The season ticket booking form, with details of all the concerts and recitals, is now available for the 30th anniversary competition in 2013. You can download the form here.

You have until 8 February 2013, when applications start to be processed, to get your form to the box office at St David's Hall. Season ticket booking is only available by post.

If you can't attend all the events, you will be able to book tickets for individual concerts and recitals from 1 March 2013. Booking for these tickets will be available online, by phone or in person.

Unbelievably, in 2013 it will be 30 years since the Finnish soprano and now opera legend Karita Mattila won the very first competition. Following her win in 1983, she exploded onto the international scene, and has remained at the top of her profession ever since.

In the archive section of the website, you can remind yourself of her performance and those of many of the other 362 talented performers who have competed in Cardiff throughout the competition's history.

Karita Mattila was interviewed in 1991 about the doors that suddenly opened to her following her win – first Brussels Opera, then Vienna and the Met soon followed. You can watch her interview, which is also in the archive section.

Karita Mattila

Valentina Nafornita, the Moldovan soprano who was both the choice of the 2011 jury and audience for two prizes, is on the same trajectory as Karita Mattila was following her win.

Prior to competing in Cardiff, Valentina's career had been confined to Romania, but after the competition she joined the Vienna State Opera, where roles she has performed include Musetta, Clorinda, Oscar and Gilda and recently returned from a tour of Japan with the company for Le nozze di Figaro and Die Zauberflöte. She has just made her debut at Teatro alla Scala, Milan as Gilda, under the baton of Gustavo Dudamel.

Your Cardiff Singer memories

What has been the stand-out moment for you from the competition's first 28 years?

Let us know about the performance that made the hair on the back of your neck stand on end the most, and we will include as many as possible in our special history of the competition in the 2013 souvenir programme book. Remind yourself of some of the performances in the video archive section and email your thoughts to cardiff.singer@bbc.co.uk.

Auditions

The competitors for 2013 are being auditioned in opera houses and conservatoires around the world at the moment. The shortlist revealing which 20 will sing in Cardiff next June will be announced in February next year and will appear on the competition website.

The season ticket booking form, with details of all the concerts and recitals, is now available for the 30th anniversary competition in 2013. You can download the form here.

You have until 8 February 2013, when applications start to be processed, to get your form to the box office at St David's Hall. Season ticket booking is only available by post.

If you can't attend all the events, you will be able to book tickets for individual concerts and recitals from 1 March 2013. Booking for these tickets will be available online, by phone or in person.

Unbelievably, in 2013 it will be 30 years since the Finnish soprano and now opera legend Karita Mattila won the very first competition. Following her win in 1983, she exploded onto the international scene, and has remained at the top of her profession ever since.

In the archive section of the website, you can remind yourself of her performance and those of many of the other 362 talented performers who have competed in Cardiff throughout the competition's history.

Karita Mattila was interviewed in 1991 about the doors that suddenly opened to her following her win – first Brussels Opera, then Vienna and the Met soon followed. You can watch her interview, which is also in the archive section.

Karita Mattila

Valentina Nafornita, the Moldovan soprano who was both the choice of the 2011 jury and audience for two prizes, is on the same trajectory as Karita Mattila was following her win.

Prior to competing in Cardiff, Valentina's career had been confined to Romania, but after the competition she joined the Vienna State Opera, where roles she has performed include Musetta, Clorinda, Oscar and Gilda and recently returned from a tour of Japan with the company for Le nozze di Figaro and Die Zauberflöte. She has just made her debut at Teatro alla Scala, Milan as Gilda, under the baton of Gustavo Dudamel.

Your Cardiff Singer memories

What has been the stand-out moment for you from the competition's first 28 years?

Let us know about the performance that made the hair on the back of your neck stand on end the most, and we will include as many as possible in our special history of the competition in the 2013 souvenir programme book. Remind yourself of some of the performances in the video archive section and email your thoughts to cardiff.singer@bbc.co.uk.

Auditions

The competitors for 2013 are being auditioned in opera houses and conservatoires around the world at the moment. The shortlist revealing which 20 will sing in Cardiff next June will be announced in February next year and will appear on the competition website.

In 2011 it was a great pleasure for me to follow in the footsteps of my friend and inspiration Dame Joan Sutherland by accepting the invitation to become Patron of BBC Cardiff Singer of the World.

Next year marks the 30th anniversary of this prestigious competition and we are now searching to find the next BBC Cardiff Singer of the World. The competition has a reputation as a hugely important showcase for young singers and the twenty who will be invited to Cardiff will follow in the footsteps of some distinguished predecessors, including Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Bryn Terfel and the first ever winner, Karita Mattila.

BBC Cardiff Singer of the World is open to classical singers of any nationality, resident anywhere in the world and is intended for those at the beginning of their professional careers. For those singers who make it through to the concerts in Cardiff, the competition provides valuable international exposure as well as extensive coverage on BBC television, radio and online. The Final attracts wide media attention as well as the opportunity to sing before a distinguished jury.

Each singer who performs in Cardiff will receive a bursary of £1,000. There is a £15,000 cash prize for the winner and each finalist will receive £2,000. As well as the main competition, singers can chose to enter for the Song Prize for which the winner receives £5,000.

First round audition is by DVD and singers who are shortlisted will be auditioned in person at venues across the world. Finalists will travel to Cardiff in June for rehearsals followed by performances with full orchestra in the National Concert Hall of Wales.

May I encourage you to audition for the next BBC Cardiff Singer of the World - a competition which, as Patron, is close to my heart.

"Good Luck and I look forward to hearing you in Cardiff next year.

Dame Kiri Te Kanawa

Laura Sinnerton, a viola player in the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, has been keeping a diary during the 2011 BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition.

Here's her third and final update (from the final), following on from her first and second instalments.

Saturday 18 June

What a week! A number of my colleagues who have seen more Cardiff Singer competitions than they would care to admit have said this has been the finest contest they remember.

On the nights we haven't been performing, I've been glued to my tv watching the orchestra of the Welsh National Opera performing with the competitors of rounds two and four. I actually watched the song prize final twice (how exquisite was Maire Flavin's La Souris de l'Angleterre?).

We now know who the five finalists are, so today we will be rehearsing with the representatives from England, South Korea, Russia, the Ukraine and Moldova.

These last two days of the competition are really quite stressful for the orchestra. The rehearsal day is long and it feels like there is a lot of waiting around. There is just so much music to get through and so little time.

Of course, it is nothing in comparison to the stress that the competitors are under. Some of them will have performed four times by the end of the competition and a few seem to be suffering from sniffles and slightly croaky throats. This competition means so much to the competitors and the pressure at this stage must be huge.

As I've mentioned before, I'm an avid Twitter fan on which the competition has had a huge profile. It's been amazing to see how fiercely it has been discussed.

Tweets are exchanged at lightening speed, opinions on who could lift the trophy are retweeted and challenged immediately; for anyone who thinks the social networking generation are indifferent to competitions showcasing real talent, think again!

If I was asked to choose a winner right now, I would struggle. I'm actually completely in awe of all of them. It is going to be an amazing final.

Laura Sinnerton

Sunday 20 June

Competition final day. It is here, at last! The atmosphere in the hall is incredible. There is a great sense of expectancy; at times you could cut the atmosphere with a knife as the mood swings between excitement, stressed tension and nervous energy.

If ever there was a day that a good meal is needed before a concert, this is it. The concentration the orchestral members must put in is incredible and you are always very aware of the fact that making a mistake could be cataclysmic disaster for the competitor.

Today, I opt for a sushi dinner, but I go easy on the green tea as we will be on stage with no break until the last competitor has performed. That's a long time!

The hall is packed with an obviously excited audience. Meeta Raval takes to the stage first, resplendent in a sea of red satin. This English soprano is so exuberant and genuine in her passion for opera, she was a pleasure to rehearse with and tonight, I am genuinely moved by her performance.

Meeta's final aria 'Beim Schlafengehen' from Strauss' timeless Four Last Songs is one of my desert island discs (we performed the complete work with 1995's winner, the beautiful Katerina Karneus, quite recently).

Ms Raval is followed by Olesya Petrova from Russia who is one of my favourites – I just love her dark voice and the way she uses her face. Her aria from Rimsky-Korsakov's 'The Tsar's Bride is a real highlight for me.

I enjoyed her choice of the Habañera from Carmen as her final piece. It was lovely to see a different side to her in the flirtatious role of Bizet's original diva, Carmen.

Watching Concert 4 on tv, I was completely blown away by Hye Jung Lee's I Am The Wife of Mao Tse Tung from Nixon in China by John Adams. This South Korean's tiny frame completely belies the incredible voice she has.

The pyrotechnics of her coloratura are jaw - dropping and the stratospheric range of her voice is incredible. Her programme must have required so much stamina and I particularly enjoyed her Alcina. I just wish she had sung Madame Mao again!

I thought her outfit was stunning, a very simple white dress reminiscent in shape and style of traditional Korean costume.

The final two competitors have caused conflict between my father and I. My favourite to win is Andrei Bondarenko from the Ukraine. My father likes 'that wee Moldova girl' .

Andrei receives a very warm reception from the audience, he has obviously built up quite a following in Cardiff over this week with his characterful performances and that incredible voice.There is just something so believable about the roles he embodies and appears to have such control over his voice.

He does not disappoint in his performance this evening and the audience react with great enthusiasm. I am very jealous of anyone who gets the opportunity to hear and see him perform Malatesta in Don Pasquale this autumn Glyndebourne Touring Opera).

The final competitor is Moldovan soprano, Valentina Naforniţă. She looks every inch the star in a dress that is both demure and exceptionally alluring at the same time.

The highlight of her programme for me is Je veux vivre from Gounod's Romeo and Juliet. You truly can imagine her not just acting, but embodying this role on stage.

There follows a long interval during which there is pretty much only one topic of conversation! I go outside to get some fresh air and am surprised to see how sunny it is – being in the hall is like entering the Twilight Zone, there is no sense of time or of anything much outside of the hall.

We're eventually ushered back on stage and to tumultuous applause, Valentina Naforniţă is announced, not only the winner of the Dame Joan Sutherland Audience Prize, but also as BBC Cardiff Singer of the World 2011. I can hear my father saying, 'see, I told you so, you'll listen to your old da yet' all the way from County Antrim.

What a week indeed! I feel very honoured to have been part of what I'm sure will go down as a very memorable competition. Congratulations to Valentina, to Andrei (winner of the Song Prize) and to all of the singers. The competitors of 2013 will have a very high standard to live up to.

In a fantastic final of the 2011 BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition at St David's Hall, soprano Meeta Raval from England, mezzo-soprano Olesysa Petrova from Russia, soprano Hye Jung Lee from South Korea, baritone Andrei Bondarenko from Ukraine and soprano Valentina Naforniţă from Moldova dug deep into their singing reserves to give the performances of their lives.

The winner of the 2011 Cardiff Singer competition was Valentina Naforniţă, who also won the Audience Prize.

The distinguished jury had a difficult decision to make but the Cardiff Trophy and £15,000 was awarded to Valentina Naforniţă from Moldova.

For the first time, the audience agreed with the jury as Valentina was also awarded the Dame Joan Sutherland Audience Prize. This could have been won by any of the 20 singers competing in Cardiff whether or not they appeared in the Final, and was based only on performances from the preliminary round as the vote closed before the final took place.

All the TV experts got it wrong. Joyce DiDonato, superstar mezzo, and famed voice teacher Mary King thought it would be Andrei Bondarenko or Olesya Petrova; and Nicole Cabell, who won this competition in 2005 and now has a massive career, thought that it would definitely be Andrei Bondarenko.

Opinion on Facebook and Twitter is divided with some people still rooting for their favourites, but on the whole the result has been positively received.

Video clips of all the finalists will be available on the website tomorrow - meanwhile you can view clips from all the preliminary concerts there now, as well as viewing and listening for the next few days on the BBC iPlayer.

The audience at St David's Hall was treated to a thrilling Song Prize Final last night. Coverage is on BBC Four tonight at 7.30pm and BBC Radio 3 at 8pm.

If you don't want to know who won, DON'T click on this link.

See the Frockwatch gallery of the Song Prize Final.

Tomorrow is the grand final, with performances from singers by Olesysa Petrova from Russia, Andrei Bondarenko from Ukraine, Hye Jung Lee from South Korea, Meeta Raval from England and Valentina Nafornita from Moldova. Find out what is being sung.

The five 2011 finalists

Today, the finalists are rehearsing and some of the non-finalists are taking part in master classes with members of the jury.

Thursday night of Cardiff Singer week is always particularly exciting, not just because of the prospect of hearing the singers not taking part in the Song Prize for the first time but also because of the announcement of the line-up for the Final.

If you are saving yourself for the BBC Four programme tonight at 7.30pm, and DON'T want to find out beforehand which of the singers from Uruguay, Ireland, USA, Italy and South Korea was the winner of Concert 4, along with the names of Sunday's finalists, DON'T click on this link.

Dame Joan Sutherland Audience Prize

Voting in the Audience Prize is now open, and closes at around 11am on Sunday. Viewers and listeners in the UK can vote by phone for their favourite singer from the week, irrespective of whether or not they will be in the final. Phone numbers and full terms and conditions are available on the website.

Watch video clips of all the singers to help you decide which will get your vote.

Song Prize

The BBC Cardiff Singer of the World Song Prize Final takes place tonight in St David's Hall. Details of the finalists and programme notes are now available here https://nontonwae.pages.dev/wales/cardiffsinger/sites/2011/pages/song_prize_final.shtml

If you can't make it to St David's Hall, you can catch it tomorrow night, on BBC Four at 7.30pm or on BBC Radio 3 at 8pm.

Laura Sinnerton, a viola player in the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, has been keeping a diary during the 2011 BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition. Following on from her opening instalment, here's her second update.

Tuesday 14 June

It is 9.30am and I have already had three cups of coffee (cue phone call from my mother re my disgraceful caffeine habit). The morning seemed to come very quickly after last night's Round 1 competition and I'm off to our studio at BBC Hoddinott Hall for our 10am rehearsal for Concert 3.

Thankfully the studio is fairly empty when I arrive and knock all the music off my stand. I spend the next five minutes crawling around the floor trying to rescue Korngold from underneath the cello chairs. At five to 10 the studio is still rather empty and it is at this point I remember the rehearsal is at 10.30, not 10am. Not the most auspicious start to my day!

When rehearsal does begin, we take the same approach as for the Round 1 rehearsals - a short orchestra only rehearsal, quick cuppa, on with the competitors. Today we are rehearsing with representatives from Germany, Australia, Wales, Moldova and the Ukraine and the breadth of repertoire is even more vast than in Round 1.

We begin with German soprano Susanne Braunsteffer. I was unfamiliar with her opening aria Il est doux, il est bon from Massenet's Herodiade. Its very beautiful and she sounds wonderful, but when we come to rehearse Un bel di vedremo from Puccini's Madama Butterfly, I feel like she is most definitely holding a lot back. Hopefully in the concert she will, as a colleague of mine put it so eloquently 'let rip'.

I've been very keen to hear the Australian mezzo soprano, Helen Sherman. As an avid Twitter user, I hear lots about what she is doing through her YCAT (Young Concert Artists' Trust) representation. I love the sound of a mezzo voice and Helen has a really rich, dark voice.

Helen's programme presents some of the greatest challenges in contrast for the band. Her opening aria, from Handel's Alcina, requires a very stylised manner of playing from the strings and features exceptionally high horn lines. To go from this straight into Walton's much weightier 'How Can I sleep?...At The Haunted End of The Day' and then into the light opera buffa style of the Rossini truly means keeping your wits about you!

Last year, we played for the final of the Welsh Singer competition and tenor John Pierce was the victor on that occasion. It is lovely to hear how his voice has developed and matured in what really is quite a short period of time. His programme includes Donizetti's Una furtiva lagrima from L'elisir d'amore and our principal bassoon, Amy Harman, has been in a state of great excitement about playing this great solo for a number of weeks. Extra sparkles have been purchased in case there are any bassoon close ups.

The gentlemen of the orchestra certainly sit up when Valentina Nafornita from Moldova enters the studio. We all sit up when she starts to sing. Her control is amazing and there is a real honeyed, lyrical quality to her voice. Her Korngold could potentially be a real show stopper.

There are times when a competitor walks in to the studio and the band immediately warms to them. Such was the case with Ukranian Andrei Bondarenko. He comes across as exceptionally humble, very laid back and very pleasant. And his voice? I can't believe he's only 24! If I were a betting woman, I would put substantial pennies on him doing very well.

Laura Sinnerton

Wednesday 15 June

I'm even more excited than normal for tonight's competition (our manager, Byron Jenkins will probably have to sedate me one day soon). In Round 1, all the singers were fantastic, but to me, Russian singer Oleysa Petrova was the standout competitor. Tonight, however, it feels like there is a much more even playing field; any of the competitors could lift the little crystal round winner's trophy, it just depends how their performance goes.

Tonight really does feel like a competition and the mood is reflected by the chat in the band green room. Also, Mark Padmore is being interviewed by Petroc and I have been in awe of Mr Padmore since his Peter Quint in ENO's production of Britten's Turn of the Screw gave me nightmares for about a week - I am now beside myself with operatic excitement.

The competition opens with German soprano Susanne Braunsteffer. She looked fabulous in her black dress with its tight bodice and full skirt. Regarding her aria from Madama Butterfly, 'let rip' she certainly did. This was, for me, the first of many 'goosebumps moments' during this evening's round.

Next up, Australian mezzo, Helen Sherman. I absolutely loved her outfit - very simple, plain, black dress, but with the most stunning black and red embroidered and sequined, long cover up. Helen's opening Sta nell'ircana was outstanding. This gave her a wonderful opportunity to show off her incredible technical prowess as she sang the aria's long melismatic lines with what felt like complete ease.

The last competitor before the interval was Wales' own, John Pierce (tenor). The competition must have added poignancy for Welsh representatives and they must feel a great weight of expectancy. John's programme opened with a real stalwart of the tenor repertory Mozart's Dis Bildnies ist bezaubernd schön from The Magic Flute and he performs it with a great deal more poise than I would be able to summon up under the circumstances! He is given a very warm, deserved response from the audience. I love the little Clogau gold lapel pin he wore - you seen, even the gents can have a part in Frockwatch!

Backstage the orchestra are very excited about the next two candidates who really set the studio on fire in rehearsal. If they sing the way they did then, this is going to be a closely-fought round. Valentina Nafornita took to the stage, resplendent in a grecian style, off white frock with subtle touches of sparkles.

Her opening Verdi was wonderful, but in the Korngold the entire auditorium held its breath. Valentina looks so delicate and yet her voice simply soars above the large orchestral forces of Marietta's Lied (Die tote Stadt ). This was definitely one of the standout moments of tonight's round. Korngold, incidentally, writes a rather lovely viola line.

Last to take the stage, was the Ukraine's Andrei Bondarenko. To me, all of tonight's competitors were stunning, but this young baritone really has that little something extra. He sings four works, not just contrasting in style, but completely contrasting in character.

He seems to have an incredible ability to not just act out the part, but to really embody the character. With his voice, and with his gesture and face, he presented to the audience a myriad range of expression and emotion (not just the yearning for a long lost love, middle distance stare and simper that some singers seem to cultivate).

I particularly enjoyed his Meine Sehnen, Meine Wahnen, again from Korngold's Die tote Stadt and his very funny Quella e una strada (Mascagni). I've always thought comedy must be a difficult thing to successfully achieve in opera without being twee or cliched, but Andrei somehow managed to achieve a very believable and very comic rendition of this song.

The judges could not have been deliberating any more fiercely in their room than the orchestra were, but there was a great sense of satisfaction on stage when Andrei Bondarenko was declared the winner of Round 3. I am so excited to play in the final and really cannot wait to find out who the five finalists are.

If tonight's round is anything to go by, the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World final on Sunday night will be an event not to miss. I'm off to enjoy my free day with my beautiful goddaughter, Rosie, and to buy a recording of Korngold's Die tote Stadt.

This year, the Wellcome Trust is celebrating its 75th anniversary with a series of public events exploring science and medicine through music, theatre, film and the visual arts, and the first of these events, The Science of Singing, is taking place at Cardiff Singer.

In the foyer at St David's Hall, there is an interactive exhibition, which includes a vocal cocktail bar where you can sample natural remedies used by singers over the last 75 years to soothe various different throat-associated conditions.

The vocal health cocktail bar at the Wellcome Trust exhibit at St David's Hall, Cardiff

The Trust is also running two events on Saturday, featuring legendary Welsh soprano Dame Gwyneth Jones, who also celebrates her 75th birthday this November.

The Big Sing, St David's Hall, 12-12.30pm

Consultant laryngologist Tom Harris joins Dame Gwyneth Jones, to talk to a young choir, Solid Harmony, about the biomechanics of singing and the best vocal warm up techniques. The choir then gives a performance of songs made famous by singers born 75 years ago.

Tom Harris shares his top tips for keeping your singing voice healthy in our brand-new guide to vocal health.

Vocal Master Class, Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama, 2.30-3.30pm

Dame Gwyneth Jones will give a master class to students from the College. She is joined by consultant laryngologist Professor Martin Birchall, who will talk about the biomechanics of singing and vocal health.

Full details of all three events can be found on the Wellcome Trust website.

The audience in St David's Hall last night were treated to a particularly strong group of singers in Concert 3. The competitors were Susanne Braunsteffer from Germany, Helen Sherman from Australia, local hero John Pierce from Wales, Valentina Naforniţǎ from Moldova and Andrei Bondarenko from Ukraine.

See the full coverage on BBC Four tonight at 7.30pm. If you want to find out who won Concert 3, visit the website.

Concert 4 takes place tonight and it is the last of the preliminary concerts. Taking part are singers from Uruguay, Ireland, USA, Italy and South Korea.

Sunday's finalists will be announced from the stage at the end of the concert, and highlights of concert 4 can be seen on BBC Two Wales at 10pm.

Dame Joan Sutherland Audience Prize

Voting in the Audience Prize opens at around 2pm tomorrow. Viewers and listeners in the UK will be able to vote by phone for their favourite singer from the week, irrespective of whether or not they get into the final. Details of the voting period and full terms and conditions are available on the website. The phone numbers will also appear on the website at the point when voting opens.

Video clips

Watch video clips of all the singers who have performed so far.

The BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition reached its halfway point last night, by the end of concert two. Tonight's concert features Susanne Braunsteffer from Germany, Helen Sherman from Australia, local hero John Pierce from Wales, Valentina Naforniţǎ from Moldova and Andrei Bondarenko from Ukraine.

Highlights can be seen on BBC Two Wales at 10pm and the full coverage on BBC Four tomorrow night at 7.30pm.

Song Prize

Yesterday saw the completion of the Song Prize recitals at the New Theatre, and the announcement of Friday's finalists. They are Leah Crocetto from the USA, Máire Flavin from Ireland, Andrei Bondarenko from Ukraine, Valentina Naforniţǎ from Moldova and Olga Kindler from Switzerland.

Their repertoire appears at the bottom of their biography pages.

Video clips

Videos of all the singers who have performed so far are now available here https://nontonwae.pages.dev/wales/cardiffsinger/sites/2011/pages/video.shtml

Once everyone has sung in the preliminary concerts, viewers in the UK can vote for their favourite in the Dame Joan Sutherland Audience Prize. Details of the times of voting and full terms and conditions are available on the website. The phone numbers will be published at the point when voting opens.

Frockwatch

See who wears what in our very popular photo galleries.

Laura Sinnerton, a viola player in the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, shares her rehearsal and concert diary from BBC Cardiff Singer of the World 2011:

I can hardly believe that two years have passed since the incredibly beautiful and unbelievably talented Ekaterina Scherbachenko emerged victorious at the 2009 BBC Cardiff Singer of the World.

When she sang 'No Word From Tom' from Stravinsky's 'The Rake's Progress', she made the whole hall believe she was Anne Trulove, despairing over her lover, Tom Rakewell lead astray by the devil in the form of Nick Shadow.

When the panel returned, there was little surprise when Miss Scherbachenko was announced as the victor. Now, it's that time again and I'm excited to hear what talents are in the this year's competition.

For the orchestra, the competition is definitely more a marathon than a sprint. On the first day of rehearsal, you enter the studio to find what can only be described as a doorstop of music on the stand.

Laura Sinnerton's rehearsal and concert diary from BBC Cardiff Singer of the World 2011.

Today (Sunday 12 June), together with conductor Jac van Steen, the BBC National Orchestra of Wales will be rehearsing with the first five competitors, from New Zealand, Armenia, Bulgaria, Russia and Romania and the breadth of repertoire to cover is quite staggering.

One of the challenges for the orchestra is switching between works of of extreme contrast very quickly. Within one competitor's programme we may have to shift from the romantic lyricism of a Puccini aria to the lightness of a continuo-led Vivaldi work or from very classically stylish Mozart to red-blooded Tchaikovsky. It certainly keeps things interesting!

We have a little time before the first singer arrives for their rehearsal, simply to run through any awkward orchestral corners.

After a quick coffee break (it takes a lot of caffeine to get through Cardiff Singer, sometimes it feels like you've read so many notes your eyes are melting), we get started properly with Anna Leese from New Zealand, gradually working our way through the schedule. Each singer is allotted the exact same amount of rehearsal time so that it's fair to everyone.

The day runs smoothly, if quite slowly. There is a lot of stopping and starting involved in rehearsals like these and I often feel a little sorry for my brass-playing colleagues who seem to spend an inordinate amount of time waiting around to play two notes at the climax of an aria before sloping back to the band room to wait for the next piece they're in.

MONDAY 13 JUNE

While the rehearsals for Cardiff Singer can seem a little dry at times (very few of the competitors actually sing out during the rehearsals), the actual competition nights are quite electric.

No-one does a good concert frock quite like a female singer and there is, as always, lots of speculation as to what each competitor will wear. As always, I am rather excited.

When we arrive for the afternoon rehearsal, St David's Hall has been transformed. There are lights, big screens, shiny floors and the set designers have even covered the well-loved/used boards of the St David's Hall stage with a very swish, smooth floor covering.

There are also extra keyboard instruments (to cover all the possible continuo options), cameras and lots of cables, so actually getting to your seat becomes a mission of military proportions, especially on the lower strings side of the stage (as if those cello spikes weren't enough to contend with at the best of times!).

The nerves of some of the competitors are palpable. Sometimes in all the frantic rehearsing and marking of parts and schedule changes, it can be easy for us to forget just what even being involved in, never mind winning, this competition means for these young singers.

You really feel for them when their nerves are so visible. Rehearsal passes off well, but some of the singers are 'marking' even more now than yesterday and it really is difficult to get a sense of how loudly you will actually have to play in the concert. Still, I appreciate that voices must be saved for the main event.

After a dinner break, it's back to the hall to get ready. Now, the presence of television cameras does a strange thing to a band that is normally used to being heard on the radio and not seen and there is a noted increase in the use of hair straighteners, curlers and hair spray in the Ladies of the Orchestra dressing room.

You never know when you may be caught in the background of a shot! There was little chance for me though as a certain cello-playing colleague's head kept getting in MY camera shot; now my mother will never know if I played in Concert 1 or not!

Once the jury has been introduced to the audience (including the new patron, the seemingly ageless Dame Kiri Te Kanawa), Anna Leese from New Zealand opened the competition. She looked stunning in a very on-trend nude toned heavy satin strapless dress.

In a wide-ranging programme she performed one of my favourite arias, Dvorak's 'Song To The Moon' from Rusalka and received a warm reception from the audience. Next came Vazgen Ghazaryan of Armenia. I really like Mr Ghazaryan's voice, it's so dark and quite menacing at times, especially in the aria from Mefistofele (featuring viola player/expert whistler, Rob Gibbons).

The third to take to the stage was Russian mezzo, Olesya Petrova. Not only did she look stunning (another pale gown with a beautiful lace overlay), but her voice is just beautiful. Her 'Mon coeur s'ouvre a ta voix' from Saint-Saens' Samson and Delilah was genuinely spellbinding.

A quick breath of fresh air in the interval (all the lights make it very warm on stage) and it's back to the second half for our fourth competitor of the evening, Bulgarian soprano Maria Radoeva, sporting an off-the-shoulder frock that reminded me somewhat of Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady.

Her programme had one of the widest ranges of repertoire, from Vivaldi to Puccini. The evening's final competitor is Romanian baritone, Serban Vasile, with a lovely programme of Mozart, Donizetti and Tchaikovsky.

The orchestra have to stay on stage while the jury goes out to deliberate, but it is no surprise to us when they come on stage to inform us all that Olesya Petrova was crowned this evening's victor.

Today, we're back into rehearsals for Wednesday's Concert 3 (we alternate with our colleagues in the Orchestra of Welsh National Opera who play in Concerts 2 and 4). It's all go!

Laura Sinnerton

Song Prize

The four Song Prize recitals finish today. Recital four features Hye Jung Lee from South Korea, Davide Bartolucci from Italy, Máire Flavin from Ireland and Leah Crocetto from the USA.

At the end of the recital, the five singers who will take part in Friday's final will be announced from the stage at the New Theatre.

BBC Cardiff Singer of the World

At St David's Hall, the second concert will take place and features singers from three continents. Meeta Raval from England, Wang Lifu from China, Sasha Djihanian from Canada, Olga Kindler from Switzerland and Marcela González from Chile will perform.

Broadcasts

The full broadcast schedule swings into action today. BBC Radio 3's first Song Prize broadcast is at 1pm and BBC Four's coverage of concert 1 starts at 7.30pm.

At 10pm, BBC Two Wales' second highlights programme goes out live from St David's Hall, and throughout the day there are updates on various programmes on BBC Radio Wales and BBC Radio Cymru. See the full broadcast details.

The BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition is now well under way, with two recitals taking place yesterday. The third recital is this afternoon and the first concert is at St David's Hall tonight.

Programme notes for all the recitals and concerts will appear on the site shortly before the events take place. You can find links to each recital and concert from the concerts schedule page.

We were all very sorry that Marcela González from Chile had to withdraw from the Song Prize, where she was due to sing in recital two last night. Marcela was unwell, but hopes that she will have recovered in time to take part in tomorrow's concert at St David's Hall.

The very popular Frockwatch returns! We will shortly have pictures from the first two recitals, plus comment from the inimitable Maggi Willis, Madame Frockwatch herself.

Broadcasts get under way tonight with highlights of concert one from St David's Hall, live at 10pm tonight. Full coverage of concert one will be on BBC Four tomorrow night, and BBC Radio 3's coverage of the Song Prize also begins tomorrow lunchtime. See full broadcast details.

The Song Prize starts on Sunday, with recitals one and two taking place in the New Theatre. Then, concert one is at St David's Hall on Monday. See the full schedule.

Meanwhile, get a taste for the week coming up with the special preview programme on BBC Two tomorrow (Saturday) at 6.30pm. See the full broadcast details for the week.

There are some exciting events taking place in Cardiff around the competition. It's the 75th anniversary year of the Wellcome Trust, a charitable foundation dedicated to the achievement of extraordinary improvements in human and animal health. The Trust is running events celebrating the science behind the most extraordinary of musical instruments - the human voice.

Monday 13-Sunday 19 June
The Science and Singing interactive exhibit at St David's Hall.

Saturday 18 June, 12-12:30pm, front steps of St David's Hall
The Big Sing with Dame Gwyneth Jones and vocal scientist Tom Harris.

Saturday 18 June, 2.30-3.30pm, Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama
Vocal Master Class with Dame Gwyneth Jones and Professor Martin Birchall.

Full details at the Wellcome Trust website.