Cleveland Medal: Centenary of island's top musical award celebrated

The Cleveland Medal, originally designed and made in Cleveland, was first awarded in 1923

The centenary of the top prize at the Manx Music Festival is being celebrated.

The Cleveland Medal, which was created by Manx people who emigrated to Ohio, is set to be awarded in Douglas later.

Isle of Man's largest festival of music, speech and dance in Douglas has been taking place for the past week at the Villa Marina.

Chairman Anne Clarke said the medal was "symbolic of the continued love of the Manx people for music and the arts".

The award was first presented at the event in 1923 when the Cleveland Manx Society raised a sum of £100 to maintain a "musical connection to their homeland", she said.

The first winner of the annual prize was bass singer Allan Quirk and the gold medal has been presented every year since, except for during World War Two and during the coronavirus pandemic.

The festival, which sees hundreds of trophies handed out, was founded in 1892

The six performers, some of whom are former winners of the accolade, will compete for the prize in the Royal Hall on Friday evening.

Bass singer Graham Crowe will take to the stage alongside baritones Neil Taverner and Matthew Quinn, sopranos Karen Elliott and Ruth Pickle, and mezzo-soprano Deborah Gooding.

The festival, commonly known as the Guild, comprises about 200 classes and sees thousands of competitors from all age groups take part each year.

The top award for children's solo singing, first introduced to the festival in 1974, will also be awarded.

Many of the finalists and winners of the Sheffield Plate have gone on to compete successfully in the adult classes and become Cleveland Medal winners, Ms Clarke said.

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