Jamie and Bezhod vie for oligarch’s $100k classical talent award

Len Blavatnik, owner of the Warner Music Group, is about to dosh out $100,000 a year on new classical talent.

According to WQXR’s Brian Wise, who got first sight of the press release, Blavatnik will give the money ‘to an instrumentalist or singer between 18- and 35-years-old who shows strong career potential’. Sixteen candidates have been selected from the current Carnegie Hall roster.

According to AFP, the nominees are: sopranos Sarah Shafer and Jennifer Zetlan; mezzo-sopranos Jamie Barton, Rachel Calloway, Cecelia Hall, Alisa Kolosova and Peabody Southwell; bass-baritones Aubrey Allicock and Evan Hughes, and tenor Dominic Armstrong.

Instrumentalists are Augustin Hadelich and Itamar Zorman, cellist Brook Speltz, double bassist Roman Patkolo, harpist Sivan Magen and pianist Behzod Abduraimov.

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