Events > 2017

Marta Fontanals-Simmons

Marta Fontanals-Simmons

mezzo-soprano

Described as possessing “real star quality” (Times) and giving a “a powerhouse performance that's a vocal and physical tour de force” (whatsonstage), Marta has completed both postgraduate and Opera Course training at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama under the tuition of Marilyn Rees. She is supported by the Gwen Catley Scholarship, the Worshipful Company of Leathersellers, the Countess of Munster Musical Trust and a Sybil Tutton Award. She is a Concordia Foundation Concert Artist and joined the Tillett Tr... Read Full Biography

Benedict Nelson

Benedict Nelson

Baritone

Highlights of the 2017/18 season include Donnacha Dennehy’s acclaimed The Second Violinist for Wide Open Opera, title role in Monteverdi Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria on tour in the United States with Circa Contemporary Circus, and Henry Cuffe in Britten Gloriana for Teatro Real. In concert he will sing Orff Carmina Burana with the Gulbenkian Orchestra, Peter Maxwell Davies’ Eight Songs for a Mad King with the Aurora Orchestra, and recitals at the Oxford Lieder Festival. Recent operatic highlights include the title ... Read Full Biography

Simon Lepper

Simon Lepper

Pianist

Simon Lepper read music at King’s College, Cambridge. He is a professor of piano accompaniment and a vocal repertoire coach at the Royal College of Music, London where he also co-ordinates the piano accompaniment course. He is an official accompanist for BBC Cardiff Singer of the World Competition. Performance highlights have included an invitation from the Wigmore Hall, London to present a three concert project on the songs of Joseph Marx; a recital tour with Stéphane Degout which included the Ravinia and Edinburgh Festivals... Read Full Biography

Gavin Plumley

Gavin Plumley

Speaker

Gavin Plumley is a writer and broadcaster, pondering everything from Helena Bonham-Carter’s hair in the 80s to Georg Friedrich Haas’s search for a unique sound. Well known for his work on Central Europe and classical music, Gavin is equally at home on Broadway and in Tolstoy’s Russia. You can find his work in newspapers, magazines and opera and concert programmes around the world. He appears frequently on BBC Radio 3, both as a guest and as a presenter, and on BBC Radio 4. Gavin also edits other people’s writing, a... Read Full Biography