremost Baroque orchestras under many distinguished conductors. Mrs. Fink is welcomed regularly in Argentina and at the main opera houses of Europe and often appears in recitals at the Wiener Musikverein and Konzerthaus, Schubertiade Schwarzenberg, Concertgebouw and Wigmore Hall. Some of her nearly 50 recordings have been awarded coveted prizes such as the Diapason d’Or and Grammys. In 2006, Bernarda Fink was awarded the Austrian Honorary Medal for Art and Science and in 2013, together with her brother Marcos Fink, the most prestigious cultural award of Slovenia, sponsored by the Prešeren-foundation. In 2014 the Austrian Ministry of Arts awarded her with the title Austrian Kammersänger. Bernarda Fink also gives masterclasses and is a regular jury member at various competitions such as the Queen Elizabeth Competition, BBC Cardiff Singer of the World and Das Lied among many others.

David Jackson was a producer, executive producer and commissioner of television and radio for the BBC and the independent sector. His programmes won many awards including a Primetime Emmy, BAFTAs, the Rose d’Or, SONY Awards, a number of Golden Prague and Vienna TV Awards and many nominations. He became the Artistic Director of BBC Cardiff Singer of the World in 2015, one of the most highly regarded classical singing competitions in the world. Previous posts included Head of Music at BBC Wales, Vice Principal at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, Acting Director of the BBC National Orchestra and Chorus of Wales and Managing Director of the National Children’s Orchestras of Great Britain. In addition to his professional work David served for a number of years as a Trustee and Chair of the Cultural Committee of the Wales Millennium Centre. He was a former trustee of the chamber orchestra Sinfonia Cymru, sat on the Governors’ Music Committee of Wells Cathedral School, and was a Governor of Ysgol y Deri Special School in Sully. He was a trustee of the Kiri Te Kanawa Foundation, of the charity ABC of Opera, which brings music to schoolchildren and young people, and served as chair of the Forget-Me-Not Chorus for people with dementia and their carers. David was Chair of National Youth Arts Wales, the organisation responsible for the National Youth Ensembles of Wales. and was made an OBE in the late Queen’s Platinum Birthday Honours. David sadly passed away in October 2025; he will be sorely missed by all those involved in the Song Competition, having been on the Jury for the 2017, 2019, 2022 and 2024 Competitions. David always agreed to give feedback to the competitors; he was very self-deprecating about the value of his comments as he wasn’t a performer, but all those who spoke with him appreciated his measured and thoughtful words.

Graham Johnson is recognised as one of the world’s leading vocal accompanists studying at the Royal Academy of Music, London. In 1972 he was the official pianist at Peter Pears’s first masterclasses at Snape Maltings, which brought him into contact with Benjamin Britten. In 1976 he formed the Songmakers’ Almanac to explore neglected areas of piano-accompanied vocal music. Graham devises and accompanies concerts regularly at Wigmore Hall from the re-opening series in 1992 to its centenary celebrations in 2001. He is Senior Professor of Accompaniment at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama and has led a biennial scheme for Young Songmakers since 1985. For Hyperion Records, he has devised and accompanied a set of complete Schubert Lieder on 37 discs and a complete Schumann series amongst others. Awards include the Gramophone solo vocal award in 1989 (Dame Janet Baker), the Royal Philharmonic Society’s Instrumentalist of the Year (1998), and in 2000 he was elected a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music. He has received several Honorary Doctorates and is author of several books; his latest, Poulenc – The Life in the Songs, was published in 2020. He was made an OBE (1994), created Chevalier in the Ordre des Arts et Lettres (2002), Honorary Member of the Royal Philharmonic Society (2010), awarded the Wigmore Medal (2013), the Hugo Wolf Medal (2014) and Germany’s Cross of the Order of Merit (2021).