The 72nd annual Royal Overseas League (ROSL) Music Competition took place last night (19 Jun) at London’s Wigmore Hall. Four soloists competed in the Gold Medal final: Jordan Brooks violin, Ignas Maknickas piano, Daniel Shao flute and Dafydd Jones tenor, all in pursuit of the top prize of £15,000.

Adjudicating were John Gilhooly CBE (chair), Geoff Parkin, Alexandra Dariescu, Angela Dixon, Chloë Hanslip, Gavin Henderson CBE, Linda Marks, Tom Randle, Melvyn Tan and Sue Thomas who crowned tenor, Dafydd Jones as the winner. Jones is an Aldama scholar studying with Nicky Spence and Caroline Dowdle at the Royal College of Music and is currently playing the role of Tamino in Die Zauberflöte at Glyndebourne Opera Festival this season.

Speaking on the competition, ROSL 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.’

The ROSL was founded in 1910 and aims to support artists and musicians across the Commonwealth in their professional endeavours, providing performance and exhibition opportunities which bring their work to the attention of the professional arts community, media and general public.