EPISODES Episode 1 - Skype Call

Vahan Salorian Berrak Dyer Alice Privett Katie Coventry Anthony Flaum Words and Music Piano Cast Cast Cast

Episode 2 - Song of The Rocks

J L Williams Lucie Treacher Oliver Brignall Words Music and Visuals Cast

1 Episode 3 - Glass Number Three

Dani Howard Chloe Latchmore Music Cast

Episode 4 - Soy Sauce

Dominic Kimberlin Alex Woolf Dylan Perez Nicky Spence Words Music Piano Cast

2 Episode 5 - Egg

Dominic Kimberlin Vahan Salorian Berrak Dyer Nicholas Lester Words Music Piano Cast

Episode 6 - Got Your Goat

J L Williams Alex Woolf Berrak Dyer Edmund Danon Liam Bonthrone Words Music Piano Cast Cast

3 Episode 7 - Cookies

Joaquim Badia Rachael Lloyd Lyrit Milgram Alexandra Lomeiko Jossalyn Jensen Music Cast Ensemble Ensemble Ensemble (Violin) (Violin) (Viola)

Cecilia Bignall Ensemble (Cello)

4 Episode 8 - Three, Two, One, Ready or Not

Noah Mosley Elise Caluwaerts Anthony Gregory Music & Piano Cast Cast

5 Episode 9 - Nature - Water and Air

J L Williams Dani Howard Katherine Aitken Benjamin Lewis Alexandra Lomeiko Words Music Cast Cast Ensemble (Violin)

Peteris Sokolovskis Imogen Royce Peter Cigleris Ensemble Ensemble Ensemble (Cello) (Flute) (Clarinet)

6 Episode 10 - Love and Light

Louis Rembges Vahan Salorian Berrak Dyer Rhys Cook AKA Alexandra Lomeiko Words Music & Visuals Piano Oberon White Ensemble Cast (Violin)

Peteris Sokolovskis Peter Cigleris Ensemble Ensemble (Cello) (Clarinet)

7 Episode 11 - Life is Sweet / Life is Shit

David Parry James Garner James Hurley Berrak Dyer Edmund Danon Words Music Director Piano Cast

Beth Moxon Cast

8 Episode 12 - Don’t Just Clap

J L Williams Lucie Treacher Lorna Anderson Words Music and Visuals Cast

9 WELCOME TO EPISODES

The last time I wrote a text for a programme was a few days before we had to postpone the opening of Pandora’s Box. We had little idea of the amplitude of the crisis that was going to hit our industry, and the artists we create with. Now that the effects of this are being felt, and with no end in sight, we have moments of despair, and fear for this fragile ecosystem that is the performing arts, and for in particular. That last text ended on a note of determination to soldier on and keep creating beautiful music, and the “Episodes” series is a sign that this determination is still there: our art form is about telling stories, and no matter how circumstances around us change, there are few things more universal, more apt to remind us of our shared humanity, than the desire to share a story. We intend to remain around to share many more. We are very proud of this project, and I am particularly impressed of the way that MANUEL FAJARDO Hamish and the more than forty artists involved conceived and executed it, in such challenging circumstances. Collaborations such as these make us confident that this (CO-FOUNDER crisis will bring out good things for our world and that opera will continue to be part AND EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR) of our lives, renewing and adapting itself like it always has. We are already working on some exciting projects, and are impatient to see you soon for more new opera.

Biography

Manuel combines his role as Executive Director for The Opera Story with his career as a Compliance professional in the investment management industry.

10 One of the things I enjoy most is watching and listening, whether that’s people-watching, or listening to stories. These last few months have been eventful to say the least, a lot has been said and done, but also a lot has been ignored.

For me, “Episodes” was a chance to listen and watch the world and comment on it, in either a comic way or in a way to get people to listen in a different way. All of the 12 episodes are based in some way on these last few months, from the hoarding of eggs and yeast to listening to the earth breathe a little easier as our own movement was restricted.

My aim in commissioning these songs was to provide some hope and humour to both the brilliant artists and our wonderful audience, who all suddenly had either no work or no escape or both. My other intention was to get people to listen and not HAMISH MACKAY to rush straight back into old bad habits which may be harmful for us all, mainly (CO-FOUNDER environmentally. It is a subject which is dear to my heart, and I hope some of these songs will allow people to stop, listen and reflect. AND ARTISTIC DIRECTOR)

Biography

As well as being the Artistic Director of The Opera Story, Hamish is a freelance producer who has worked with ENO, Nevill Holt and Second Movement.

11 JL Williams In the midst of crisis, art is a means of communication and a way to touch without touching. The Opera Story’s Episodes project, conceived and curated by producer Hamish Mackay, brings together a troupe of librettists, composers and musicians who collaborated across lockdown’s slowed time and imploded space. What has been created is a record of a particular moment - highs and lows, funny peculiarities and heart-rending lessons to be (hopefully) remembered. These songs form a sonic quilt, a mini-opera collection to reach you wherever and however you are now, made in dark times while dreaming of the light.

Nic Lester Egg- Here’s a cheeky and suggestive little song that Vahan has set to Dominic’s text. I love the weaving-in of a familiar little tune a few times, and as a classically trained singer I ‘enjoyed’ (read: “got frustrated with”) the challenge for me to try to find a way to make a section of it swing! A treat to have this project to work on during this weird time, providing a good vocal stretch, and helping me (and hopefully others) smile in the process!

Alex Woolf I’m lucky enough to have written the music for The Opera Story’s 2019/20 commission, Pandora’s Box. We were just days away from opening this production when COVID-19 forced us to postpone it by a year. In typically brilliant fashion, Hamish and the team at The Opera Story not only made sure that 2021 performances of Pandora’s Box will go ahead, but also commissioned these “Episodes” as a wonderful means of communicating in the meantime. In the deepest days of lockdown, it felt very special to be writing music again – especially as part of such a supportive group of performers, librettists, and composers.

12 Dani Howard This has been such a lovely project to be involved with. Hamish got in touch with the idea at the beginning of the lockdown, and I thought it was so wonderful of him to bring together so many of his past and present collaborators. I’ve enjoyed the balance between looking into, and discussing both ends of the spectrum in terms of our collective response to this pandemic. The need to keep things light for our own sanity, whilst also understanding the depth of the situation. This has been a very strange balance, of which I feel has been explored so well through these ‘Episodes’. I worked with the Opera Story in 2019 on ‘Robin Hood: An Opera in Three Courses’, and was really pleased to be collaborating with them again, and hope it continues in the years to come!

13 BIOGRAPHIES

Alex Woolf

Alex Woolf (b. 1995) is an award-winning British composer, described by Gramophone as ‘a major presence in starry company’. His music has been performed by artists and ensembles including Sir James Galway, London Symphony , Alice Coote, and The of St John’s College, Cambridge. Recent works include M1 Symphony for the BBC Philharmonic, Fairfield Fanfare for , and his first opera Pandora’s Box, commissioned and produced by The Opera Story. Alex’s NHS Symphony (2018) won awards at the Prix Europa, and was praised as ‘groundbreaking’ () and ‘haunting’ (Metro). In autumn 2020 Alex’s is released commercially on the Delphian label, with soloists Nicky Spence, Philip Higham and Iain Burnside. 2020 also sees the premiere of Alex’s A Feast in the Time of Plague at Grange Park Opera, with libretto and direction by Sir David Pountney and with an all-star cast including Simon Keenlyside, Susan Bullock, Janis Kelly, Peter Hoare and Claire Booth. In 2018 Alex was recipient of the Royal Philharmonic Society Composition Prize, and in 2012 he was BBC Young Composer of the Year. Alex studied St John’s College, Cambridge, and the Royal Academy of Music. www.alex-woolf.com

14 Alexandra Lomeiko

A winner of multiple National awards in her home country of New Zealand, Alexandra Lomeiko moved to London to study at the Purcell School of Music in 2006. Through her studies there, she had her solo recital debut at Wigmore Hall in October 2009 and, in November of the same year, at the Watford Colosseum performing Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto with the Purcell School Symphony Orchestra. A laureate of numerous international competitions, recently Alex has won the Kenneth Loveland Gift Award, U.K (2016), Hattori Foundation Senior Award, U.K (2017) and the Development Prize at the Michael Hill International Violin Competition (2017). Most recently, she has been awarded the prestigious Philip and Dorothy Green Young Artists Award by the Making Music Foundation, U.K (2018). In 2010, she was awarded “The Henry Weinrebe Award” scholarship by the Guildhall School of Music and Drama (London) studying there with Professor David Takeno. Following her graduation in 2014, she commenced her postgraduate studies at The Royal College of Music with Radu Blidar and Yuri Zhislin graduating in July 2017 with a Masters in Music Performance and the Artist Diploma Qualification. She was an RCM Lark Scholar supported by a Leverhulme Postgraduate Studentship and by awards from the Countess of Munster Trust, the Martin Music Scholarship Fund, the Drake Calleja Foundation and the Help Musicians UK Foundation. An active participant in masterclasses, she performed as a soloist in the RCM Brahms Violin Concerto Masterclass with Maxim Vengerov (2017) she has also performed in the Pyeongchang Music Festival Masterclasses with Mihaela Martin (2016), International Holland Music Sessions with Krzysztof Wegrzyn (2016), IMS Prussia Cove Masterclasses with Ivry Gitlis and Philippe Graffin (2015) and the Kronberg Academy Violin Masterclasses with Pavel Vernikov (2015). Alex is also active as a chamber musician, performing regularly with Ensemble Mirage amongst others, and enjoys freelancing as a concertmaster, having lead under conductors such as Jaime Martin, Peter Csaba, Vladimir Jurowski, John Storgårds and Bernard Haitink.

15 Alice Privett

British soprano Alice Privett graduated from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama with the Concert Recital Diploma, and from the opera course at the Royal Academy of Music where she was a Jennifer Vyvyan and Sickle Foundation Scholar. Operatic experience includes Ginevra Ariodante (RAO), Carolina The Secret Marriage (British Youth Opera), Nerone L’Incoronazione di Poppea at the Aldeburgh Festival, Gretel (West Green Opera), Romilda Xerxes and Echo Ariadne auf Naxos (Longborough Festival Opera), Giulietta I Capuletti e i Montecchi and Michäela La Tragédie de Carmen (Pop up Opera), Susanna Le Nozze di Figaro (Kilden Theatre, Norway), Mimi (as a Christine Collins Young Artist at Opera Holland Park) and Bianca La Rondine (OHP), cover of the title role in Simplicissius Simplicissimus (Independent Opera)), Cockerel Cunning Little Vixen and covers of Gretel and Donna Elvira (Garsington Opera), and Rodelinda (Cambridge Handel Opera Company). She has also premiered three roles for The Opera Story - Snow, Goldilocks, and Clem. She has sung as an oratorio soloist extensively around the UK, including performances with the Huddersfield Choral Society, and at venues such as Kings Place, Bath Abbey and Salisbury Cathedral. Recitals have and continue to encompass a wide range of repertoire, from the Baroque to the Contemporary. Highlights have included a concert of Berg and Schoenberg Lieder at King’s Place, a selection of Birtwhistle’s Niedecker Songs that were aired on BBC Radio 3 as part of the BBC proms, Pierrot Lunaire at the Oxford Lieder Festival, and Vier Letzte Lieder at the Amersham Festival; she is also a founding member of Schubert & Co., an ensemble of eight singers and pianist Sholto Kynoch. She was the winner of the Helen Clarke Award (2013) and the Leonard Ingrams Award (2014) from Garsington Opera, the Leon Fischbach Memorial Prize at the London Handel Competition (2015), a finalist in the Awards (2015), and an Opera Awards Foundation Bursary recipient (2018)

16 Anthony Flaum

Anthony Flaum tenor is a graduate of the Royal Academy of Music (RAM) and the National Opera Studio. Credits: most recently, he sung his company debut in the world premiere of Pandora’s Box with The Opera Story. Also, notably Paris in La belle Hélène (Opera Della Luna), Tenor Soloist in Verdi’s Requiem (York Minster) Cover Orpheus at (ENO) in Orpheus in the Underworld. Last Summer, he performed at Buxton International Opera Festival as Pluto in Orpheus in the Underworld, Frederic in Parson’s Pirates (Opera Della Luna), understudied the role of St Brioche in The Merry Widow (ENO), co-lead school workshops and outreach projects for Dorset Opera and completed an education project for the . He made his main stage debut at ENO in 2017 Jonathan Miller’s production of Rigoletto (singing Borsa). Other roles for ENO include; Cover Prince/Marquis/Manservant , Cover David The Mastersingers of Nuremberg, Cover Nemorino The Elixir of Love. Other recent credits include; Pinkerton Madama Butterfly (Iford Arts), Tybalt Romeo et Juliette (Grange Park Opera), Cover Bill Flight (Scottish Opera), Rodolfo, La bohème (Iford Arts Festival), Frederic The Pirates of Penzance & Nanki-Poo The Mikado (National G&S Company UK tour), Headstrong/Hermosa Opera della luna and Lensky Eugene Onegin (OperaUpClose). Other notable engagements include; Macduff and the “Highlights Tour” (Scottish Opera); Nemorino L’elisir d’amore (Nevill Holt Opera and Opera Northern Ireland); Lensky Eugene Onegin, Tschekalinski The Queen of Spades & Motel Kamzoyl Fiddler on the Roof (Grange Park Opera) amongst others. For OperaUpClose; Don Jose Carmen, Rodolfo La bohème (original Olivier award-winning cast) and Don Ottavio Don Giovanni, title role in Verdi’s (Theatre Royal Stratford East - UC Opera). He has also sung with various orchestras including the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, most notably at the BBC Proms 2015 in the Royal Albert Hall. Future plans include; restaging of Pandora’s Box (The Opera Story) and a role debut as Count Almaviva in Clonter Opera’s production of Il barbiere di Siviglia.

17 Anthony Gregory

Highlights of the 2019/20 season include an anticipated role and house debut as Mercure in Bayerische Staatsoper’s new production of Castor et Pollux under the baton of Ivor Bolton as well as a return to Scottish opera as Lysandar A Midsummer Night’s Dream and to English National Opera as Cegeste in Philip Glass’s Orphee. Last season’s highlights include the title role in Bernstein’s Candide at Bergen National Opera, a return to Den Norske Opera as Don Ottavio and the world premiere of Stuart MacRae’s Anthropocene at Scottish Opera. Further highlights include Gregory’s debut with Den Norske Opera as Don Ottavio in a new production of Don Giovanni ; Ouardo Ariodante for Les Arts Florissants and William Christie; title role in Rameau Dardanus for English Touring Opera; Vafrino Hipermestra and Flute A Midsummer Night’s Dream for Glyndebourne Festival Opera; Oronte Alcina at the Teatro Real, Madrid and Festival de Aix-en-Provence; Florizel in the world premiere of The Winter’s Tale for English National Opera; Don Ottavio Don Giovanni and Peter Quint and Prologue The Turn of the Screw for Glyndebourne on Tour; Shepherd L’Orfeo for the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Ferrando Così fan tutte for Opera de Limoges and English Touring Opera; Agenore Il Re Pastore at the Verbier Festival; title role Lucio Silla for the Classical Opera Company; and Grimoaldo Rodelinda at the London Handel Festival conducted by Laurence Cummings. A former Harewood Artist at English National Opera, also previously a Jerwood Young Artist at Glyndebourne, a student of the National Opera Studio and a member of the Verbier Festival Academy.

18 Benjamin Lewis

Described as ‘something special’ by Opera Magazine, British baritone Benjamin Lewis studied at the Royal Northern College of Music and the National Opera Studio. He won first prize at the Les Azuriales International Singing Competition 2017, and the Leonard Ingrams Foundation Award 2016; Benjamin is the recipient of the Worshipful Company of Musicians Silver Medal, and is a Samling Artist. From the 2018/19 season Benjamin has been a member of the ensemble at the Landestheater Detmold. In the 2020/21 season his roles include the title role in Eugene Oneginand Il Conte Le Nozze di Figaro.In the 2019/20 season Benjamin’s roles included the title role in Don Giovanni, Graf von Eberbach Der Wildschütz, Amonasro Aida, and Thomas Hudetz Der Jüngste Tag. In the 2018/19 season he appeared as Valentin Faust, Plunkett Martha, Peter Hänsel und Gretel, Angelotti Tosca,and Miller Luisa Miller. He also performed the role of Spark Fantasiofor Garsington Opera. Past season highlights include Papageno (cover) Die Zauberflöte, title role (cover) Eugene Onegin andTrojan Idomeneofor Garsington Opera; Pelléas (cover) Pelléas et Mélisande for Scottish Opera; Mark Rutland (cover) Marniefor English National Opera; title role (cover) Macbethfor Buxton International Festival; Tarquinius The Rape of Lucretia for the Grimeborn Festival; Sacristan Toscaand Sharpless Madama Butterfly for Mananan Opera; Il ConteLe Nozze di Figaro for Trinity Opera and Boris Paradise Moscow, Belcore L’Elisir d’Amore and Danilo The Merry Widow at the Royal Northern College of Music. Benjamin appeared as one of the soloists in ’ Serenade to Music in the BBC Last Night of the Proms 2016. Benjamin began singing as a founding member of the Halle Youth Choir and a student of Patrick McGuigan, and went on to study Archaeology and Anthropology at Oxford University. His operatic studies were then generously supported by the Musicians’ Company Goldman Award, the Help Musicians UK Richard Van Allan Award, the Help Musicians UK Fleming Award, the HelpMusicians UK Postgraduate Performance Award, the Tillett Trust and the Colin Keer Trust. He wasalso the recipient of an Independent Opera Postgraduate Voice Fellowship.Benjamin was the 2014 winner of the RNCM’s Frederic Cox Award, the 2015 winner of the Elizabeth Harwood Memorial Award and the Robin Kay Memorial Prize, and received the Judges’Discretionary Prize for the most promising Verdi baritone at the inaugural Fulham Opera Verdi Prize in 2015 judged by David Syrus, Sir Thomas Allen and Yvonne Howard. He currently studies with Nicholas Powell.

19 Berrak Dyer

Berrak Dyer studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and then went on to study at the Solti Academy and the National Opera Studio. Berrak has traveled widely throughout Europe and the UK taking part in competitions and giving concerts. She has worked as staff accompanist at Oxenfoord International Summer School since 2016. Berrak was the Musical Director for Pop Up Opera (2014-2018) working on Cosi fan Tutte, Die Entführung aus dem Serail, L’Italiana in Algeri, I Capuleti ed I Montecchi, Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Il Matrimonio Segreto, Hänsel und Gretel, La Tregédie de Carmen. She has also worked on Lucia di Lammermoor, Un Ballo in Maschera (Winslow Hall Opera), The Snowmaiden, Amadis de Gaule, Aroldo (University college Opera), La Fanciulla del West, Lakme, La Cenerentola, Iris, La Boheme, Die Fledermaus, Queen of Spades, Don Giovanni, La Rondine (Opera Holland Park), Le Nozze di Figaro (Kilden Performing Arts Centre, Musical Director and Assistant Conductor), Snow, Goldilocks and the Three Little Pigs (The Opera Story), Rhhonda Rips It Up (Welsh National Opera), Psychosis 4.48, The Monstrous Child (Royal Opera House). Last year Berrak returned to The Opera Story to conduct Robin Hood, to the Royal Opera House as répétiteur on Phaedra and assistant MD on The Lost Thing, Buxton as répétiteur on Eugene Onegin, and this year joined English Touring Opera as assistant conductor on Cosi fan Tutte.

20 Beth Moxon

Born and raised in Leeds, Beth is a recent Young Artist with the Opéra National de Lyon, Les Azuriales Festival and ENOA/Britten Pears Young Artist Programme where she worked with Sir Antonio Pappano, having completed her studies at the National Opera Studio and RCM. Recent operatic roles include L’enfant L’enfant et les sortilèges at Opéra de Lyon and ROH Muscat, Penelope Il ritorno d’Ulisse in Patria at Opéra de Lyon, 2nd Lady The Magic Flute at Waterperry, cover Olga Olsen Street Scene at Opera North, cover Stewardess Flight for Opera Holland Park and cover Woodpecker The Cunning Little Vixen and 2nd Bridesmaid Le nozze di Figaro for Glyndebourne. Work for other companies includes: Laura Iolanta, Dorabella Cosī fan tutte, Ella In the locked room and Hermia A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Upcoming engagements include Dorabella at Waterperry Opera Festival, Sally in Arne’s Thomas and Sally with the Northern Opera Group, Mother in Waterperry Opera’s 2021 production of Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel and Olga in Léhar’s The Merry Widow in Mumbai next year.

Cecilia Bignall

Cellist and composer Cecilia Bignall has performed extensively as a soloist and chamber musician across the UK and Europe, including at the Oslo Opera House, the Sziget Festival in Budapest, St Martin-in-the-Fields, the Wigmore Hall, the International House of Music in Moscow, Kings Place Festival and St John’s Smith Square. She has been broadcast live on BBC Radio 3 during ‘Sound Frontiers’ Festival at the Southbank Centre, and was featured on Proms Extra in 2016 performing music by Gabriel Prokofiev, along with the composer himself. Cecilia regularly performs contemporary music and jazz, including improvisations with electronics, and has played with contemporary groups such as ensemble x.y and the Riot Ensemble. Cecilia plays an 1855 Derazey cello and is notably cellist of Trio Derazey (formerly known as the Jorgensen Trio).

21 Chloe Latchmore

Chloe Latchmore is a recent graduate of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, Opera course. Here she was a Countess of Munster scholar, Help Musicians award holder and was also kindly supported by the Worshipful Company of Fishmonger’s, Kathleen Trust and the Mario Lanza Educational Foundation. Over the last year Chloe has worked for Glyndebourne Festival Opera as part of the chorus and covering small roles. This year she returns to cover the role of Soeur Mathilde in ‘Dialogues des Carmelites’ and will also be performing the role of ‘Castrato’ in ‘Die Entführung aus dem Serail’. Currently she is working at the Theatre du Chatelet in Paris, in a reprisal of Glyndebourne’s acclaimed production of Saul. Her most recent role debut was as Carmen in Popup Opera’s production of ‘La tragedie du Carmen’, which toured throughout the UK. Other roles include Mother in the Guildhall’s production of Menotti’s ‘The Consul’ and Mere Marie in Poulenc’s ‘Dialogues des Carmélites’. She also appeared as Ciesca (Puccini’s ‘Gianni Schicchi’) in a performance at the Barbican Hall with the LSSO. Chloe is passionate about song repertoire and has performed in both the Barbican Hall and the Wigmore Hall. These performances included a recital of Sibelius song as part of the pre-LSO concert series and a world premiere of Jack Sheen’s I Klaleidoscope. She has also performed in song masterclasses with Sarah Connolly, Anne Sofie von Otter, Julius Drake and Ian Burnside.

22 Dani Howard

Dani Howard is a British composer and orchestrator who is quickly gaining international recognition with regular performances across Europe, the US and Asia. Born and raised in Hong Kong, she is interested in collaborating with artists of various disciplined, she has worked with dancers, artists, film-makers and architects on a variety of collaborative projects. 2019 marks her debut with the London Symphony Orchestra (a new commission for Cheltenham Festival conducted by Elim Chan), BBC Symphony Orchestra and a return to the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic with a new commission for the opening of their 2019-20 season conducted by Vasily Petrenko. Her debut opera with ‘The Opera Story’ premiered in 2019 “a sophisticated and incredibly beautiful piece that surely places Howard amongst the best of contemporary British opera composers” (Bachtrack). In 2018 she received her Royal Albert Hall Debut with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra performing “Argentum” – commissioned by the Royal Philharmonic Society and Classic FM, and has had her works performed by the the City Chamber Orchestra of Hong Kong, Orquestra Clássica da Madeira, Southbank Sinfonia, Multi-Story Orchestra, Orchestra Vitae among others. Competitions include the Royal Philharmonic Society Composition Prize, 1st Prize in the ‘Breaking The Fourth Wall International Composition Competition’, 3rd Prize in the International Antonin Dvorak Composition Competition (Prague) and 10th International Sun River Prize (China). She has been made a finalist for the Alba Rosa Vietor Composition Competition (Netherlands), International A. Rendano Composition Competition (Italy) and the British section of the ISCM World Music Days Festival (Slovenia) among others. In 2021 she looks forward to the premiere of a new Trombone Concerto written for Peter Moore (Principal Trombone, LSO) with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra.

23 David Parry

David Parry made his conducting début in 1976, going on to become Music Director of Opera 80 and of Almeida Opera, and subsequently Artistic Adviser for Opera Rara and for Norfolk and Norwich Festival. He has conducted more than thirty world premières, among them Jonathan Dove’s major Flight for Glyndebourne, The Adventures of Pinocchio for Opera North and Marx in London for Theater Bonn. His extensive discography boasts several award-winning recordings, including a Gramophone Award for his recording with Opera Rara of Rossini’s Ermione in 2011. His opera and concert repertoire is wide and catholic, ranging from Handel to the present day. At English National Opera he created with Anthony Minghella the production of Madam Butterfly, which won an Olivier Award in 2005. He has translated dozens of operas, from Der Freischütz for Glyndebourne Touring Opera in 1974 till most recently Die Entführung aus dem Serail for The Grange Festival in 2018. He wrote an original book for Der Schauspieldirektor in 2012 for Stanley Hall Opera, but this is his first original libretto.

Dominic Kimberlin

Dominic is a writer and librettist who lives in Edinburgh. He completed his MLitt. in Creative Writing in at the University of St Andrews in 2016. His most recent work includes ‘Goldilocks and the Three Little Pigs’ and ‘Pandora’s Box’ which were both produced by The Opera Story.

24 Dylan Perez

Pianist Dylan Perez is a highly sought after recitalist, chamber musician and coach specialising in vocal repertoire. He graduated in 2018 with Distinction with an Artist Diploma and in 2016 with Distinction with an Artist Masters from the Guildhall School where he studied with Eugene Asti, Andrew West, Iain Burnside, Julius Drake, and Pamela Lidiard. Prior to relocating to London, he studied at the University of Michigan with Louis Nagel and Martin Katz. Recently, he was awarded the Gerald Moore Prize for accompanists and the Accompanist’s Prize at the Bampton Young Singers Competition. He was also awarded the Paul Hamburger Prize for Accompaniment in association with a performance of Die schöne Müllerin, directed by Graham Johnson. In February 2018, he won the Oxford Lieder Young Artist platform with contralto Jess Dandy and subsequently has given recitals and participated in masterclasses around the UK and Europe. He has been a semi-finalist in the Das Lied International Song competition and the Wigmore Hall/ Independent Opera Song Competiton, as well as a finalist in the Kathleen Ferrier Awards. Dylan is the founder of re-sung, a London based song recital series that focuses on the connection between text and music, with special interest on creating new interpretations of masterworks and championing contemporary songs. Dylan was recently appointed the Lord and Lady Lurgan Collaborative Piano Fellowship at the Royal College of Music, London. Through this, he plays for vocal recitals, masterclasses, recordings, private lessons, coachings, and rehearsals at the RCM.

25 Edmund Danon

Edmund studied at the Royal Academy of Music with Mark Wildman and Iain Ledingham and was a 2017/18 National Opera Studio young artist supported by the Glyndebourne New Generation Programme, and Peter and Helen Blumer. Recent operatic roles have included Demetrius in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Nevill Holt, Eddy in Turnage’s Greek at the Arcola Theatre, and Oberon in Purcell’s Fairy Queen at Waterperry. Work for other companies has included Lakai in Ariadne auf Naxos for the Glyndebourne Festival, the Tsar in Weill’s Der Zar Lässt Sich Photographieren, Don Alfonso in Cosi fan Tutte, and Dandini in La Cenerentola. Edmund is particularly involved in contemporary music. In 2021 he will perform in the premiere of Alex Woolf’s Pandora’s Box for The Opera Story and will play Andrey Lugovoy in Anthony Bolton’s Litvinenko for Grange Park Opera. On the concert platform, engagements have included Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Bach’s St John and Matthew Passions, Bairstow’s Five Poems of the Spirit, Finzi’s In Terra Pax, Stanford’s Songs of the Fleet and Vaughan Williams’ Five Mystical Songs.

26 Elise Caluwaerts

Thanks to her versatility and captivating personality, soprano Elise Caluwaerts has grown into a renowned soloist both in Belgium and abroad. Elise Caluwaerts began her singing career as a baroque singer, and later expanded her repertoire to the romantic and contemporary genre. Her love for challenging repertoire – ranging from opera to multidisciplinary projects – led to various creations and remarkable collaborations with internationally renowned composers and ensembles. During the Sydney Festival 2016, she sang the highly acclaimed role of Lei in Pascal Dusapin’s chamber opera Passion. “Belgian soprano Elise Caluwaerts impressed with her supple sense of line and strength, displaying a soaring, pure-toned top register and richly coloured lower register.” (The Australian, reviewing Passion at the Sydney Festival 2016). Furthermore, Elise released an album with spectacular coloratura repertoire with the St Petersburg Symphony Orchestra in December 2016. It lead to various major opera productions, such as Mozart’s Don Giovanni (Donna Elvira) with the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra directed by David Stern and Rosina in Rossini’s Il Barbieri di Siviglia (Rosina) under the baton of Vegard Nilsen. Highlight of the 2017-2018 season was the female leading role (Chuan Yun) in the creation of Enjott Schneider’s opera Marco Polo directed by Kasper Holten in Guanghzou Opera (China) in May 2018. In 2019 Elise sang Mimi in La Boheme at the Copenhagen Opera Festival and a series of new year’s concerts with Aalborg Symphony Orchestra.

27 Imogen Royce

After graduating from the Royal College of Music in 2019 with first class honours, Imogen has been performing as a freelance flautist with many of London’s most prestigious orchestras, including the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the London Symphony Orchestra and the English National Opera Orchestra. Imogen has always had a passion for orchestral music, and whilst studying at the RCM she was accepted onto the Chamber Orchestra of Europe Academy and the English National Opera Evolve Scheme. As a soloist, Imogen made her UK concerto debut in 2014 with the Lancashire Chamber Orchestra and has also performed as a soloist in the Recital Hall of the Concertgebouw as part of the Netherlands Flute Academy, led by Emily Beynon. She was awarded the Cox Memorial Prize at Eastbourne’s Young Soloist Competition in 2019 and won first prize at Chester’s Young Musician Competition back in 2017. Imogen has studied with many leading flautists, including Sue Thomas, Gitte Marcusson and Katherine Baker. Recently, she has been studying in Italy with Adam Walker as part of the Talent Music Masters series in Brescia.

28 James Garner

James is a composer, musical director and educator. His work has been performed in the UK and Canada, at venues such as Kings Place, Arcola Theatre, Milton Court Theatre and Théâtre Paradoxe. Stage works include Dust Child (English Touring Opera), Seven Velvet Suits (workshOPERA/BasicSpace), East o’ the Sun, West o’ the Moon (Le Festival B!NGE & Tête à Tête) and a score to Chekhov’s Three Sisters (Milton Court Theatre). His next major work, Much Ado – previewed at Opera.ca’s 2018 Education Summit and at the 2019 Opera NUOVA Festival in Alberta – is commissioned by and in development with Opera McGill, who will give the world premiere in 2022. Recent credits as musical director include Dead Equal (Summerhall), These Wondering Stones (Barbican/ Culture Mile) and SCRAWW (Trebah Gardens). He also assisted Richard Baker on 4.48 Psychosis (ROH/ Lyric Hammersmith), Illusions (Royal Festival Hall/PRS New Music Biennial) and in 2020, he consulted on the documentary, Opera Mums (BBC/Tigerlily Productions). As an educator, he has delivered projects for Stanislavsky Music Theatre Moscow, Opera North, ETO, Opera Holland Park, Royal Academy of Music, Guildhall School of Music & Drama and AgeUK. James studied at the Guildhall School and was previously MD and co-founder of workshOPERA (2014-17).

29 James Hurley

A Cambridge English graduate with an MPhil in American Literature, James began his career with English Touring Opera. He has since worked at the , ROH, Salzburg Festival, Royal Danish Opera, National Theatre, Barbican, Edinburgh International Festival, ENO, Glyndebourne, and Opera North. His productions encompass premieres of new and rediscovered pieces alongside works from the core repertoire. Recent directing credits include Chérubin (Royal Academy Opera), L’elisir d’amore (Iford Arts), Don Giovanni(British Youth Opera), l’Ospedale (Aldeburgh / Wilton’s Music Hall / Bury Court Opera), Figaros Bryllup (Kilden Teater-og Konserthus), Mansfield Park (Opera South), and La belle Hélène (Blackheath Halls), which was nominated for an International Opera Award. James has directed revivals for Opera North, Glyndebourne and English Touring Opera and earlier this year he was the associate on Opera North’s production of The Marriage of Figaro. James has created several operatic stagings for unconventional spaces, including a site-responsive version of La Rondine at Factory 7, the world-premiere of modern triptych Snow (The Opera Story), and a touring version of I Capuleti e i Montecchi (Pop-Up Opera), which was filmed for the BBC/British Council’s Shakespeare 400 celebrations. He is currently directing a film based on Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress for Blackheath Halls.

30 J L Williams

Books by JL Williams include Condition of Fire (Shearsman, 2011), Locust and Marlin (Shearsman, 2014), Our Real Red Selves (Vagabond Poets, 2015), House of the Tragic Poet (If A Leaf Falls Press, 2016) and After Economy (Shearsman Books, 2017). She is interested in expanding dialogues through writing across languages, perspectives and cultures and in multimodal and cross-form work, visual art, dance, opera and theatre. Published widely in journals, her poetry has been translated into numerous languages. She has read at international literature festivals and venues in the UK, Sweden, Germany, Denmark, Turkey, Cyprus, Canada, Hungary, Romania, Montenegro and the US. She wrote the libretto for a new opera, Snow, was Writer-in- Residence for the British Art Show 8 in Edinburgh and plays in the poetry and music band Hail of Bright Stones. In 2019, she was awarded a bursary to develop a new opera with composer Samantha Fernando at the Royal Opera House. Williams curates writing events and creates workshops and professional development activities for poets. www.jlwilliamspoetry.co.uk

Joaquim Badia Joaquim Badia is a composer and pianist based in London. Born and raised in Barcelona, he moved to the UK age 16 to study piano and composition at The Purcell School for Young Musicians, under Andrew Ball and Haris Kittos. Royal College of Music Berklee College of Music CNSMDP) studies at the 2014, he obtained an Erasmus Grant to study at the Paris Conservatoire (He continued on his musical (London), where he held a DS Forbes Award. In under Denis Pascal. After obtaining his Bachelor’s Degree in Music (First Class Hons) in 2015, Joaquim went on to study a Master’s Degree in Composing for Film, TV and Video Games at (Valencia Campus).His music has been performed in most major venues in the UK and Barcelona. He has won several chamber music prizes and composition awards, including the BBC Young Composer of the Year in 2010 (runner-up). He currently lives in London, where he combines his freelance work with singing at London Symphony Chorus.

31 Jossalyn Jensen

American violist Jossalyn Jensen enjoys a busy orchestral and chamber music career, having performed in concert in the United States, Europe, and Asia. Named a Fulbright Scholar in 2016, she currently holds the solo viola position at the Orchestre de Chambre de Paris, and is pursuing an Artist Diploma in Contemporary Music at the Conservatoire de Paris (CNSMDP). A rising star in classical performance, Ms. Jensen has been featured on National Public Radio’s From The Top and profiled in the Deseret News, Utah’s longest standing newspaper. Since performing her first solo concerto with orchestra at age nine, Ms. Jensen has enjoyed highlight performances at venues including Carnegie Hall, Chicago’s Harris Theatre, the Elbphilharmoie, and the Philharmonie de Paris. As an orchestral musician, she has performed in groups including Ensemble Intercontemporain and has been invited to the world’s most prestigious festivals: In the United States, she has performed at Music Academy of the West and the Aspen Music Festival and School, while in Europe she has performed in the Verbier Festival Academy, the Lucerne Festival Academy, and Moritzburg, among many others. A frequent performer of chamber music, Ms. Jensen has shared the stage with Ensemble Caliopée, members of the Cleveland Quartet, and such artists as Michel Strauss, Darrett Adkins, Jorja Fleezanis, David Halen and Jerome Lowenthal. Notable chamber festival invitations include Les Dissonance, Musique de Chambre à Giverny, Rencontres Musicales de Haute-Provence, the Caroga Lake Music Festival, and Les Nuits Pianistiques in Aix-en-Provence.

32 Katherine Aitken

Scottish mezzo soprano Katherine Aitken is a graduate of the Royal College of Music and Royal Academy of Music, London. During her time in the Royal Academy Opera, Katherine sung roles including Cherubino in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro and La Ciesca in Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi. After completing her formal education, Katherine was a member of the Studio Opéra de Lyon where she performed the roles of L’Enfant (Ravel’s L’Enfant et les Sortilèges) and Valetto (Monteverdi’sL’incoronazione di Poppea). Katherine’s recent highlights include Charles Grey (Georgiana compiled by Mark Tatlow) for Buxton Opera Festival, Witness 2/Singer 2/Woman 2 (Lessons in Love and Violence by George Benjamin), Tisbe (La Cenerentola by Rossini) and Pippetto (Donizetti’s Viva la Mamma!) for Opéra de Lyon, Pippetto (Donizetti’s Viva la Mamma!) for Grand Théâtre de Genève, Tisbe (La Cenerentola by Rossini) in the Edinburgh International Festival and Cherubino (The Marriage of Figaro by Mozart) for English Touring Opera. Katherine also recently premiered the role of Wild Woman in Aurora by Noah Moseley with Bury Court Opera and the Grimeborn Festival.

33 Katie Coventry

As an ENO Harewood Artist, Scottish Mezzo soprano Katie Coventry has sung the roles of Cherubino, Shadow Marnie 2 and Marnie (Cover) Second Woman/Second Fury Birtwistle’s The Mask of Orpheus and Edith, Pirates of Penzance. In the 2018/19 season Katie was a member of the Ensemble at Salzburger Landestheater and sang the roles of Rosette Manon, Doralice La Gazzetta, Frau Grubach/Washerwoman The Trial, Cherubino Le nozze di Figaro, Dorabella Così fan tutte and Zerlina Don Giovanni. Other roles include Jennie Hildebrand Street Scene (Teatro Real, Madrid), Annio (Cover) for Glyndebourne Festival Opera, Dorabella (Nevill Holt Opera), Ariodante (London Handel Festival), Kate Julian Owen Wingrave and The Fox The Cunning Little Vixen (British Youth Opera), Mazet La Colombe (West Green House Opera) and Stephano Roméo et Juliette (Opera Bearwood). Katie was a member of the Salzburger Festspiele Young Singer’s Project in 2018, a finalist for the inaugural Grange Festival International Singing Competition, the winner of the 2017 Joaninha Award and an Independent Opera Voice Fellow. In 2017 she graduated from the Royal College of Music International Opera school where she sang the roles of Ramiro La Finta Giardiniera, Hänsel Hänsel und Gretel, Prince Orlofsky Die Fledermaus, Nancy Albert Herring and L’Écureuil and La Chatte L’enfant et les sortilèges. Katie has performed Mozart C Minor Mass at the Salzburger Festspiele with Sir and Camerata Salzburg and has also sang the work with the London Mozart Players at Winchester Cathedral. Other oratorio works include Mozart Requiem at the Royal Albert Hall and Cadogan Hall, Duruflé Requiem at Southwark Cathedral and Haydn Nelson Mass at Riga Dom. In concert Katie has also performed Stravinsky’s Pulcinella with Vladimir Jurowski and the RCM Symphony Orchestra. Future performances include a return to the Salzburg Festival as 2nd Maid in Elektra and her debut at Theater an der Wien as Cherubino.

34 Liam Bonthrone

Scottish tenor Liam Bonthrone has just completed Postgraduate Study at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, under the tutelage of Robert Dean and Adrian Thompson. He won First Prize in the 2018 GSMD English Song Competition. Liam is a Samling Artist, and has performed as an Alvarez Young Artist with Garsington Opera. Last September he made his role debut as Don Ramiro in La Cenerentola with British Youth Opera and won the Dame Hilda Bracket Prize from Sadler’s Wells and the Basil A. Turner Opera Award. He has performed in Masterclasses led by Sir Willard White, Malcolm Martineau, Ann Murray, Edith Wiens and Roger Vignoles. Liam is in high demand as a recitalist; recently performing alongside the Prince Consort at the Wigmore Hall, and in Graham Johnson’s Song Guild at Milton Court. He was a featured soloist in a 2019 BBC ‘Total Immersion’ weekend, and he frequently performs in collaboration with pianist Alasdair Hogarth for Classic FM. In February, Liam performed in a Russian Song recital as part of the UK/Russia Year of Culture in the Rimsky-Korsakov Museum, St Petersburg. He recently made his International debut as Bruno in Bellini’s I Puritani with the Rotterdam Operakoor, in De Doelen. This September he will commence studies on the Opera School at the Royal Academy of Music, as a recipient of a Bicentenary Scholarship.

35 Lorna Anderson

Glasgow-born Lorna Anderson studied initially at the RSAMD with Patricia MacMahon before winning a postgraduate scholarship to the RCM. While still a student, she won a number of awards and competitions and has gone on to enjoy a busy and varied career, appearing in opera, concert and as a recitalist all over the world. As a renowned performer of the baroque and classical repertoire in particular, she has sung as a soloist with all the major orchestras and ensembles, large and small, in the field including The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Les Arts Florissants, The Sixteen, , The King’s Consort, The London Classical Players, La Chapelle Royale and the under conductors which include William Christie, Harry Christophers, Robert King, Trevor Pinnock, Phillippe Herrweghe, Richard Egarr and Christopher Hogwood. Her contemporary music credits include first performances of works by composers such as John Tavener, Hugh Wood and James MacMillan. Her numerous recordings span musical genres from Handel to Britten and most recently include Debussy, Poulenc and Faure songs with Malcolm Martineau to critical acclaim. Lorna sang the role of ‘Joanna’, a modern-day Sheriff of Nottingham, in The Opera Story’s 2019 production of Dani Howard’s ‘Robin Hood’.

Louis Rembges

Louis is a Sheffield born actor and playwright based in London. He was invited to take part in the Royal Court’s Introductory Writer’s Group in 2019, and has since had play readings at the Bernie Grant Arts Centre, The Bunker Theatre, and his play ‘Facehugger’ was produced as part of Mountview’s Catalyst Festival. His next full length play in collaboration with director Ian Giles ‘On Railton Road’ will debut in 2021.

36 Lucie Treacher

Lucie Treacher is a composer and artist creating interactive sound experiences, both digital and theatrical, virtual and real. Her work is characterised by quirky and highly textural sound worlds, playfully woven together into multi-disciplinary work : merging performance, film, theatre and community arts. Being raised by the sea in the Scottish Highlands means that landscape and natural forms inspire a lot of her creative projects. As a composer Lucie has been involved in a spectrum of projects, taking her from experimental, improvisatory realms to video games and to opera. She has worked with orchestras such as the Chroma ensemble (‘Moonlight’), Multi-Story Orchestra (‘Snow’) and the (‘Washing Machine Concerto’). Lucie has created work for the Southbank Centre, Kings Place, Timespan, the Lillie Gallery, the Saatchi gallery, Cadogan Hall, St Martin’s in the fields and Buckingham Palace as well as for lighthouses, subterranean caves, bathrooms and beaches. This year she is one of Sound and Music’s Composer- Curators and has just finished writing an opera commissioned by Scottish Opera.

Lyrit Milgram

Canadian violinist Lyrit Milgram is a Brian George Coker scholar currently pusuing her Master’s degree at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, UK. She was recently accepted into the LSO string scheme where she plays as part of the London Symphony Orchestra under conductors including Bernard Haitink, Valery Gergiev, and Simon Rattle. Lyrit has also played with many other professional orchestras including the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, the Welsh National Opera, the Scottish Ensemble, and the Malta Philharmonic. She has also played with the Orpheus Sinfonia Aldeburgh Strings, Britten Pears Orchestra, and the Toronto Symphony Youth Orchestra. Lyrit completed her Bachelor’s degree at the Royal College of Music in London where she was a Soirée D’or and Dasha Shenkman scholar. Also an active chamber musician, Lyrit is a member of Trio Aitherios and the Seta Sextet.

37 Nicholas Lester

Nicholas Lester studied at Adelaide Conservatorium of Music and the National Opera Studio, London (sponsored by Glyndebourne Festival Opera). He received an Independent Opera/National Opera Postgraduate Fellowship and awards from the Simon Fletcher and Tait Memorial Trusts. He is very grateful for support from Chris Ball and Serena Fenwick. For The Opera Story: DaddyBearPig Goldilocks and The Three Little Pigs, Marco Pandora’s Box. Recent and Forthcoming Roles include: Orphée by Philip Glass, Marcello La bohème, Cascada The Merry Widow, (English National Opera); Eugene Onegin, Figaro The Barber of Seville (Welsh National Opera); Chou En Lai Nixon in China, Germano La scala di seta, Josef K The Trial by Philip Glass, Malatesta Don Pasquale, Ping Turandot (Scottish Opera); Guglielmo Cosi fan tutte, Dandini La Cenerentola, Figaro Il barbiere di Siviglia (Opera Holland Park); Lescaut Manon Lescaut, Ford Falstaff (Grange Festival Opera); Marcello (New Zealand Opera, State Opera of South Australia and Danish National Opera); Marcello, Valentin Faust (Dorset Opera Festival); Don Giovanni, Marcello and The Count The Marriage of Figaro (English Touring Opera) Concert highlights: Carmina Burana (Royal Festival Hall), A Sea Symphony (Brighton Philharmonic); Mahler’s Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen (English National Ballet); Five Mystical Songs (City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra).

38 Nicky Spence

Opera Singer, Nicky Spence is one of Scotland’s proudest sons and his unique skills as a singing actor and the rare honesty of his musicianship are steadfastly earning him a place at the top of the classical music profession. Nicky was schooled locally in Dumfries and Galloway before receiving a scholarship to the Guildhall School as their youngest singer at 17 years old. During his training, he won a record contract with before taking a place at the National Opera Studio and latterly a position at the English National Opera as one of their inaugural Harewood Artists. Safely inhabiting the repertoire of Strauss, Janáček and Wagner, Nicky is fulfilling his exciting potential as a Heldentenor having recently made his role debut as Parsifal with the Hallé orchestra under Sir Mark Elder. Described in The Times this year as ‘a tenor who combines heroic tone and a poetic sensibility that takes the breath away’, Nicky has recorded prolifically and is a regular featured recitalist at the Wigmore Hall, London though he can mostly be found on the International stages of Opera de Paris, Covent Garden and the Metropolitan Opera, New York. Nicky is also a keen charity worker which encompasses his position as patron for both Blackheath Halls in London and Scottish Opera’s Young Company, as an ambassador for Help Musicians UK, and proud president of Dumfries’s own Musical Theatre Company. Nicky is a Samling Artist, recently joining their team as a leader of young singers, and was nominated by the International Opera Awards for Young Singer of the Year in 2015 and was also one of ten artists included in the Times Breakthrough Award at the South Bank Sky Arts Awards celebrating the best up and coming young British talent from across the Arts industry.

39 Noah Mosley

Noah Mosley has worked on numerous productions as a conductor and composer throughout England and Europe. His full length opera commissions include Aurora, premiered at Bury Court 2019 and revived at Grimeborn, the Arcola (‘Mosley excels at open-hearted scale lyricism and large-scale ensembles’ Opera Magazine) and Mad King Suibhne, premiered at Bury Court in 2017 and revived at English National Opera’s Lilian Baylis House and Messums, Wiltshire, after critical acclaim (‘Divine upper string writing.. exquisite vocal writing’ Opera Now). Noah composed and conducted a new orchestral overture for the International Opera Award’s 2018 ceremony, performed on the main stage at ENO’s The Coliseum, played by the Orpheus Sinfonia. Other recent commissions include Songs for Gertrude Jekyll for Godalming Choral Society premiered in July 2018, and a cello and piano piece performed at Lady Solti’s house. From 2014-18 Noah was music director of Helios Collective, which received an Opera Awards Foundation Bursary in 2016, and with whom he toured productions to Copenhagen Opera Festival, Buxton Opera Festival, Glasgow and many London venues including the Arcola, the Bussey Building and the Leicester Square Arts Theatre.Noah has been a conducting fellow at the Dartington International Summer School, and a praktikant at Karlsruhe Opera House, assisting Justin Brown on Gurrelieder, and founded King’s College London Opera Company. As a pianist Noah Mosley has accompanied many renowned singers including Stuart Skelton, Bryan Hymel, Wallis Guinta, Vlada Borovko, Simon Shibambu, Elin Pritchard and Anna Patalong.

Oliver Brignall

Oliver Brignall - Tenor, is also a composer. He read music at Canterbury Christchurch University and holds a PhD from Brunel University. He has been an artist in residence at the V&A museum, performed on Radio 3 and comissioned by (among others) The Riot Ensemble. Singing forthcoming; Coyote Nahasdzáán - WP, Pécou (Ensemble Variances & Opera De Rouen), Iro Il Ritorno d’Ulisse (Longborough Festival Opera), Duncan House - WP, Zwicki (Plus-Minus, Ensemble Lyndenskab, Tete a Tete and Klang Festival Copenhagen). 40 Peter Cigleris

Peter studied at the Birmingham Conservatoire studying with Colin Parr, Mark O’Brien and Michael Harris. During his time at the Conservatoire Peter was the recipient of the John Ireland Prize for chamber music as well as being supported by philanthropist Chris Swan via the Young Cygnets. Peter was also lucky enough to be awarded a place on the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra Training Scheme. Moving to London Peter continued his studies at the Royal College of Music studying with amongst others Janet Hilton, Richard Hosford and Robert Hill. Peter also participated in masterclasses with Michael Collins and Anthony Pay. Whilst at the RCM Peter was award the Prix de Fossart and was invited to France to give a private recital which included Her Majesty the Queen of Denmark amongst the audience. Upon graduating Peter was awarded a place on the Jerwood Foundation Scholarship for Young Players in association with the Orchestra in the Age of Enlightenment and around the same time took part in the BBC docu-drama ‘Eroica’. These early experiences shaped a freelancing career which has seen him work with various orchestras including the CBSO, BBCCO, ENB Philharmonic, Royal Ballet Sinfonia and Orchestra of the Swan as well as various session recordings. For a time, Peter held the principal seat with the Symphony Orchestra of India and performed under Charles Dutoit, Rafael Payare amongst others. As a chamber musician and soloist Peter has been lucky enough to work with Martin Cousins, John Lenehan, Mark Bebbington, Julian Lloyd Webber and the Tippett Quartet performing for various music clubs and festivals around the UK including, the Windsor and Wooburn Festival, English Music Festival, Carlisle International Music Festival, Groba Festival in Spain and the ICA ‘ClarinetFest’.Peter has performed concertos in various parts of the UK and Europe as well as Mexico where Peter gave the first performance of Malcom Arnold’s Second Concerto. Peter’s interest in English repertoire has seen him premier concertos and chamber music by Gipps, Benjamin, Wishart, Spain-Dunk as well as contemporaries such as Lloyd Moore and Peter Seabourne. Peter is featured on discs for Cala Records, Toccata Classics, Divine Arts Records and Heritage Records. Peter is an artist for Backun Musical, Silverstein Works and Marca.

41 Peteris Sokolovskis

Latvian cellist Peteris Sokolovskis is enjoying a freelance career as a chamber musician, orchestral player and very occasionally a soloist. Last season has seen Peteris perform the Dvorak Cello Concerto and Prokofiev’s Sinfonia Concertante in London. As guest principal Peteris has played with the Netherlands Philharmonic and Trondheim Symphony Orchestras and is a regular in the London Symphony Orchestra and . Peteris was a member of Kremerata Baltica for 4 years, touring extensively throughout Europe, North and South Americas and Asia. As a chamber musician Peteris has performed in Europe and South America. Peteris is a regular teacher at the Oxford Cello School and La Mariette Junior Course in France.

Rachael Lloyd

Rachael studied singing at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Whilst there she made her BBC proms debut singing the role of the Queen in Mendelssohn’s Elijah conducted by Kurt Mazur and her debut singing Elgar’s Sea Pictures at St John’s, Smith Sq. From the Guildhall she went on to join the chorus at Glyndebourne Opera House. In her time there she understudied many roles and made her professional debut with them in 2005 singing the role of Shelley in the world premiere of Jonathan Lunn’s opera Tangier Tattoo. In the same year she was also the recipient of the Glyndebourne Wessex Award for promising young singers and in 2006 left the chorus to pursue her solo career. Since then she has sung roles with many major opera companies both in the UK and in Europe. Her roles have included Cornelia/Giulio Cesare for Glyndebourne Festival Opera, Meg Page/ Falstaff for Glyndebourne On Tour, Mme Anderssen/A Little Night Music for Theatre Chatelet in Paris, Maddalena/Rigoletto for Iford Arts, Dido/Dido and Aeneas for Theater Thuringen in Germany, Kate Pinkerton/Madama Butterfly at the Royal Opera House, Aristea/L’Olympiade for Buxton Festival, Amastris/ Xerxes for English Touring Opera and the title role in Carmen for Raymond Gubbay Ltd at the Royal Albert Hall.

42 For English National Opera, Rachael has sung Pitti Sing/The Mikado, Third Lady/ The Magic Flute ,the role of Woman/Mother in the U.K. premiere of Jonathan Dove’s post apocalyptic opera The Day After, Miss Jessel/ Turn of the Screw , Dido/Dido and Aeneas and Aglaonice in Philip Glass’s Orphèe. Recent roles at the Royal Opera House include Alisa/Lucia di Lammermoor, Wellgunde/Das Rheingold and Die Götterdamerung, Selene/Berenice by Handel and Emily in Philip Venables award winning opera 4:48 Psychosis, which she has also had the privilege to perform in both New York, at the world’s biggest contemporary music festival “PROTOTYPE”, and also at the Opéra National du Rhin in Strasbourg. Rachael regularly performs in concerts around the country. Career highlights have included Handel’s Messiah with the OAE and The Sixteen, both Ravel’s Trois Poemes de Stephane Mallarme and a Shakespeare400 concert with the LPO at the Royal Festival Hall, a recital of Schumann’s Frauenliebe und Leben and Elgar’s Sea Pictures at Lille Opera House, a series of Messiah’s in Kristiansund, Norway, Rossini’s Stabat Mater and Gala concert with Ulster Orchestra. Recent concert highlights have included Amastre in a concert performance of Xerxes with Christian Curnyn and the Early Opera Company at St John’s, Smith Sq, Grimgerde in Die Walküre with Vladimir Jurowski and the LPO, Handel’s Brockes-Passion with the Ancient Academy of Music at the Barbican and Third Maid in Strauss’s Elektra with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra. Rachael is to be found on a number of recordings. In her early twenties she was one of the soloists on the number one album of Karl Jenkins The Armed Man-A Mass for Peace and the mezzo soprano soloist on a disc of Humphrey Clucas’s Crucifixus. In 2012 she recorded the mezzo soprano solos in Patrick Hawes’s Lazarus Requiem and the role of Dido in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas with the Armonico Consort both under the record label Signum Classics and the premiere recording of Gary Davison’s beautiful Requiem with Wells Cathedral Choir which was released in 2018. Most recently Rachael sang the role of Mary on the award winning recording of Handel’s Brockes-Passion with the Academy of Ancient Music and Richard Egarr. Future plans include role reprisals of Woman/Mother in Jonathan Dove’s one act opera The Day After with English National Opera and as Alisa in Katie Mitchell’s Lucia di Lammermoor at the Royal Opera House. She also rejoins the cast of Die Walküre and the LPO for another semi-staged concert performance of the opera at the RFH in 2021.

43 Rhys Cook AKA Oberon White

Oberon White is a queer, Welsh performance artist, sonic artist, musician, as well as a cabaret performer and host. A feral child of different arts practices, they show work in venues and festivals for experimental performance and music in the UK and abroad and are a fixture of London’s underground queer performance scene. Their most recent feature-length solo performance winegod was developed with the support of Arts Council England, Roundhouse and The Glory and has been presented to audiences across the UK. As a performer and artistic collaborator White has worked with artists including Fauve Alice, David Rosenberg (Shunt) and has been an ongoing collaborator with acclaimed artist and showwoman Marisa Carnesky. White works as a freelance sound designer for performance, their sound design has been featured at festivals and venues including: SPILL festival (Claudia Palazzo), Roundhouse/The Pleasance (Jack Sears), Ovalhouse/The Pleasance (Magic Maverick). Albany). Oberon White was a founding member and Joint Artistic Director (With Gwen de Loon) of experimental performance art collective, Queens of the Underworld. White is a graduate of Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance (2014) where they were awarded the Contemporary Vocal Prize. In 2014 they developed their debut feature-length solo show, I, Pierrot with the support of Roundhouse’s Resident Artist Scheme.

44 Vahan Salorian

Vahan is a composer and arranger living in London. He completed a BMus(Hons) degree in Classical Composition at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in 2015, supported by The Worshipful Company of Skinners. His first major work outside of GSMD , the ‘Boys of Paradise’ operetta, received a British New Music Theatre Award nomination and its third revival at EGG London in October 2017. His next opera, ‘Goldilocks and the Three Little Pigs’, commissioned by ’The Opera Story’, premiered in February 2018 to rave reviews. Like “Boys of Paradise”, this work also explored the immersive aspects of music theatre in unconventional spaces, a particular area of interest in his work. In 2019, he was commissioned by Tete a Tete to write one of their pop-up operas, performed outdoors around the Kings Cross area to the public, as part of their summer festival. This year has seen him team up with drag queen flautist Miss Kylie Fortissimo on ’Find Your Inner Diva’- a piece for flautist and electronics, intended to premier at the National Flute Convention in the USA (postponed to 2021). In February, he collaborated with award winning performance artist Bryony Kimmings on the documentary ‘Single Mum’s Do Opera’- a commission for BBC4 in partnership with ENO, premiering later this year- in which he worked as composer and musical director. This project has since been awarded an Arts Council England grant to be further developed into a full length opera. Future works include The Opera Story’s 2021 commission, a multi-media retelling of ‘Beauty and The Beast’ and ‘The Becket Pageant’- an open air musical staged as part of the City of London Festival at The Guildhall next year.

45 Many thanks to all those who made it possible to create this project: your support means a lot to us and we are happy that you enjoyed the series!

Ivan Katzen Siân Cameron Yaprak Dyer Benoît Humeau Antony Feeny Prach Boondiskuchok John & Val Barter Andrea Marchesetti Robin Farr Nancy Buchanan Kate Olver & Jeremy Young Joe Bay Peter Espenhahn Kate Rembges Michael Shipley Martin Pickard Lucie Humeau Pauline Kirkpatrick Helen & Adam Gac Sylvie Soudan Clare Sutherland & Sandy Mackay Peteris Sokolovskis John Ward Nicola Rose Sarah Priday John Wilkie Fiona Dobie Karen Flaum Alejandro Santamaria Skyler Shaw Virginia Salter Fiona Linnane Nicholas Daniel 5 anonymous donors 46 SUPPORTING OUR WORK They say it takes a village to raise a child and we could say the same about creating a new opera. Starting with a mere idea, many talented individuals work together during months, moulding and growing that idea into a full story that will take shape in front of you for the space of a couple of hours, and live on from there, hopefully for many years. We are fortunate to have received the support of many generous individuals and organisations in our three seasons: this incredible support has allowed us to create several operas and a cycle of songs that we are very proud of. But the road doesn’t stop there: music and stories are there to be told and shared, and this is something that we cannot do without your help. Your support makes it possible to invest in the future of opera, to reward the work of the many talented artists involved in turning these ideas into reality, and to touch many more people with the beauty of opera. To bring you closer to the creation of our operas, we have put together some rewards, as a way to say thank you, in our name and that of the artists that create these operas!

Level of yearly donation 50 120 300 500 1000 2500 Programme • • • • • • Signed poster • • • • • • Audio CD recordng • • • • • Video in USB key • • • • • Signed score • • • • Invitation to 1st night reception • • • • Access to Rehearsals • • • https://www.theoperastory.com/support Season preview events • • Dinner with creative team •

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