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By Matthew Westphal
31 Jul 2007

"Possibly the biggest classical music contest the world has ever seen." That's how Gramophone describes its 2007 Artist of the Year Award. The magazine's editors have announced the ten finalists for this year's honor, and they're inviting readers and listeners worldwide to vote for "the artist they feel has made the most significant impact on the classical music scene in the past 12 months."

Clockwise from top left: Daniel Barenboim, Natalie Dessay, Bryn Terfel, Valery Gergiev.
photo by Ron Perdue (Barenboim), Simon Fowler (Dessay, Terfel), Marco Borggreve (Gergiev).

Gramophone is cooperating with radio stations far and wide to invite participants from all over the globe. Partners so far include WQXR in New York, WFMT in Chicago, CBC Radio 2, KBS Classic FM of South Korea, Classic FM South Africa, Classic Radio of Finland and Radio New Zealand Concert. (More stations are expected to join in the coming days.) The lead radio partner is Great Britain's Classic FM (co-sponsor of the Gramophone Awards), which boasts more than 6 million listeners nationally. Each of the cooperating stations, including 96.3 WQXR-FM and 98.7 WFMT, will offer special programming in the coming months exploring the artistry of the Artist of the Year nominees.

With votes cast and tabulated at the magazine's website, editors will be able to announce not only the overall winner of the Artist of the Year title, but the favorite candidates of each region or country participating.

The ten nominees for Gramophone's 2007 Artist of the Year are:

• conductor Claudio Abbado
• conductor and pianist Daniel Barenboim
• soprano Natalie Dessay
• mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato
• violinist Julia Fischer
• conductor Valery Gergiev
• cellist Steven Isserlis
• violinist Vadim Repin
• bass-baritone Bryn Terfel
• tenor Rolando Villazón

The 2006 Artist of the Year was pianist Angela Hewitt; the 2005 honoree was Michael Tilson Thomas. Previous winners have included Marin Alsop, Martha Argerich, Cecilia Bartoli, Riccardo Chailly, John Eliot Gardiner, Magdalena Kozená and Anne Sofie von Otter.

Gramophone's 2007 Artist of the Year, along with Record of the Year and the winners of 13 other Classic FM Gramophone Awards, will be announced at a ceremony in London on Wednesday, October 3.

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