THIS year's Leslie and Dorothy Blond Award for Operatic Singing was awarded to Bolton mezzo soprano Antonia Sotgiu.
She received her prize of £5,000 towards further study from veteran opera singer Sir Donald McIntyre at the finals of the competition at the Royal Northern College of Music.
Antonia is a postgraduate student at the RNCM studying with Barbara Robotham. She has had a number of competition successes. Last year she won the RNCM's annual Frederic Cox Award and she was also a finalist for the Clonter Opera Prize.
She has had two seasons with Glyndebourne Festival Opera and next month can be seen in the role of Mrs Herring in the RNCM production of Britten's Albert Herring.
Antonia lives at Kayfield, Harwood.
She is of Irish-Italian descent and speaks fluent Italian.
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