University of Kentucky opera alumnus Reginald Smith Jr. has been selected to represent the United States in the 20th BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition. As part of the prestigious vocal competition in classical music, Smith will compete against 15 of the world’s most outstanding rising stars in international opera and song on BBC TV, radio and iPlayer beginning June 12.
BRITISH Italian soprano Carly Paoli and Chinese tenor Mingjie Lei have teamed up for a very special musical collaboration filmed on video. Taking inspiration from the hugely popular Chinese song The Moon Represents My Heart and a newly-written piece The Mood Holds Our Love, Carly and Mingjie are accompanied by a 26-piece orchestra featuring musicians from 13 countries. The song will be premiered on Carly’s YouTube channel at 7pm tonight and China’s Tencent platform tomorrow, in celebration of the Chinese New Year 2021 – The Year Of The Ox which runs from February 12-26. Under the direction of Italian conductor Gianluca Marcianò, the song and its accompanying video was destined for use on social media in 2020 as part of the promotion for the Italian Lerici Festival, which had a theme of Italy’s cultural relationship with China.