Cardiff Singer of the World
Host
Brian Kay (1983-7)
Chris Stuart (1989)
Humphrey Burton (1991)
Natalie Wheen (1993-7)
Petroc Trelawny (1999 to present)
Huw Edwards (live final host, 2003-9)
Aled Jones (BBC2 Wales, 2007-9)
Catherine Bott (Radio 3, 2007-9)
Josie d'Arby (co-host, 2009 to present)
Fiona Talkington (Radio 3, 2009)
Iain Burnside (Radio 3, 2011 to present) with Donald Macleod (2011-13), Susan Bullock (2015)
Tim Rhys-Evans (BBC2 Wales, 2011 to present) with Connie Fisher (2011-13)
Angel Blue (co-host, 2015 to present)
Wynne Evans (Radio Wales, 2015 to 2023) with Nicola Heywood Thomas (2015), Rebecca Evans (2017)
Siân Pari Huws (Radio Cymru, 2015)
Heledd Cynwal (S4C - 2015-17, Radio Cymru - 2019)
Kate Molleson (Radio 3, 2017)
Nia Roberts (Radio Cymru, 2017)
Broadcast
BBC Radio 3, 18 July 1983 to present
BBC 2, 18 July 1983 to 19 June 2011
BBC Knowledge (qualifying rounds), 2001
BBC Four (qualifying rounds, also final since 2013), 2003 to present
BBC 2W / BBC Two Wales, 11 June 2007 to present
BBC Radio Wales and Radio Cymru, 16 June 2015 to present
S4C (highlights), 2009 to present
Synopsis
Young classical singers from around the world converge on Cardiff and, well, sing. The contest was first held in 1983, to mark the opening of St David's Hall, and has been held every second year since. There are two categories, "Opera" and "Song" (formerly "Lieder" - roughly anything that is not opera), and 25 singers aged between 18 and 36 take part in the televised stages. The Song final has been staged as a separate event since 2005.
The competition takes place in odd-numbered years, with Young Musician of the Year running in the even-numbered years.
Champions
| Year | Opera prize | Lieder prize (from 1989) | Audience prize (from 2003) |
| 1983 | Karita Mattila, soprano, Finland | ||
| 1985 | David Malis, baritone, USA | ||
| 1987 | Valeria Esposito, soprano, Italy | ||
| 1989 | Dmitri Hvorostovsky, baritone, USSR | Bryn Terfel, baritone, Wales | |
| 1991 | Lisa Gasteen, soprano, Australia | Neal Davies, baritone, Wales | |
| 1993 | Inger Dam-Jensen, soprano, Denmark | Paul Whelan, baritone, New Zealand | |
| 1995 | Katarina Karnéus, mezzo-soprano, Sweden | Kirsi Tiihonen, soprano, Finland | |
| 1997 | Guang Yang, mezzo-soprano, China | Christopher Maltman, baritone, England | |
| 1999 | Anja Harteros, soprano, Germany | Dae-San No, baritone, South Korea | |
| 2001 | Marius Brenciu, tenor, Romania | Marius Brenciu, tenor, Romania | |
| 2003 | Tommi Hakala, baritone, Finland | Ailish Tynan, soprano, Ireland | Angela Marambio, soprano, Chile |
| 2005 | Nicole Cabell, soprano, USA | Andrew Kennedy, tenor, England | Ha-Young Lee, soprano, South Korea |
| 2007 | Shen Yang, bass baritone, China | Elizabeth Watts, soprano, England | Jacques Imbrailo, baritone, South Africa |
| 2009 | Ekaterina Shcherbachenko, soprano, Russia | Jan Martiník, bass, Czech Republic | Giordano Lucà, tenor, Italy |
| 2011 | Valentina Nafornita, soprano, Moldova | Andrei Bondarenko, baritone, Ukraine | Valentina Nafornita, soprano, Moldova |
| 2013 | Jamie Barton, mezzo, USA | Jamie Barton, mezzo, USA | Ben Johnson, tenor, England |
| 2015 | Nadine Koutcher, soprano, Belarus | Jong-Min Park, baritone, South Korea | Amartuvshin Enkhbat, baritone, Mongolia |
| 2017 | Catriona Morison, soprano, Scotland | Ariunbaatar Ganbaatar, baritone, Mongolia Catriona Morison, soprano, Scotland1 |
Catriona Morison, soprano, Scotland |
| 2019 | Andrei Kymach, baritone, Ukraine | Mingjie Lei, tenor, China | Katie Bray, mezzo-soprano, England |
| 2021 | Gihoon Kim, baritone, South Korea | Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha, soprano, South Africa | Claire Barnett-Jones, mezzo-soprano, England |
| 2023 | Adolfo Corrado, bass, Italy | Sungho Kim, tenor, South Korea | Julieth Lozano Rolong, soprano, Colombia |
1 Ganbaatar and Morison were joint winners of the 2017 Song prize.
Trivia
The 2021 event went ahead, albeit without a live audience as Covid restrictions were in place at the time.
The 2025 edition was cancelled after the discovery of RAAC concrete in the roof led to the lengthy closure of St David's Hall. The BBC announced it would stage a non-competitive gala concert at the nearby Wales Millennium Centre as part of the city's Llais festival.