Simon Over
Michael Berman & Vox Musica
David Corkhill
Nicola Barbagli
Ian Ward
Tim Brigden
Robert Davies
Ilona Domnich
Anando Mukerjee
Lilly Papaio- annou
Laurence Meikle
Aisling Manning
Josef Bisits
James Longford
Lindsey Ellis
Kseina Berezina
Hannah Morgan
Nicholas O'Neill
Kirsty Lothian
Madeleine Holmes
Benedict Hymas
Parliament Choir
Simon Over, Music Director
Simon Over has been Director of Southbank Sinfonia since its formation in 2002 and has conducted over eighty of its concerts throughout the UK and Europe in concert venues as diverse as St George's, Windsor; St James's Palace; The Royal Opera House, Covent Garden; Westminster Abbey; a beer tent in Bury St Edmunds and a converted cowshed in Aberdeenshire.
Simon studied at the Amsterdam Conservatoire, Royal Academy of Music and Oxford University.
From 1992 to 2002 he was a member of the music staff of Westminster Abbey, and Director of Music at both St Margaret’s Church and the Chapel of St Mary Undercroft in the Palace of Westminster. He is the Founder-Conductor of the Parliament Choir and has conducted all the choir’s performances to date in conjunction with the City of London Sinfonia, La Serenissima, The London Festival Orchestra and Southbank Sinfonia.
In 2007, he conducted Southbank Sinfonia in its first commercial recording, with the cellist Raphael Wallfisch, and has recently conducted the orchestra in 32 performances of 'Every Good Boy Deserves Favour' (Tom Stoppard/André Previn) at the National Theatre.
In 2006, Simon was appointed Conductor of the Malcolm Sargent Festival Chorus and has been associated with Samling in its work with young professional singers since its inception in 1996. Simon is Artistic Director of the Anghiari Festival in Tuscany.
Recent highlights include conducting the City Chamber Orchestra (Hong Kong) and Southern Sinfonia in New Zealand. He has worked with many internationally-acclaimed musicians, including Sir Thomas Allen, Emma Kirkby, Dame Felicity Lott, Alessio Bax, Malcolm Martineau, Emma Johnson, and Sir James and Lady Galway. His performances with American violinist Miriam Kramer at the Wigmore Hall, London and Lincoln Center, New York – as well as on several recordings – received high critical acclaim.
Michael Berman & Vox Musica
Vox Musica is a vocal ensemble of singers, based in London, with a repertoire which extends from the 16th to the 20th century. They perform both a capella and with instrumental groups and a have a special interest in music of the Baroque period.
The singers regularly work with other well-known ensembles including the Academy of St Martins in the Fields and The Sixteen. Many also undertake solo engagements. As individuals they have sung throughout the world and appeared in many recordings.
Michael Berman, their conductor, is a co-founder of Southbank Sinfonia
David Corkhill, conductor
David Corkhill studied at London's Royal Academy of Music where he graduated as a pianist, harpsichordist, horn player, percussionist and conductor, and in1988 received a much coveted 'Grammy' award for his chamber music work with Sir Georg Solti, Murray Perahia and Evelyn Glennie.
Among his varied work as a conductor, David has directed the English Chamber Orchestra, the Chamber Orchestra of South Africa, Southbank Sinfonia, Connecting Arts, and ensembles from the Philharmonia Orchestra. David has also assisted Christoph von Dohnányi at Vienna's Musikverein, and Sir John Eliot Gardiner in his Beethoven, Schumann and opera projects. He has conducted for Angela Gheorghiou, and has worked with Pierre Boulez in the preparation of his works.
In addition, he has a busy schedule of programming and is currently directing a highly successful project series for the Guildhall School of Music in repertoire ranging from Mozart, Rachmaninov and Fauré to Stravinsky, Messiaen and MacMillan.
Nicola Barbagi, oboe
Born in Arezzo in 1984, Nicola began learning oboe at Liceo Musicale “F.Petrarca” with Gianluca Dioni, then continued his studies at the Scuola di Musica di Fiesole. During this time he was a member of the Italian Youth Orchestra, where he performed in leading venues such as the Teatro alla Scala in Milan, Teatro della pergola in Florence and Berlin Konzerthaus.
In 2009, Nicola finished a post-graduate Diploma at the Instituto Donizetti in Bergamo with Marco Ambrosini. Following this, he moved to Milan to attend the Accademia del Teatro Alla Scala, where he was a member for two years of the “Ensemble da Camera del XX secolo” directed by Giorgio Bernasconi . Here he performed at the prestigious Biennale Musica 2009 in Venezia and Cremona Monteverdi Festival. He played also in the Accademia Teatro alla Scala Orchestra, which performed two operas and many concerts around Italy and Europe every year. Nicola currently studies with Cristoph Hartman in Berlin and Maurice Bourgue at the Conservatoire Superier de Geneve.
Recently, Nicola has been busy freelancing with Orchestra della Toscana in Florence, Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala, Orchestra Sinfonica di Sanremo, Orchestra “G.Verdi”, Milan, Orchestra Sinfonica di Savona, Orchestra Sinfonica di Grosseto.
In his spare time, Nicola plays accordion with his folk group “Antidotum Tarantulae” and can sometimes be found in smaller theatres with his “Serio e Faceto” theatre company.
Ian Ward, cello
Iain attended the Junior Department of the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow from an early age, studying with Timothy Paxton and Robert Irvine. In 2005 Iain moved to London to continue his education at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama with Head of Strings, Louise Hopkins. Over the past few years, Iain has enjoyed success as a solo, chamber, and orchestral musician.
In 2008 Iain was a founding member of the Artas Ensemble, a flexible string ensemble ranging from trio to sextet. The Ensemble is led by current BBC New Generation Artist and Former Young Musician of the Year Jennifer Pike. As a chamber musician Iain has given many recitals in venues such as St. James Piccadilly, Carnegie Hall Dunfermline and recently as part of the prestigious New Town Concert Series in Edinburgh.
As a soloist Iain has won numerous prizes including the Fife Sinfonia Trophy at the Fife Festival of Music, the Allie Cullen Memorial Prize at the Glasgow Music Festival and the Colonel Howes Memorial Prize at the 2010 Eastbourne Young Soloist Competition.
Iain enjoys a busy schedule as a freelance orchestral musician having worked with some of the country’s top orchestras including the London Symphony Orchestra and as co-principal in the London Contemporary Orchestra, Aurora Orchestra and English Touring Opera. In 2010 he was a founder member of the Arensky Chamber Orchestra. He recently performed with Aurora on BBC 3 with a world premiere of Alexander Goehr’s opera Promised End.
Iain currently plays on a Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume cello generously loaned to him by the Orchestra of the Royal Artillery.
When not playing the cello Iain enjoys socialising and indulging in a spot of Badminton.
Tim Brigden, percussion
Percussionist Timothy Brigden is a graduate of the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. Having completed his BMus in 2006, Tim returned to pursue further study in the field of orchestral performance, receiving a scholarship to complete a Graduate Diploma, studying with Richard Miller and Daryl Pratt. Whilst there, he was thrilled to have the opportunity to perform as soloist with the Conservatorium orchestra as winner of the Percussion Concerto Competition in 2007. Tim enjoyed involvement with a number of youth orchestras and training schemes as a student, including the Sydney Symphony Orchestra’s ‘Sinfonia’, and the Sydney and Australian Youth Orchestras; here he toured internationally and performed in such prestigious venues as the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, the Berlin Konzerthaus, and the Sydney Opera House.Since then Tim has worked as a freelance percussionist professionally, with the Sydney Symphony, Queensland Symphony, Australian Opera & Ballet Orchestra, and the Auckland Philharmonic in New Zealand. He has recorded for film & television productions and also for Japanese anime & video games with the Eminence Orchestra. He has also worked with the RAAF Command Band (now defunct) as well as the NSW Police Band & the NSW Ambulance Service Band.
Tim’s musical interests go beyond the Orchestra, being an avid jazz fan and also a closet classical guitarist. He was privileged to tour with James Morrison and the “OnFire Big Band” in 2004. He is a member of the Jazzgroove association and also the Sydney Classical guitar society.
A highlight for Tim in 2010 was being the Young Artist in Residence for renowned Australian chamber group, Synergy Percussion, and to have been involved in a number of their projects, including the Australasian premiere of Steve Reich’s new Mallet Quartet co-commissioned by Synergy & Nexus percussion, Canada. Tim is very pleased and excited to be a part of the Southbank Sinfonia in 2011!
Robert Davies, baritone
Born in Colchester, Robert studied at the University of Sheffield and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama before embarking on a solo career, both on the opera stage and concert platform.
Awarded the Erich Vietheer Memorial Award at Glyndebourne in 2003, he went on to appear as Mr Gedge in Albert Herring, Marcello in La Bohème, Count Almaviva in Le Nozze di Figaro and Doctor Falke Die Fledermaus on the Festival Tour. Other notable roles at Glyndebourne include Curio in Giulio Cesare, Indian in The Bartered Bride, Guccio in Gianni Schicchi, Shepherd in Pellèas and Guide in Carmen. Roles elsewhere include Verrina in Fiesque in the critically acclaimed British première of Lalo’s opera at the Bloomsbury Theatre (UCL), Belcore in L’Elisir D’Amore and Sharpless in Madame Butterfly for Opera Box, Belcore in L’Elisir D’Amore for Swansea City Opera, Greek Captain in Les Troyens in the Gramophone Award-winning production at the Châtelet Theatre, Paris, Dancaïre in Carmen and Jailer in Tosca for Diva Opera, Kuligin in Katya Kabanova and First Priest in The Magic Flute for English Touring Opera, Pish Tush in The Mikado for D’Oyly Carte, Escamillo in Carmen and Count Di Luna in Il Trovatore for Children’s Music Workshop, Waiter/Footman in Der Rosenkavalier at the Spoleto Festival and Aeneas in Dido and Aeneas at the Edinburgh Festival. Robert also sang in the European premieres of Ned Rorem’s Hearing and The Robbers.
Robert has sung under the baton of such distinguished conductors as Simon Rattle, Vladimir Jurowski, Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Richard Hickox, Emanuelle Haim, Harry Christophers and Edward Gardner. With a wide concert repertoire, performances include the Bach B Minor Mass on a European Tour and Handel Dixit Dominus in the United States; Monteverdi Vespers in St Mark’s, Venice; Handel Messiah in St. David’s Hall, Cardiff; Mendelssohn Elijah; Elgar The Kingdom; Brahms Requiem; Bach St Matthew and St John Passions; Mozart Mass in C Minor and Requiem; Orff Carmina Burana; Rossini Petite Messe Solennelle; Britten Cantata Misericordia; Elgar Caractacus and Haydn The Seasons.
In 2007, Robert was shortlisted for the prestigious Jette Parker Young Artists Programme at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.
In 2009, Robert made his successful debut as Papageno in The Magic Flute for English Touring Opera, stepping in to the role at short notice. Recent performances include Figaro in Le nozze di Figaro and Demetrius in A Midsummer Night’s Dream also for English Touring Opera. Engagements this season include his role debut as Rigoletto for Bury Court Opera, and Ottokar in Der Freischütz with the Monteverdi Choir & Orchestra in Paris conducted by John Eliot Gardiner
www.bobdaviesbaritone.com
Ilona Domnich, soprano
Ilona was born in St.Petersburg, Russia; studied piano at Jerusalem Music Academy. Madam Vera Rozsa noticed her at a master class and invited to study singing with her in London, at the Royal College of Music. She won a prestigious Wingate Scholarship for her studies in London. After Vera retired Ilona studied with Enid Hartle, Joan Rogers and Susan Roberts.
Ilona’s current and future engagements include song recitals for Chopin centenary with Angela Hewitt in UK and Trasimeno music Festival in Italy. 'Friday night is music night' with BBC concert orchestra. The roles of Countess Le Nozze di Figaro in Cheltenham and Blackpool, Venus Thomas Arne's The Judgment of Paris at the Wigmore Hall, Gilda Rigoletto with Simon Over and Southbank Synfonia; Mahler recital for Loch Shiel Festival, Faure Requiem, Jersey, as well as Mahler’s Symphony 4 with Hannu Lintu and Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra in Finland and Tatiana at Grange Park.
Ilona's operatic roles include: Countess Le Nozze di Figaro, Pamina/Papagena in Die Zauberflote, Elle in Poulenc's La Voix Humaine, Tatiana in Evgene Onegin, Zerlina in Don Giovanni, Bride The very private beach, Julian Grant, Blondchen Die Entfuhrung aus dem Serail, Mozart; Madam Herz Der Schauspieldirektor, Mozart; Colombina The Jewel Box, Mozart; Lizetta La vera costanza, Haydn.
As a recitalist Ilona has appeared in London's St.Martin-in-the-fields, St.James's Piccadilly, St.John Smith's Square and St.George's Hanover Square, in Paris and in Jerusalem. Song repertoire spans from classical to modern composers.
Symphonic repertoire includes Mozart's Mass in C minor, Mendelssohn's Elijah, Mahler's Symphony n.2, Verdi's Requiem, Dvorak Te Deum, Strauss Brentano songs op 68, Shostakovich Symphony 14th and Beethoven's Ninth Symphony.
www.ilonadomnich.com
Anando Mukerjee, tenor
Anando Mukerjee is a lirico-spinto tenor. His operatic roles include Rodolfo, the Duke of Mantua, Ishmael, Macduff, Pinkerton, Edgardo and Faust. He is also an accomplished recitalist and has a large and varied oratorio repertoire. He received a Tripos in Natural Sciences from Cambridge University, where he was an Inlaks scholar, and later received vocal training privately from Kenneth Woollam, Hon. RCM, Professor of Singing (ret’d) and coaching from Richard Nunn, Professor of Keyboard & Vocal Accompaniment(ret’d), both of the Royal College of Music. He furthered his studies with the celebrated Swedish tenor Nicolai Gedda, Singer of the Royal Court, Stockholm. He is the recipient of a Charles Wallace Trust Award,(administered by the British Council) which supported his musical studies in England.
In 2006 he made his international debut at the Belgrade National Opera, Serbia, as Rodolfo in La bohème. In 2007 he made his Italian debut at the Teatro dei Rozzi, Siena, as a guest soloist appearing with the Concordia International Ensemble. He toured with New Sussex Opera as Tobias in their production of Jonathan Dove’s Tobias & the Angel; gave a Crush Bar recital at ROH Covent Garden and made his Wigmore Hall debut accompanied by Leslie Howard.
Recent appearances include: recitals, concerts and operatic appearances in the UK, India and Europe; Opera UK’s tour of the Middle East; the Duke in Rigoletto for New Devon Opera, Deita silvane (Respighi) in Cycles at Cadogan Hall for London Lyric Opera and Nemorino in L'elisir d'amore for Somerset Opera.
He recently played the part of The Duke in Rigoletto at the Bury Court Opera.
Lilly Papaioannou
Greek born Mezzo Lilly Papaioannou was educated at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music with Patricia MacMahon where she made her operatic debut as "Ottone" in Monteverdi's "L'incoronazione di Poppea" and recently completed her studies at the Guildhall School of Music under John Evans, with whom she continues to study.
Many London performances include singing at the House of Lords, the "Henze Immersion Weekend" at the Barbican, Handel's "Messiah" at St Martin in the Fields, an Oxford Lieder Festival recital and singing at St John's Smith Square as part of Graham Johnson's Young Songmakers' Almanac.
Recent operatic performances include "Baba the Turk" for British Youth Opera's "The Rake's Progress" and "Aeneas" in "Dido and Aeneas" at Bury Court with Southbank Sinfonia, "Princess Nicolette" in Grange Park Opera's production of "For the Love of Three Oranges" and "Rhone" in "Lovely Ladies" a new opera by Peter Cowdrey with performances in Christie's.
She sang the role of "Maddalena" for Bury Court barn's production of "Rigoletto" in April this year.
Laurence Meikle, baritone
Baritone Laurence Meikle became established as one of Australia’s sought after young opera singers before relocating to the UK in 2008. In Australia, he performed as a principal artist with Opera Australia and Victorian Opera, as well as appearing as a guest soloist with many of Australia’s best orchestras and ensembles.
Laurence’s repertoire encompasses over 25 principal roles across a variety of styles, from Monteverdi and Cavalli to Berg and Britten. In the UK, Laurence’s performances include appearances with Grange Park Opera, The Soho Theatre, London Handel Festival, Spitalfields Festival, as well as recitals throughout the UK and Europe. Forthcoming performances include concerts with the Israel Philharmonic, Southbank Sinfonia, and his first performances in the title role of Don Giovanni.
Aisling Manning, violin
In addition to her Southbank Sinfonia work, Aisling is currently on trial with English National Opera and BBC Philharmonic, and does extra work with Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra. Aisling is a member of the European Union Youth Orchestra and has toured Europe and Shanghai with the Orchestra. In 2008, she toured America, France and Ireland with Camerata Ireland under the baton of Barry Douglas and toured with British Philharmonic for Jeff Wayne’s musical War of the Worlds. Aisling has lead many orchestras, including YMSO and Situation Opera Orchestra.
Aisling graduated in 2010 with a Masters degree in performance at the Royal Academy of Music, studying with Mayumi Fujikawa. In 2003 she joined the class of Detlef Hahn at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama where she completed her Bachelor Degree.
Aisling looks forward to performing Vivaldi’s Four Seasons with Situation Opera Orchestra, having performed Mozart’s Violin Concerto no.3 with them last season.
Josef Bisits, double bass
After learning piano and trumpet from an early age, Josef took up the double bass at fourteen studying with Paul Laszlo. He performed with various ensembles in Newcastle before successfully auditioning for the Sydney Youth Orchestra and the Australian Youth Orchestra’s Young Symphonists and National Music Camp programmes in 2006. At the end of 2006, he won the Sydney Youth Orchestra’s concerto competition which led to a performance of Serge Koussevitzky’s Bass Concerto with the Sydney Youth Orchestra.
In 2007, Josef began a bachelor of music at the Sydney Conservatorium studying with Alex Henery, whilst performing as Principal Bass of the Sydney Youth Orchestra. Since 2008 he has held the Corinna d’Hage Mayer String Scholarship and has been performing with the Sydney Sinfonia, Australian Youth Orchestra, and at the end of 2008 was asked to play with the Sydney Symphony orchestra.
Last year, Josef partook in the Sydney Symphony’s fellowship programme. This led to regular appearances with the Sydney Symphony, as well as many chamber music performances in and around Sydney. In addition, he also completed his Bachelor of music (performance) at the Sydney conservatorium.
James Longford, piano
James Longford studied piano and organ with John Blakely, Margaret Phillips and the late Nicholas Danby at the Royal College of Music, and with Paul Stubbings as organ scholar of St Martin-in-the-Fields. During his studies he was awarded the Tagore Gold Medal, an RCM Junior Fellowship and Fellowship of the Royal College of Organists.
He is now enjoying a wide-ranging career as a freelance pianist and repetiteur, recently as music staff on English National Opera's acclaimed production of Handel's Radamisto, conducted by Laurence Cummings.
James is the principal pianist for the Royal Opera’s newly-established Youth Opera Company, and for Whitehall Choir, and has been the principal keyboard player of the groundbreaking orchestra Southbank Sinfonia since their inception almost ten years ago.
James is one half of the longfordbrown piano duo with New Zealand pianist Lindy Tennent-Brown. They are laureates of several international competitions, and were placed among the top nine piano duos in the world at the Murray Dranoff International Two Piano Competition in Miami in 2008.
www.jameslongford.com
Lindsey Ellis, flute
Lindsey began playing the flute at the age of 7 and soon realised that music was the career path she wished to follow. Her musical studies started at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama where she studied with Richard Blake and gained a Bachelor of Music with First Class Honours. Subsequently Lindsey moved to Bordeaux to take lessons with Samuel Coles before finally doing a Masters Degree at the Conservatoire de Musique de Geneve, where she studied with Jacques Zoon.
She has played with various orchestras around Europe including the Bergen Philharmonic, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Orchestre Nationale Bordeaux Aquitaine, Scottish Opera and the Mahler Chamber Orchestra. Lindsey performed as Principal Piccolo at the Seito Kinen Festival in Matsumoto, Japan with Seiji Osawa. She has previously been on trial as Second Flute with both the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales.
As a soloist Lindsey has performed Concertos with several orchestras such as Manchester Camerata, Lakewood Symphony Orchestra, the RSAMD Symphony Orchestra as the Concerto Competition winner and also the orchestra from the Conservatoire de Musique de Geneve. Lindsey is also a very active chamber musician: currently she is a member of the Flute and Harp duo Elysium with whom she has performed the Mozart Flute and Harp Concerto with the Heidenberg Ensemble; in addition she plays with the Fuu Wind Quintet based in Geneva.
Ksenia Berezina, violin
Ksenia Berezina was born in 1985 in Russia. In 2009 she graduated from the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory where she studied with Igor Frolov. Ksenia won the Leverhulme Trust Music Award and began her postgraduate studies at the Royal College of Music in London with Dr. Felix Andrievsky.
Ksenia is the winner of national and international violin competitions such as 18è Concurs Josep Mirabent I Magrans in Sitges (Spain), TWIYCA 2010 Competition in Tunbridge Wells (England), 6th international Competition for Young Soloists in Togliatti (Russia), Citta’ di Padova Prize in Padua (Italy), Nedialka Simeonova Competition in Haskovo (Bulgaria), 12th International Competition of Contemporary Chamber Music in Krakow (Poland), Cidade de Alcobaca in Alcobaca (Portugal).She has participated in masterclasses in Sweden, Czechoslovakia, Russia, United Kingdom and France.
As a concerto soloist Ksenia has performed with the Crimean Symphony Orchestra, Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatoire Chamber Orchestra and Chamber Orchestra “Moscow Camerata”.
Ksenia has performed chamber and solo performances at many London venues, including Cadogan Hall, the National Gallery, Britten Theatre, the Royal Academy of Art, RCM Concert Hall, St James’s Piccadilly, St Martin in the Fields, V&A Museum. She has taken part in music festival in many Russian cities as well as in the United Kingdom, Germany, Spain, North Korea, Czech, Sweden, Bulgaria, France, Italy, Norway, Portugal and Poland.
Hannah Morgan, clarinet
Welsh clarinettist Hannah Morgan began her studies at the RWCMD Junior Department at 14. She then went on to study both for a Bachelors and Masters degree at the Royal College of Music under a Leverhulme and Richard Carne scholarship where she was awarded Distinction in Advanced Performance. While at college, Hannah received tuition from Richard Hosford, Janet Hilton, Tim Lines and Bob Hill. In her third year Hannah took an ERASMUS exchange to Vienna where she studied with the world renowned Ernst Ottensammer.
Hannah has performed with several of the UK’s leading orchestras including a BBC 3 Broadcast with BBC Symphony Orchestra, the last night of the Proms with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales and whilst still in college she was on trial for a position with the Welsh National Opera.
Hannah works regularly throughout the UK and Europe with pianist Thomas Besnard as part of the Glendower Duo. Over the last four years this ensemble has achieved great success and has appeared in many festivals including Leeds, Monmouth, Penkhull and Cheltenham. In 2010 the Glendower Duo won the International Contemporary Chamber Music Competition duo section held in Krakow and have consequently been invited to play in the Warsaw Autumn Festival. In January the same year they gave a world premiere at Southbank Centre’s Purcell Room as part of the Park Lane Group Artist Series.
As a soloist, Hannah has performed concertos with the Milton Keynes City Orchestra and the RWCMD orchestra. Recently she won the 1st Wind Prize at the Tunbridge Wells International Concert Artist Competition. In 2009 she was awarded the prestigious Yamaha Music Foundation of Europe Scholarship and the RCM Selmer Clarinet Prize. She is a member of the Concordia Foundation Artist Scheme and regularly works with her duo for the outreach program, Live Music Now!
The Countess of Munster, Ian Fleming Award (MBF) and the Elisabeth Evans Trust have supported Hannah’s studies.
Nicholas O'Neill, piano
Nicholas O'Neill was born in Cheltenham in 1970, and currently lives in London, where he works as a composer, performer, conductor and lecturer. In 1992 he was unanimously awarded first prize in the Norwich Festival Composition Competition, and won the Gregynog Young Composers' Award in 1993, also sharing the Barbara Johnstone Composition Prize in 1995, while he has also been shortlisted for the William Mathias, Cornelius Cardew, Oare String Orchestra, Purcell and Vocalis composition awards.
Formerly Head of Musical Techniques at Trinity College of Music, Organist of Brighton College, and St. George's Cathedral, Southwark, he is Associate Music Director of the Occam Singers, Chorus Master of the Parliament Choir and the Malcolm Sargent Festival Choir, President of Cantores Salicium, Associate Director of Music at St. Mary Abbots, Kensington, Acting Director of Music at St. John's, Notting Hill and a visiting teacher at the London Oratory School. He also lectures for Birkbeck, University of London. Nick is a Fellow of the Royal College of Organists and an Honorary Fellow of the Academy of Saint Cecilia, on whose advisory panel he sits. He is the Academy's first Composer in Residence, and has recently been appointed to the same post with the Parliament Choir.
[thumbnail drawing by Jeff Pountain; photograph by Marco Sanna]
www.nicholasoneill.co.uk
Kirsty Lothian, narrator
Kirsty Lothian is a London-based performer who co-founded a small theatre company, Jumbled, with Lucy Foster.
She works across Live Art and Theatre, and also directs operas, recently 'Dido and Aeneas' at the Bury Court.
Madeleine Holmes, lyric soprano
She has since worked with consorts such as The Sixteen, I Fagiolini, Spiritus, Philharmonia Voices and the BBC Singers, and as a soloist across the UK, making her BBC Radio 3 début as soprano soloist in Harrison Birtwhistle’s Fields of Sorrow with the Britten Sinfonia under Thomas Adès for the 2004 Aldeburgh Festival.
In 2007 she and pianist Jonathan Beatty gave the world première of the dramatic monologue Life Lessens by Glyndebourne’s Composer-in-Residence Julian Philips, performing the piece again in June this year with pianist John Reid at the Wigmore Hall.
Since training on ENO’s ‘Knack’ programme for young singers, Madeleine has appeared on stage as Ida Die Fledermaus (Eastern Opera), Yum-Yum The Mikado (Windsor and Eton Opera), Despina Così Fan Tutte (Oxford Touring Opera), Naiad Ariadne auf Naxos (Windsor Festival) and Tatyana Eugene Onegin (Hampstead Garden Opera and as cover for Opéra de Baugé). Future plans include Eurydice Orpheus in the Underworld for Windsor and Eton Opera in October and Musetta La Bohème for Park Opera in February 2010.
Benedict Hymas
Benedict Hymas began to study singing seriously with Philip Doghan at the Royal Academy of Music whilst a student at King's College, London. He has since worked with a number of professional groups, including Polyphony and the Gabrieli Consort, and increasingly appears as a soloist. He is also passionate about the piano, particularly the work of Debussy.The Parliament Choir
The Parliament Choir, which is based in the Houses of Parliament in London, UK, was founded in 2000 as a result of a conversation between Lord Filkin and Simon Over (then music director of St. Margaret’s Church, Westminster). The conversation focused on the difficulty experienced by Peers and Members of Parliament in joining a regular choir, because of the requirement to work in Parliament in the evenings, when most other choirs rehearse.
From that conversation, and subsequent discussions with other parliamentarians, a small choir was formed. Weekly rehearsals were held, with Simon Over as the choir's first music director, in St. Mary Undercroft, the chapel within Parliament. The choir gave its first public performance in St. Margaret’s Church, Westminster, on 6th December 2000, singing Handel’s ‘Messiah’ with Emma Kirkby as soprano soloist.
Since then the Parliament Choir has expanded hugely both in numbers and in repertoire. Currently there are about 100 members, drawn mainly from the ranks of Peers, MPs and staff working in the Houses of Parliament. Those who have monitored its progress since the early days say that its standard of singing and performance has improved beyond recognition – this despite the fact that the choir has never auditioned its members.
In 2010, its 10th anniversary year, the Parliament Choir performed for the first time within the Palace of Westminster (the official name for the parliament buildings), singing Mozart’s ‘Requiem’ and O’Neill’s ‘Of All Persons and Estates’ in Westminster Hall, the oldest part of the Palace. In November 2010, the choir took on one of its biggest challenges to date, in giving two performances of Benjamin Britten’s ‘War Requiem’ – the first in Coventry Cathedral on 13th November, the eve of the 70th anniversary of the bombing of the Cathedral, and the second in Westminster Cathedral, London, on 17th November.