“Uniquely talented” soprano Erin is the voice of the future

A ‘uniquely talented’ young soprano won one of the main prizes at an international festival – just 24 hours after tending the sheep on the family farm.

Erin Rossington, 23, from Llanfairtalhaiarn near Abergele, was crowned as the Pendine International Voice of the Future at the Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod.

She was presented with the Pendine Trophy, a solid silver salver, and a cheque for £5,000 by Eisteddfod president Terry Waite on behalf of Mario Kreft, proprietor of the arts loving sponsor, the Pendine Park care organisation.

In what judges acknowledge was a very close competition Erin clinched the title just ahead of Pembrokeshire soprano Jessica Cale, 27, who received the runner-up prize of £2,000. The international competition began with a preliminary competition, with the two finalists making it onto the main Llangollen pavilion stage for the culmination of the contest.

Mr Kreft and his wife, Gill, pledged to contribute £5,000 to the International Voice of the Future competition through their Pendine Arts and Community Trust (PACT) which supports cultural and community initiatives, with the balance coming from the Sir Bryn Terfel Foundation and the Eisteddfod.

An overwhelmed and thrilled Erin said she would be using the prize money to further her dream as a career as a professional opera singer. She said: “It was a wonderful feeling to win such a prestigious competition and I can’t believe that I’ve come this far.”

Erin, who was helping out on her family’s sheep farm just the day before the competition preliminaries, has been a passionate singer since she was very small and has competed at eisteddfods right across Wales and even abroad.

In 2013 she was part of a group from the Urdd Eisteddfod which journeyed to the Welsh settlement in Argentina’s Patagonia region to compete in its own eisteddfod, proudly taking second place.

Four years ago she played innkeeper’s wife Madame Thenardier in an Urdd production of Les Miserables in Cardiff. Erin has been studying at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester and has just graduated with a Masters of Music Degree at the Guild hall in London. She grew up with her three sisters helping to run their parents’ sheep farm and says she was helping to tend the flock just before coming to compete in Llangollen.

“My lifetime’s ambition is to become a professional opera singer and this fantastic prize will go towards helping me achieve that,” said a delighted Erin.