Established in 1956, it is endowed within the Will of John Joseph Mewburn Levien in memory of Sir Charles Santley, a great singer of the 19th century and Liveryman of the Company and whose biography was written by Levien. The Award provides for up to two gifts to be made annually to retired and active distinguished vocalists, composers of vocal music or researchers into singing.
There is a Santley Award Winners' Signature Book, which can be seen by Clicking Here.
Past winners:
1957 - Norman Allin
1958 - Isobel Baillie and Roy Henderson
1959 - Agnes Nicholls and Clive Carey
1960 - Keith Falkner and Elsie Suddaby
1961 - Richard Lewis and Astra Desmond
1962 - Geraint Evans and Eva Turner
1963 - Parry Jones and Maggie Teyte
1964 - Alexander Young and Heather Harper
1965 - Hervey Allen and Joan Cross
1966 - David Ward and Gwen Catley
1967 - George Baker and Olive Groves
1968 - John Shirley-Quirk and Janet Baker
1969 - Owen Brannigan and Carrie Tubb
1970 - Peter Pears and Joan Hammond
1971 - Gwyneth Jones and Alfred Deller
1972 - Charles Craig and Elizabeth Harwood
1973 - Harry Secombe and Jennifer Vyvyan
1974 - Dame Lilian Stiles-Allen
1975 - Thomas Hemsley
1976 - Josephine Veasey
1977 - Norman Bailey
1978 - Helen Watts
1979 - Robert Tear
1980 - Norma Procter
1981 - Benjamin Luxon
1982 - Betty Bannerman
1983 - Ian Wallace
1984 - Constance Shacklock
1985 - Alfreda Hodgson
1986 - Michael Langdon
1987 - Marion Studholme
1988 - Derek Hammond-Stroud
1989 - Valerie Masterson and Eric Shilling
1990 - Felicity Lott and Norman Lumsden
1991 - Elizabeth Bainbridge and Thomas Allen
1992 - Ian Partridge and Sarah Walker
1993 - Elizabeth Vaughan and Philip Langridge
1994 - Anthony Rolfe Johnson CBE and Wendy Eathorne
1995 - Richard Van Allan and Dame Josephine Barstow
1996 - Rosalind Plowright and Willard White
1997 - Ann Murray and Robert Lloyd
1998 - Johanna Peters and John Tomlinson
1999 - Dame Kiri Te Kanawa and James Bowman
2000 - Nancy Evans and Gwynne Howell
2001 - Lillian Watson and Frank Egerton
2002 - Ann Howard and Ryland Davies
2003 - Catherine Wyn-Rogers and Nigel Douglas
2004 - Susan Bullock and Neil Jenkins
2005 - Dame Joan Sutherland
2006 - Dame Anne Evans and Alan Opie
2007 - Felicity Palmer and Stuart Burrows
2008 - John Steane and Sally Burgess
2009 - Della Jones and John Mitchinson
2010 - Sir John Tooley and Dame Emma Kirkby
2011 - Yvonne Minton and Michael Chance
2012 - Catherine Bott and Simon Keenlyside
2013 - Ian Bostridge and Sarah Connolly
2014 - Gerald Finley and Yvonne Kenny
2015 - Mark Padmore and Diana Montague
2016 - Jean Rigby and Christopher Maltman
2017 - Teresa Cahill and Donald Maxwell
2018 - Joyce DiDonato and Roderick Williams
2019 - Alice Coote OBE and Iestyn Davies MBE
2020 - Sheila Armstrong and Graham Clark
2021 - Anne Howells and Mark Wildman
2022 - Cecilia McDowall and Brindley Sherratt
2023 - Carolyn Watkinson and Declan Costello
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