Where Are They Now?

Felix has recently completed the International Opera Studio of the Zurich Opera, where he had the opportunity to perform the title role in a staged version of Mendelssohn‘s ‘Elijah’. He has sung roles in ‘Gianni Schicchi’ at the Verbier Festival and ‘Andrea Chénier’ at the Salzburg Festival and opened the 25/26 season at Theater St. Gallen performing Schaunard in a new production of ‘La Bohème’.

Thanks both to his new position as a Visiting Vocal Professor at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London and to recitals with Sholto Kynoch, Felix has worked regularly in the UK over the last 12 months. From September he will be a permanent member of the ensemble at the Theater St. Gallen.

In the last 12 months, Shafali has joined Longborough Festival Opera with a “scene steal[ing]” and “characterful” performance

of Berta (Rossini’s ‘Barber of Seville’). At the Grimeborn Festival, she made her debut with Green Opera as Clori in

‘Testament’, which was nominated for the Fringe Theatre Award. Shafali will join the Royal Ballet & Opera chorus in twelve

productions this season, including ‘Samson et Dalila’, ‘I Puritani’ and ‘La Fille du Régiment’. Shafali is currently understudying

2 principle roles at the Royal Ballet & Opera - Second Niece (‘Peter Grimes’) and Barbarina (‘Le nozze di Figaro’). 

She is looking forward to singing her first Verdi ‘Requiem’ with the Exeter Choral Society. Shafali’s work with the ‘Abolition Song and its Legacies’ project will continue, with concerts at the Foundling Museum and the Handel Hendrix House in May and October.

Since competing at the inaugural Eastbourne International Singing Competition, Annabel has moved to Düsseldorf to take up a place at the 'Deutsche Oper am Rhein' Opera Studio. Annabel enjoys having the chance to work in a theatre full-time, creating characters and performing with talented colleagues. She has also participated in other international competitions - IVC in ‘s-Hertogenbosch and the Wigmore International Song Competition and has curated her first recital with the 97 Ensemble. 

German soprano Felicitas Wrede will join theensemble at the theatre inHeilbronn for the 2026/27season. Recent highlights

include a well-received debut as Mimì (La Bohème)and Marie (The Bartered Bride). Other recent operatic roles include

Alice Ford (Falstaff) at the Verbier Festival, Pamina (Magic Flute), the title role in Die Kluge (Carl Orff) and Gretel (Hänsel und

Gretel). Collaboration with the Junge Kammerphilharmonie Sachsen has given Felicitas many solo opportunities at the Gewandhaus Leipzig, including Verdi’s Requiem and  Mendelssohn’s Lobgesang.  These concerts have led to further engagements at Händelfestspiele Göttingen, Thomaskirche (Leipzig), Nikolaikirche (Leipzig) and the Gedächtniskirche (Berlin).

Since taking part in the inaugural Eastbourne International Singing Competition 2024, Samuel has made his debut at some of the world's most important opera houses . Last summer, as a member of the Salzburg Festspiele Young Singers' Project, he performed the role of ‘First Croupier’ in Peter Sellars' new production of Prokofiev’s 'The Gambler' in the historic Felsenreitschule. He also performed in the YSP Final Concert in the Haus für Mozart with the Mozarteum Orchestra. In September 2024 Samuel joined the Opernstudio of the Bayerische Staatsoper and has appeared as Arturo (Lucia di Lammermoor), Second Priest/First Armed Man (Die Zauberflöte) and Parpignol (La Bohème). In the near future he will also sing roles in 'Der Rosenkavalier' and 'Don Carlo'. Samuel describes it as being "rather surreal" to appear alongside such artists as Asmik Grigorian, Angel Blue, Louise Alder, Simon Keenleyside, Brindley Sherratt, Piotr Beczała, Xavier Anduaga, and Pene Pati. Samuel has recently enjoyed collaborating with and learning from conductors Zubin Mehta, Carlo Rizzi, and Vladimir Jurowski. He is delighted to be continuing in the Opernstudio of the Bayerische Staatsoper for a second season in 2025-26 and has several more exciting role debut-roles on the horizon. 

Chinese counter-tenor Zheng Jiang has continued to develop an active performance career in the UK and internationally.

He was a finalist in the 2025 Kathleen Ferrier Awards and won First Prize in the Adrian Clarke Vocal Awards at the 2025

Grasmere Song Festival and Third Prize in the RCM Lies Askonas Competition. Zheng will join the RCM International Opera Studio in September and is a Samling Artist and a 2026 Leeds Song Festival Young Artist. He has recently joined The Mozartists as a soloist for their Mozart Birthday Concert at Cadogan Hall. Zheng will  make his role debut as Sesto (Giulio Cesare) with Grange Festival in June, and later in the year he will make his Salzburg Festival debut as Grimbald in Gordon Kampe’s King Arthur Junior.