By Frank Cadenhead [Opera Today, 1 February 2012]

A Swiss soprano and an Australian baritone shared the 20,000 Euro Emmerich Smola Prize awarded on Monday. The Swiss soprano Chiara Skerath, 23, was born in Belgium and trained at the National Conservatory in Paris and the University of Music and Dramatic Arts with Claudia Visca. Baritone Derek Welton, born in Melbourne in 1982, studied at the University of Melbourne and received musical training at the Guildhall School in London.