The Kathleen Ferrier Award is a prestigious contest for opera singers held each April in London, England.
[2] There is also an MBF Accompanist's prize, provided in 2005 by Arthur & Gwyneth Harrison.
[3] The Kathleen Ferrier Memorial Scholarship Fund, which funds the award, was founded in 1953 in memory of Kathleen Ferrier following her untimely death from cancer at the age of 41.
Ferrier had gained a large following despite having performed for only 12 years as a professional singer, and had a number of influential champions including conductors Sir John Barbirolli, Bruno Walter and Sir Malcolm Sargent.
The initial appeal for a memorial fund was launched by Sir John Barbirolli, Roy Henderson, Gerald Moore, Sir Malcolm Sargent and Hamish Hamilton and seeded with proceeds from the book Kathleen Ferrier – a Memoir assembled by friends and colleagues.