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Dr Ralph Kohn |
‘I prescribe plenty of Schubert’
Preview: International Song Competition
Wigmore Hall
NEARLY three dozen singers from all over the world will be singing their best in next month’s four day International Song Competition at Wigmore Hall.
Just 12 years after its launch, the bi-annual event has grown in stature to become one of the world’s most prestigious competitions for young singers on the verge of professional careers.
The competition is backed by the Kohn Foundation, the charity launched in 1991 by Hampstead philanthropist Dr Ralph Kohn.
Although a medical scientist by profession, Dr Kohn has had a passionate interest in music since he first started playing the violin aged six. Over the years he became a proficient baritone, making his Wigmore Hall debt in 1965, going on to give numerous recitals and record 16 CDs.
His passion for singing led to his involvement in setting up the Wigmore Hall Song Competition along with pianist Graham Johnson and William Lyne, then the hall’s director.
“Our aim was to create a competition which honours every facet of the song repertoire with piano,” says Kohn. “Each of the competitors has to sing some Schubert and that’s so important. If you can do Schubert, then you’re on your way to understanding the essence of music and poetry.”
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