Gilbert Betjemann Prize
The Gilbert Betjemann Prize (originally the Gilbert R. Betjemann Prize, also referred to as the Gilbert Betjemann Medal) is a gold medal awarded by the Royal Academy of Music (RA) "for operatic singing".[1][2]
The award was founded in 1897 by G.H. Betjemann HonRA, to commemorate his son Gilbert Richard Betjemann, who was an associate and former student of the Academy[2] and who had died following the collapse of a snow bridge over which he was walking near Grindelwald in the Bernese Alps on 9 September 1896.[3]
In 1948 it was described as:[4]
A Gold Medal of the value of £9.10s 0d is competed for annually in Midsummer Term by Male and Female Students who, having obtained a Silver Medal, give the best rendering of an Operatic Scena or other Dramatic or Operatic Solo. When deemed desirable, it is in the discretion of the Committee of Management to limit the Competition to Members of the Operatic Class.
In 2013, the great-nephew of the 1909 recipient, Margaret Ismay, showed her medal on an episode of the BBC's Antiques Roadshow.[1] She had had it converted into a coin watch by Cartier.[1]
The Gilbert Betjemann Memorial Prize is a registered charity in England and Wales with number 310007.[5]
Recipients[]
The first 49 recipients are listed on a wooden prize board, with gold lettering, in the collection of the Academy.[1] They were:
- 1897Isabel E. Jay :
- 1898R. Whitworth Milton :
- 1899Ethel Wood :
- 1900Ernest Torrence :
- 1901Edward F. Barrow :
- 1902Edith C. Patching :
- 1903W. Daniel Richards :
- 1904Ida Kahn :
- 1905Edith Henrietta Coish :
- 1906David Evans :
- 1907Cecil Pearson :
- 1908Mary Fielding :
- 1909Margaret Ismay :
- 1910William J. Samuell :
- 1911Olive Turner :
- 1912Lily M. Fairney :
- 1914Eleanor Evans :
- 1915Katharine Dyer :
- 1916William A. Michael :
- 1917Marjorie A. Perkins :
- 1918Bessie Kerr :
- 1919Leonard F. Hubbard :
- 1920Gladys Rolfe :
- 1921Ella R. Frank :
- 1923Garda Hall :
- 1924Roy Henderson :
- 1925Vera Kneebone :
- 1926Arthur Fear :
- 1927Bruce Anderson :
- 1928Lesley Duff :
- 1929Freda Townson :
- 1930Edgar Elmes :
- 1931Grace Reynolds :
- 1932Gwendolene Embley :
- 1933Gordon Macdonald :
- 1934Janet Hamilton-Smith :
- 1935Harold Child :
- 1936Megan Pentrhon-Jones :
- 1937E. Muriel Hill :
- 1938Roderick Jones :
- 1939Scott Joynt :
- 1940Joan Taylor :
- 1941Clement Hardman :
- 1942Estelle Applin :
- 1943Constance Shacklock :
- 1944Ethel Lyon :
- 1945Diana Vernon :
- 1946Jennifer Vyvyan :
- 1947Marjorie Davies :
References[]
- ^ a b c d "Stowe House 1". Antiques Roadshow. Series 35. Episode 13. 2013-02-22. BBC. Retrieved 2013-03-19.
- ^ a b "Prize board, Gilbert Betjemann Prize, Royal Academy of Music, 1897–47 (Board 1/2)" [2003.1167]". Royal Academy of Music. Retrieved 19 March 2013.
- ^ Musical Times, 1 October 1896.
- ^ Royal Academy of Music prize book, 1948
- ^ "Gilbert Betjemann Memorial Prize".
- Royal Academy of Music
- Music competitions in the United Kingdom
- Singing competitions
- Opera-related lists