Alastair Miles receives Musicians’ Company Santley Award

The Musicians’ Company has announced the 2024 winner of its Santley Award. Bass Alastair Miles receives the annual award, which aims to celebrate the work of singers, composers of vocal music, ‘writers upon the subject of singing’ and ‘researchers into the human voice’.

This latest award marks a renewal of The Musicians’ Company’s association with Miles, which was originally sparked in 1987, when Alastair won the John Christie Award at Glyndebourne. The Santley Award was endowed in memory of baritone Sir Charles Santley (1834–1922). Previous winners include Cecilia McDowall, Brindley Sherratt, Dame Joan Sutherland, Ian Bostridge, Mark Padmore, Joyce DiDonato, Roderick Williams, Alice Coote OBE and Iestyn Davies MBE.

Receiving his award from the Master of the Musicians’ Company Richard Lyttelton, Miles said: ‘I’m deeply honoured and delighted to receive the Santley award. It’s very gratifying to be acknowledged by one’s peers in the music industry and by such a venerable institution’.

In addition toa vibrant recording career and regular appearances at the Royal Opera House, Miles has also performed with English National Opera, Glyndebourne Festival Opera, Grange Park Opera, Scottish Opera and Welsh National Opera. He also perform internationally with the Metropolitan Opera, the Salzburg Easter and Summer Festivals, the Wiener Staatsoper, the Opéra national de Paris, the Bavarian State Opera, the Deutsche Oper, the Dutch National Opera and Madrid’s Teatro Real. This summer, he is set to make his Buxton International Festival debut.