As Genesis Sixteen enters its 15th year, 22 young singers and one conductor are welcomed as the latest cohort

Genesis Sixteen

Now entering its 15th year, Genesis Sixteen is set to welcome a new cohort for 2025/26 with 22 singers and one conductor joining  The Sixteen’s free young artists’ programme for 18-23-year-olds which aims to nurture the next generation of talented ensemble singers. Supported by by the Genesis Foundation, Genesis Sixteen is the UK’s first ever fully funded programme of its kind. 

The latest Genesis Sixteen cohort welcomes singers from across the UK and Northern Ireland, and this year introduces a singer who has been involved in The Sixteen’s Talent Development Pipeline project. The project, now in its third year, sees The Sixteen in partnership with Barnsley Youth Choirs, the Diocese of Leeds Schools Singing Programme, Liverpool Philharmonic Youth Voices and London Youth Choirs, offering young singers the opportunity to develop skills and discover pathways in the industry. The programme also aims to diversify the talent pipeline of singers entering young artists programmes, ensuring that singers from across the country have equal opportunities to take part in the world of choral music.

Over 300 singers have now been involved in the Genesis Sixteen programme, with alumni making waves in the UK and across the world. Matthew Quinn, conducting scholar from the eleventh cohort, now takes on the role of Chorus Director at ENO, in addition to being Principal Conductor of National Youth Choir (15-18 group). Three Genesis Sixteen alumni now also form part of The Sixteen: Elizabeth Paul (third cohort), Oscar Golden-Lee (seventh cohort), Edward McMullan  (first cohort). Jessica Cale, Bethany Horak-Hallett and Matthew McKinney, three singers from the third, fourth and seventh cohort respectively will form the three main roles in The Railway Children – a new opera by Mark Anthony Turnage to be staged at Glyndebourne this Autumn. 

Full details of the new cohort from The Sixteen’s website.