Oper Frankfurt is Best Opera Company at Ínternational Opera Awards in London

Among those responsible for bringing these new awards, "The Operas", to life were John Allison, editor of the renowned "Opera" magazine and British businessman Harry Hyman, Managing Director of the worldwide Nexus Group. Hyman is also a knowledgeable and passionate opera fan: "Opera hides its light all too often under a bushel, so we hope our awards will help bring the genre to a wider audience." Hyman also works hard helping to support young talented artitsts and encouraging people and companies to sponsor the arts in general. In November John Allison announced in Opera Magazine that he would welcome nominations for the awards. They received more than 1.500 replies from music specialists and opera lovers from 41 countries. Short lists were drawn up in 23 categories by a jury chaired by John Allison. Members of the jury included journalists Hugh Canning, Rupert Christiansen and Andrew Clements, soprano (and Bayreuth Brünnhilde) Dame Anne Evans, intendants Peter Alward (Salzburg Easter Festival), David Gockley (San Francisco Opera), Joan Matabosch (the Liceu in Barcelona) and Guus Mostart (Reisopera Enschede) and the Director of Opera Europa, Nicholas Payne. They were joined in the final round by Kathryn Harries, Director of the National Opera Studio in London, and the writer Barry Millington.