City of Bristol Choir
Brandon Hill Chamber Orchestra
Catherine Black leader
Esther Mallett soprano
Annie Gill mezzo soprano
Nicholas Mulroy tenor
Kieran Rayner baritone
Conducted by David Ogden

W.A. Mozart Requiem
W.A. Mozart Ave Verum
Elgar Sospiri

In a poignant return to the concert platform, City of Bristol Choir marks its 30th anniversary season with a programme that includes the first piece that the choir ever performed – Mozart’s Requiem. The work is full of drama and exquisitely crafted music for soloists, choir and orchestra. Each hour-long performance also includes Mozart’s bite-sized masterpiece, his setting of the Ave Verum, and Elgar’s atmospheric and reflective orchestral work, Sospiri.

Tickets £10 for adults, £5 for students in full time education and under 18s, available from City of Bristol Choir’s online box office

Lotte Betts-Dean: Mezzo-Soprano
Kieran Rayner: Baritone
Nigel Foster: Piano

A concert exploring the 40-year long relationship between Pauline Viardot, composer and celebrity opera singer whose bicentenary falls in 2021, and the Russian novelist Ivan Turgenev, telling their story through her songs. The programme touches on Viardot’s friendships with Chopin, Liszt, Gounod, Berlioz and Tchaikovsky and shines a light on her extraordinary life at the centre of the international musical world of the 19th century, moving from St Petersburg to Paris, their château at Courtavenel, Baden-Baden and back to France.

BambinO at Home

An operatic adventure for 6 to 18 month olds. 5 Performances: 9 December 14:00, 10 – 11 December 11:00 & 14:00

BambinO at Home is produced by Improbable. Originally co-produced with Scottish Opera and Manchester International Festival. Made possible with support from Arts Council England and Garfield Weston Foundation.

This unique and colourful work for infants aged 6 to 18 months is a twin celebration of the possibilities of music and the power of the infant imagination. BambinO reinvents operatic language and traditions for children at an age when their minds are wide open to new sounds, images and experiences.

Following sell out runs in Paris (Théâtre du Châtelet), New York (Metropolitan Opera), Manchester International Festival and Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Improbable bring you a made-for-screen adaptation so you can access the magic of BambinO wherever you are!

BambinO at Home will be streamed live and combine performance from the show with puppetry and live illustration from children’s illustrator Viviane Schwarz. We’ll also send you specially made activities and ideas to do at home as you watch with your bambini.

Soprano: Charlotte Hoather
Baritone: Kieran Rayner
Cello: Semay Wu
Percussion: Michael D Clark

Composer: Lliam Paterson
Director: Phelim McDermott
Designers: Giuseppe Belli & Emma Belli
Illustrator: Viviane Schwarz
Filming: Chocolate Films

https://www.improbable.co.uk/current-projects/bambino-at-home

BambinO at Home

An operatic adventure for 6 to 18 month olds. 5 Performances: 9 December 14:00, 10 – 11 December 11:00 & 14:00

BambinO at Home is produced by Improbable. Originally co-produced with Scottish Opera and Manchester International Festival. Made possible with support from Arts Council England and Garfield Weston Foundation.

This unique and colourful work for infants aged 6 to 18 months is a twin celebration of the possibilities of music and the power of the infant imagination. BambinO reinvents operatic language and traditions for children at an age when their minds are wide open to new sounds, images and experiences.

Following sell out runs in Paris (Théâtre du Châtelet), New York (Metropolitan Opera), Manchester International Festival and Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Improbable bring you a made-for-screen adaptation so you can access the magic of BambinO wherever you are!

BambinO at Home will be streamed live and combine performance from the show with puppetry and live illustration from children’s illustrator Viviane Schwarz. We’ll also send you specially made activities and ideas to do at home as you watch with your bambini.

Soprano: Charlotte Hoather
Baritone: Kieran Rayner
Cello: Semay Wu
Percussion: Michael D Clark

Composer: Lliam Paterson
Director: Phelim McDermott
Designers: Giuseppe Belli & Emma Belli
Illustrator: Viviane Schwarz
Filming: Chocolate Films

https://www.improbable.co.uk/current-projects/bambino-at-home

BambinO at Home

An operatic adventure for 6 to 18 month olds. 5 Performances: 9 December 14:00, 10 – 11 December 11:00 & 14:00

BambinO at Home is produced by Improbable. Originally co-produced with Scottish Opera and Manchester International Festival. Made possible with support from Arts Council England and Garfield Weston Foundation.

This unique and colourful work for infants aged 6 to 18 months is a twin celebration of the possibilities of music and the power of the infant imagination. BambinO reinvents operatic language and traditions for children at an age when their minds are wide open to new sounds, images and experiences.

Following sell out runs in Paris (Théâtre du Châtelet), New York (Metropolitan Opera), Manchester International Festival and Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Improbable bring you a made-for-screen adaptation so you can access the magic of BambinO wherever you are!

BambinO at Home will be streamed live and combine performance from the show with puppetry and live illustration from children’s illustrator Viviane Schwarz. We’ll also send you specially made activities and ideas to do at home as you watch with your bambini.

Soprano: Charlotte Hoather
Baritone: Kieran Rayner
Cello: Semay Wu
Percussion: Michael D Clark

Composer: Lliam Paterson
Director: Phelim McDermott
Designers: Giuseppe Belli & Emma Belli
Illustrator: Viviane Schwarz
Filming: Chocolate Films

https://www.improbable.co.uk/current-projects/bambino-at-home

BambinO at Home

An operatic adventure for 6 to 18 month olds. 5 Performances: 9 December 14:00, 10 – 11 December 11:00 & 14:00

BambinO at Home is produced by Improbable. Originally co-produced with Scottish Opera and Manchester International Festival. Made possible with support from Arts Council England and Garfield Weston Foundation.

This unique and colourful work for infants aged 6 to 18 months is a twin celebration of the possibilities of music and the power of the infant imagination. BambinO reinvents operatic language and traditions for children at an age when their minds are wide open to new sounds, images and experiences.

Following sell out runs in Paris (Théâtre du Châtelet), New York (Metropolitan Opera), Manchester International Festival and Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Improbable bring you a made-for-screen adaptation so you can access the magic of BambinO wherever you are!

BambinO at Home will be streamed live and combine performance from the show with puppetry and live illustration from children’s illustrator Viviane Schwarz. We’ll also send you specially made activities and ideas to do at home as you watch with your bambini.

Soprano: Charlotte Hoather
Baritone: Kieran Rayner
Cello: Semay Wu
Percussion: Michael D Clark

Composer: Lliam Paterson
Director: Phelim McDermott
Designers: Giuseppe Belli & Emma Belli
Illustrator: Viviane Schwarz
Filming: Chocolate Films

https://www.improbable.co.uk/current-projects/bambino-at-home

BambinO at Home

An operatic adventure for 6 to 18 month olds. 5 Performances: 9 December 14:00, 10 – 11 December 11:00 & 14:00

BambinO at Home is produced by Improbable. Originally co-produced with Scottish Opera and Manchester International Festival. Made possible with support from Arts Council England and Garfield Weston Foundation.

This unique and colourful work for infants aged 6 to 18 months is a twin celebration of the possibilities of music and the power of the infant imagination. BambinO reinvents operatic language and traditions for children at an age when their minds are wide open to new sounds, images and experiences.

Following sell out runs in Paris (Théâtre du Châtelet), New York (Metropolitan Opera), Manchester International Festival and Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Improbable bring you a made-for-screen adaptation so you can access the magic of BambinO wherever you are!

BambinO at Home will be streamed live and combine performance from the show with puppetry and live illustration from children’s illustrator Viviane Schwarz. We’ll also send you specially made activities and ideas to do at home as you watch with your bambini.

Soprano: Charlotte Hoather
Baritone: Kieran Rayner
Cello: Semay Wu
Percussion: Michael D Clark

Composer: Lliam Paterson
Director: Phelim McDermott
Designers: Giuseppe Belli & Emma Belli
Illustrator: Viviane Schwarz
Filming: Chocolate Films

https://www.improbable.co.uk/current-projects/bambino-at-home

Join Australians Lotte Betts-Dean – a versatile mezzo soprano whose performance experience includes contemporary repertoire, early music, art song and opera – and Royal Academy of Music alumnus, pianist Joseph Havlat, as well as award-winning New Zealand baritone Kieran Rayner on Friday 11 February 2022 from 6pm to 7pm.

The programme will feature works by British, Australian and  NZ composers and is part of the FANZA Festival to complement the 2021/2022 Season of Culture celebrating the cultural relationship between Australia and the UK.

The venue, St Mary-at-Hill Church, has a beautiful interior designed by Sir Christopher Wren and is a popular venue for concerts and recitals. Doors will open at 5.30pm and the ticket price of £25 includes a glass of wine afterwards. [Special price tickets for young adults and under-25s.]

There are many good restaurants within walking distance of the Church for those who wish to make a night of it.

Sit in on an exciting coaching session focusing on French Song.

Named as Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres in 2011, pianist Susan Manoff is currently a professor at the Paris Conservatoire. She is devoted to the relationship between singer, pianist, composer and poet. For this masterclass she will be joined by singers and pianists from the 2021-22 cohort of Britten Pears Young Artists.

Sit in on an exciting coaching session focusing on French Song.

Named as Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres in 2011, pianist Susan Manoff is currently a professor at the Paris Conservatoire. She is devoted to the relationship between singer, pianist, composer and poet. For this masterclass she will be joined by singers and pianists from the 2021-22 cohort of Britten Pears Young Artists.

Outstanding singers and pianists from the Britten Pears Young Artist Programme give an end of course recital, following an intensive course of coaching and public masterclasses with Susan Manoff.

The German Choir of London and Coventry Cathedral Choir perform a new interpretation of J.S. Bach’s St Matthew Passion with an original libretto by playwright Ross McGregor, in Southwark Cathedral (7pm 17 March) and Coventry Cathedral (6pm 19 March).

Kieran Rayner will play Robert Scholl (Sophie’s father) and Möhr (an interrogator), as well as singing the bass arias.

Hans and Sophie Scholl are amongst the most famous personalities in Germany. Nearly every town has a Scholl Square, a Geschwister Scholl School, or a Sophie Scholl Street. Their lives are a set part of the German history curriculum in every school and every year new books, documentaries and films about their lives are published.

On May 9, 2021, it would have been Sophie Scholl’s 100th Birthday.

The lives of Hans and Sophie Scholl, founder of the White Rose resistance group, are widely unknown in the UK. That there was resistance in the public during NS time is for many British still news, having learnt at school mainly about the obeying Germans during the war and the enormous following for Hitler.

The German Choir of London wants to tell a different story.

For this concert the German Choir commissioned a play that accompanies J.S. Bach’s St Matthew Passion to highlight the story of Sophie Scholl, executed by the Gestapo in 1943 for opposing Hitler with a campaign of non-violence during the Second World War.

The concert will tell the story of Sophie, confined in Stadelheim Prison, Munich in the period before her death, through an original libretto created by playwright Ross McGregor, by combining letters, newspaper articles, the White Rose leaflets and court protocols with the music of J.S. Bach’s St. Matthew Passion.

This new interpretation will be performed with the German Choir of London and Coventry Cathedral Choir in Southwark Cathedral (17 March) and Coventry Cathedral (19 March). It will encourage us to remember that the courage of Sophie Scholl and her fellow conspirators is an inspiration through time, a reminder that fighting injustice, fighting against systems which are wrong, even against the greatest odds, is truly a message of our time.

The German Choir of London and Coventry Cathedral Choir perform a new interpretation of J.S. Bach’s St Matthew Passion with an original libretto by playwright Ross McGregor, in Southwark Cathedral (7pm 17 March) and Coventry Cathedral (6pm 19 March).

Kieran Rayner will play Robert Scholl (Sophie’s father) and Möhr (an interrogator), as well as singing the bass arias.

Hans and Sophie Scholl are amongst the most famous personalities in Germany. Nearly every town has a Scholl Square, a Geschwister Scholl School, or a Sophie Scholl Street. Their lives are a set part of the German history curriculum in every school and every year new books, documentaries and films about their lives are published.

On May 9, 2021, it would have been Sophie Scholl’s 100th Birthday.

The lives of Hans and Sophie Scholl, founder of the White Rose resistance group, are widely unknown in the UK. That there was resistance in the public during NS time is for many British still news, having learnt at school mainly about the obeying Germans during the war and the enormous following for Hitler.

The German Choir of London wants to tell a different story.

For this concert the German Choir commissioned a play that accompanies J.S. Bach’s St Matthew Passion to highlight the story of Sophie Scholl, executed by the Gestapo in 1943 for opposing Hitler with a campaign of non-violence during the Second World War.

The concert will tell the story of Sophie, confined in Stadelheim Prison, Munich in the period before her death, through an original libretto created by playwright Ross McGregor, by combining letters, newspaper articles, the White Rose leaflets and court protocols with the music of J.S. Bach’s St. Matthew Passion.

This new interpretation will be performed with the German Choir of London and Coventry Cathedral Choir in Southwark Cathedral (17 March) and Coventry Cathedral (19 March). It will encourage us to remember that the courage of Sophie Scholl and her fellow conspirators is an inspiration through time, a reminder that fighting injustice, fighting against systems which are wrong, even against the greatest odds, is truly a message of our time.

A story-led song recital with a twist: the audience chooses the direction of the narrative.

Baritone (and scriptwriter) Kieran Rayner, mezzo-soprano Lotte Betts Dean and pianist Bradley Wood present a vocal recital where the audience decides the direction of the narrative, influencing which songs are performed. Featuring potential song repertoire ranging from Schubert, Poulenc and Finzi to new works.

Composer Jasmine Morris’s multi-media chamber opera responding to George Orwell’s novel, Animal Farm. Kieran Rayne will play Farmer Jones, a ruthless investor targeting profit by any means necessary.

This promenade piece invites you to follow your guides around the spaces of the Hoffmann Building to see scenes performed.

Part of Britten Pears Young Artist Programme at 50.

La rondine (The Swallow) is a moving tale of young love and heartbreak – and what else, you may ask, is opera about? Arguably Puccini’s most modern opera, La rondine was premiered in Monte Carlo in 1917, and includes one of Puccini’s most gorgeous creations, the quartet, ‘Bevo al tuo fresco sorriso’ (I drink to your beautiful smile).

Magda is our ‘rondine’ , the bird who flies towards the sun, and Ruggero is the shy country boy who eventually becomes her lover. We witness their relationship unfold in the colourful locales of Paris and the balmier climes of southern France. The love ‘quadrangle’ is made complete by Prunier, a centre-of-attention poet and Magda’s fiery maid, Lisette. Amidst waltzes, foxtrots, and soaring melodies, join us for an unmissable evening of sophistication and glamour in the enchanting surroundings of Grade 1 listed Belcombe Court.

Director Bruno Ravella, a former Iford Arts favourite, joins us fresh from extraordinary acclaim for his Rosenkavalier at Garsington in 2021, and If Opera’s Artistic Director Oliver Gooch conducts.

Rita, the somewhat tyrannical inn-owner and wife of Peppe is shocked by the return of her former husband Gasparo whom she had thought dead by drowning (he had run away to far-off lands). Gasparo is back to acquire Rita’s death certificate so he can remarry – because he, in turn, thought she had died. In the middle is poor Peppe who wants out, and perhaps Gasparo’s return provides the opportunity? The opera is a comedy of deceit and ill-manners (it was originally called The Beaten Husband which tells you something of Rita’s inclinations) but it glitters with Donizetti’s trademark vivacity, formed around eight core musical ‘numbers’ connected by spoken dialogue. The opera has, in the past few decades, become one of the most frequently performed of Donizetti’s short operas.

La rondine (The Swallow) is a moving tale of young love and heartbreak – and what else, you may ask, is opera about? Arguably Puccini’s most modern opera, La rondine was premiered in Monte Carlo in 1917, and includes one of Puccini’s most gorgeous creations, the quartet, ‘Bevo al tuo fresco sorriso’ (I drink to your beautiful smile).

Magda is our ‘rondine’ , the bird who flies towards the sun, and Ruggero is the shy country boy who eventually becomes her lover. We witness their relationship unfold in the colourful locales of Paris and the balmier climes of southern France. The love ‘quadrangle’ is made complete by Prunier, a centre-of-attention poet and Magda’s fiery maid, Lisette. Amidst waltzes, foxtrots, and soaring melodies, join us for an unmissable evening of sophistication and glamour in the enchanting surroundings of Grade 1 listed Belcombe Court.

Director Bruno Ravella, a former Iford Arts favourite, joins us fresh from extraordinary acclaim for his Rosenkavalier at Garsington in 2021, and If Opera’s Artistic Director Oliver Gooch conducts.

Rita, the somewhat tyrannical inn-owner and wife of Peppe is shocked by the return of her former husband Gasparo whom she had thought dead by drowning (he had run away to far-off lands). Gasparo is back to acquire Rita’s death certificate so he can remarry – because he, in turn, thought she had died. In the middle is poor Peppe who wants out, and perhaps Gasparo’s return provides the opportunity? The opera is a comedy of deceit and ill-manners (it was originally called The Beaten Husband which tells you something of Rita’s inclinations) but it glitters with Donizetti’s trademark vivacity, formed around eight core musical ‘numbers’ connected by spoken dialogue. The opera has, in the past few decades, become one of the most frequently performed of Donizetti’s short operas.

La rondine (The Swallow) is a moving tale of young love and heartbreak – and what else, you may ask, is opera about? Arguably Puccini’s most modern opera, La rondine was premiered in Monte Carlo in 1917, and includes one of Puccini’s most gorgeous creations, the quartet, ‘Bevo al tuo fresco sorriso’ (I drink to your beautiful smile).

Magda is our ‘rondine’ , the bird who flies towards the sun, and Ruggero is the shy country boy who eventually becomes her lover. We witness their relationship unfold in the colourful locales of Paris and the balmier climes of southern France. The love ‘quadrangle’ is made complete by Prunier, a centre-of-attention poet and Magda’s fiery maid, Lisette. Amidst waltzes, foxtrots, and soaring melodies, join us for an unmissable evening of sophistication and glamour in the enchanting surroundings of Grade 1 listed Belcombe Court.

Director Bruno Ravella, a former Iford Arts favourite, joins us fresh from extraordinary acclaim for his Rosenkavalier at Garsington in 2021, and If Opera’s Artistic Director Oliver Gooch conducts.

The course of true love runs far from smooth for Dido, Queen of Carthage, and Trojan hero Aeneas in Purcell’s famous opera.  We are thrilled that our If Opera Company singers will be working with guest conductor Christopher Bucknall for this very special concert performance of Dido and Aeneas.  Intimate in scale, this timeless tale of love and anguish, sorcery, war and betrayal punches well above its weight and includes one of the most beautiful arias in all Baroque opera – When I am Laid in Earth.

DIDO Fleur Barron
AENEAS Kieran Rayner
SORCERESS Katherine McIndoe
BELINDA Nardus Williams
FIRST WITCH Lorena Paz Nieto
SECOND WITCH Helen Maree Cooper

La rondine (The Swallow) is a moving tale of young love and heartbreak – and what else, you may ask, is opera about? Arguably Puccini’s most modern opera, La rondine was premiered in Monte Carlo in 1917, and includes one of Puccini’s most gorgeous creations, the quartet, ‘Bevo al tuo fresco sorriso’ (I drink to your beautiful smile).

Magda is our ‘rondine’ , the bird who flies towards the sun, and Ruggero is the shy country boy who eventually becomes her lover. We witness their relationship unfold in the colourful locales of Paris and the balmier climes of southern France. The love ‘quadrangle’ is made complete by Prunier, a centre-of-attention poet and Magda’s fiery maid, Lisette. Amidst waltzes, foxtrots, and soaring melodies, join us for an unmissable evening of sophistication and glamour in the enchanting surroundings of Grade 1 listed Belcombe Court.

Director Bruno Ravella, a former Iford Arts favourite, joins us fresh from extraordinary acclaim for his Rosenkavalier at Garsington in 2021, and If Opera’s Artistic Director Oliver Gooch conducts.

Kieran reprises one of his favourite song cycles with orchestra, Mahler’s heartbreaking Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen (Songs of a Wayfarer). With the Lambeth Orchestra conducted by Peter Selwyn, at All Saints Church, West Dulwich.

Concert also features:
LISZT: Les Preludes
MAHLER: Blumine
STRAUSS: Tod und Verklärung

A co-production by Britten Pears Arts and The Royal Opera House.

In a world brutalised by conflict, one woman’s experience of horrific violence becomes the defining moment of an era.

Benjamin Britten’s shattering chamber opera explores some of the darkest drives in the human psyche – and what happens when power and war give them free rein. In this contemporary new staging, Oliver Mears directs, while Corinna Niemeyer conducts a cast drawn from the Britten Pears Young Artist Programme and the Jette Parker Artists Programme.

Throughout the autumn, we will be exploring aspects of this production and its wider context in a series of talks and presentations online. Keep your eye on the website for more details.

A co-production by Britten Pears Arts and The Royal Opera House.

In a world brutalised by conflict, one woman’s experience of horrific violence becomes the defining moment of an era.

Benjamin Britten’s shattering chamber opera explores some of the darkest drives in the human psyche – and what happens when power and war give them free rein. In this contemporary new staging, Oliver Mears directs, while Corinna Niemeyer conducts a cast drawn from the Britten Pears Young Artist Programme and the Jette Parker Artists Programme.

Throughout the autumn, we will be exploring aspects of this production and its wider context in a series of talks and presentations online. Keep your eye on the website for more details.

A co-production by Britten Pears Arts and The Royal Opera House.

In a world brutalised by conflict, one woman’s experience of horrific violence becomes the defining moment of an era.

Benjamin Britten’s shattering chamber opera explores some of the darkest drives in the human psyche – and what happens when power and war give them free rein. In this contemporary new staging, Oliver Mears directs, while Corinna Niemeyer conducts a cast drawn from the Britten Pears Young Artist Programme and the Jette Parker Artists Programme.

Throughout the autumn, we will be exploring aspects of this production and its wider context in a series of talks and presentations online. Keep your eye on the website for more details.

A co-production by Britten Pears Arts and The Royal Opera House.

In a world brutalised by conflict, one woman’s experience of horrific violence becomes the defining moment of an era.

Benjamin Britten’s shattering chamber opera explores some of the darkest drives in the human psyche – and what happens when power and war give them free rein. In this contemporary new staging, Oliver Mears directs, while Corinna Niemeyer conducts a cast drawn from the Britten Pears Young Artist Programme and the Jette Parker Artists Programme.

Throughout the autumn, we will be exploring aspects of this production and its wider context in a series of talks and presentations online. Keep your eye on the website for more details.

A co-production by Britten Pears Arts and The Royal Opera House.

In a world brutalised by conflict, one woman’s experience of horrific violence becomes the defining moment of an era.

Benjamin Britten’s shattering chamber opera explores some of the darkest drives in the human psyche – and what happens when power and war give them free rein. In this contemporary new staging, Oliver Mears directs, while Corinna Niemeyer conducts a cast drawn from the Britten Pears Young Artist Programme and the Jette Parker Artists Programme.

Throughout the autumn, we will be exploring aspects of this production and its wider context in a series of talks and presentations online. Keep your eye on the website for more details.

A co-production by Britten Pears Arts and The Royal Opera House.

In a world brutalised by conflict, one woman’s experience of horrific violence becomes the defining moment of an era.

Benjamin Britten’s shattering chamber opera explores some of the darkest drives in the human psyche – and what happens when power and war give them free rein. In this contemporary new staging, Oliver Mears directs, while Corinna Niemeyer conducts a cast drawn from the Britten Pears Young Artist Programme and the Jette Parker Artists Programme.

Throughout the autumn, we will be exploring aspects of this production and its wider context in a series of talks and presentations online. Keep your eye on the website for more details.

A co-production by Britten Pears Arts and The Royal Opera House.

In a world brutalised by conflict, one woman’s experience of horrific violence becomes the defining moment of an era.

Benjamin Britten’s shattering chamber opera explores some of the darkest drives in the human psyche – and what happens when power and war give them free rein. In this contemporary new staging, Oliver Mears directs, while Corinna Niemeyer conducts a cast drawn from the Britten Pears Young Artist Programme and the Jette Parker Artists Programme.

Throughout the autumn, we will be exploring aspects of this production and its wider context in a series of talks and presentations online. Keep your eye on the website for more details.

A co-production by Britten Pears Arts and The Royal Opera House.

In a world brutalised by conflict, one woman’s experience of horrific violence becomes the defining moment of an era.

Benjamin Britten’s shattering chamber opera explores some of the darkest drives in the human psyche – and what happens when power and war give them free rein. In this contemporary new staging, Oliver Mears directs, while Corinna Niemeyer conducts a cast drawn from the Britten Pears Young Artist Programme and the Jette Parker Artists Programme.

Throughout the autumn, we will be exploring aspects of this production and its wider context in a series of talks and presentations online. Keep your eye on the website for more details.

A co-production by Britten Pears Arts and The Royal Opera House.

In a world brutalised by conflict, one woman’s experience of horrific violence becomes the defining moment of an era.

Benjamin Britten’s shattering chamber opera explores some of the darkest drives in the human psyche – and what happens when power and war give them free rein. In this contemporary new staging, Oliver Mears directs, while Corinna Niemeyer conducts a cast drawn from the Britten Pears Young Artist Programme and the Jette Parker Artists Programme.

Throughout the autumn, we will be exploring aspects of this production and its wider context in a series of talks and presentations online. Keep your eye on the website for more details.

Presented for the Art Deco Festival, Festival Opera proudly presents W A Mozart’s masterpiece, The Magic Flute (Die Zauberflöte). Sung in German with English dialogues and accompanied by a live orchestra. Presented by Festival Opera – 14,16,18 and 20 February 2023 at the Napier Municipal Theatre.

Kieran makes his first return to NZ in three years to play Papageno in Mozart’s The Magic Flute for Festival Opera in beautiful Napier, Hawke’s Bay. Joined by a strong cast of established singers and up-and-coming talent, this entertaining and energetic show is not to be missed!

One year on from the original planned season, we can finally step into the fairy-tale world of Mozart’s triumphant last opera The Magic Flute (Die Zauberflöte). It’s crammed full of entertaining characters who are motivated by passion or by hate, but all in search of the ultimate truth.

Danger, magic, tests of integrity, and actions both honourable and foul sweep us up into an enchanting tale where nothing is quite as it seems. This celebrated opera is widely believed to be one of the most magically heart-stopping compositions ever written, featuring many recognisable melodies that have stood the test of time. In our 2023 season, the work is performed by Aotearoa’s finest operatic talent.

Principal Stage Director John Wilkie and Conductor José Aparicio will lead an outstanding cast headlined by Aotearoa’s most promising young tenor, NZ Aria Winner, Lexus Song Quest Finalist and Project Prima Volta graduate, Emmanuel Fonoti-Fuimaono, who takes the role of Tamino. He shares the stage with many other PPV graduates, and established professionals including Emma Pearson who debuts with Festival Opera performing the role of Pamina, Baritone Kieran Rayner who returns to Festival Opera to sing Papageno and Mezzo-Soprano Kirstin Darragh, also in her debut with Festival Opera, singing the role of Third Lady.

The fully staged opera will also feature the Festival Opera Junior Chorus and PPV Senior members.

Project Prima Volta’s participation in The Magic Flute is made possible through the generous support of the Dame Malvina Major Foundation.

Presented for the Art Deco Festival, Festival Opera proudly presents W A Mozart’s masterpiece, The Magic Flute (Die Zauberflöte). Sung in German with English dialogues and accompanied by a live orchestra. Presented by Festival Opera – 14,16,18 and 20 February 2023 at the Napier Municipal Theatre.

Kieran makes his first return to NZ in three years to play Papageno in Mozart’s The Magic Flute for Festival Opera in beautiful Napier, Hawke’s Bay. Joined by a strong cast of established singers and up-and-coming talent, this entertaining and energetic show is not to be missed!

One year on from the original planned season, we can finally step into the fairy-tale world of Mozart’s triumphant last opera The Magic Flute (Die Zauberflöte). It’s crammed full of entertaining characters who are motivated by passion or by hate, but all in search of the ultimate truth.

Danger, magic, tests of integrity, and actions both honourable and foul sweep us up into an enchanting tale where nothing is quite as it seems. This celebrated opera is widely believed to be one of the most magically heart-stopping compositions ever written, featuring many recognisable melodies that have stood the test of time. In our 2023 season, the work is performed by Aotearoa’s finest operatic talent.

Principal Stage Director John Wilkie and Conductor José Aparicio will lead an outstanding cast headlined by Aotearoa’s most promising young tenor, NZ Aria Winner, Lexus Song Quest Finalist and Project Prima Volta graduate, Emmanuel Fonoti-Fuimaono, who takes the role of Tamino. He shares the stage with many other PPV graduates, and established professionals including Emma Pearson who debuts with Festival Opera performing the role of Pamina, Baritone Kieran Rayner who returns to Festival Opera to sing Papageno and Mezzo-Soprano Kirstin Darragh, also in her debut with Festival Opera, singing the role of Third Lady.

The fully staged opera will also feature the Festival Opera Junior Chorus and PPV Senior members.

Project Prima Volta’s participation in The Magic Flute is made possible through the generous support of the Dame Malvina Major Foundation.

Presented for the Art Deco Festival, Festival Opera proudly presents W A Mozart’s masterpiece, The Magic Flute (Die Zauberflöte). Sung in German with English dialogues and accompanied by a live orchestra. Presented by Festival Opera – 14,16,18 and 20 February 2023 at the Napier Municipal Theatre.

Kieran makes his first return to NZ in three years to play Papageno in Mozart’s The Magic Flute for Festival Opera in beautiful Napier, Hawke’s Bay. Joined by a strong cast of established singers and up-and-coming talent, this entertaining and energetic show is not to be missed!

One year on from the original planned season, we can finally step into the fairy-tale world of Mozart’s triumphant last opera The Magic Flute (Die Zauberflöte). It’s crammed full of entertaining characters who are motivated by passion or by hate, but all in search of the ultimate truth.

Danger, magic, tests of integrity, and actions both honourable and foul sweep us up into an enchanting tale where nothing is quite as it seems. This celebrated opera is widely believed to be one of the most magically heart-stopping compositions ever written, featuring many recognisable melodies that have stood the test of time. In our 2023 season, the work is performed by Aotearoa’s finest operatic talent.

Principal Stage Director John Wilkie and Conductor José Aparicio will lead an outstanding cast headlined by Aotearoa’s most promising young tenor, NZ Aria Winner, Lexus Song Quest Finalist and Project Prima Volta graduate, Emmanuel Fonoti-Fuimaono, who takes the role of Tamino. He shares the stage with many other PPV graduates, and established professionals including Emma Pearson who debuts with Festival Opera performing the role of Pamina, Baritone Kieran Rayner who returns to Festival Opera to sing Papageno and Mezzo-Soprano Kirstin Darragh, also in her debut with Festival Opera, singing the role of Third Lady.

The fully staged opera will also feature the Festival Opera Junior Chorus and PPV Senior members.

Project Prima Volta’s participation in The Magic Flute is made possible through the generous support of the Dame Malvina Major Foundation.

Presented for the Art Deco Festival, Festival Opera proudly presents W A Mozart’s masterpiece, The Magic Flute (Die Zauberflöte). Sung in German with English dialogues and accompanied by a live orchestra. Presented by Festival Opera – 14,16,18 and 20 February 2023 at the Napier Municipal Theatre.

Kieran makes his first return to NZ in three years to play Papageno in Mozart’s The Magic Flute for Festival Opera in beautiful Napier, Hawke’s Bay. Joined by a strong cast of established singers and up-and-coming talent, this entertaining and energetic show is not to be missed!

One year on from the original planned season, we can finally step into the fairy-tale world of Mozart’s triumphant last opera The Magic Flute (Die Zauberflöte). It’s crammed full of entertaining characters who are motivated by passion or by hate, but all in search of the ultimate truth.

Danger, magic, tests of integrity, and actions both honourable and foul sweep us up into an enchanting tale where nothing is quite as it seems. This celebrated opera is widely believed to be one of the most magically heart-stopping compositions ever written, featuring many recognisable melodies that have stood the test of time. In our 2023 season, the work is performed by Aotearoa’s finest operatic talent.

Principal Stage Director John Wilkie and Conductor José Aparicio will lead an outstanding cast headlined by Aotearoa’s most promising young tenor, NZ Aria Winner, Lexus Song Quest Finalist and Project Prima Volta graduate, Emmanuel Fonoti-Fuimaono, who takes the role of Tamino. He shares the stage with many other PPV graduates, and established professionals including Emma Pearson who debuts with Festival Opera performing the role of Pamina, Baritone Kieran Rayner who returns to Festival Opera to sing Papageno and Mezzo-Soprano Kirstin Darragh, also in her debut with Festival Opera, singing the role of Third Lady.

The fully staged opera will also feature the Festival Opera Junior Chorus and PPV Senior members.

Project Prima Volta’s participation in The Magic Flute is made possible through the generous support of the Dame Malvina Major Foundation.

Join the critically acclaimed London Oriana Choir under Musical Director Dominic Peckham, The Meridian Sinfonia and an array of international soloists for Bach’s masterpiece as we look toward Eastertide.

Siân Dicker: soprano

Lotte Betts-Dean: mezzo-soprano

Will Wright: tenor

Kieran Rayner: bass

Peter Kirk: Evangelist

As winner of the 2022 Sing Finzi competition, Kieran will perform Finzi’s major song cycle Before and After Summer, a collection of Hardy poems centring around love, loss and reminiscence, as well as an exciting Judith Weir cycle The Voice of Desire. Joined by Krystal Tunnicliffe on the piano, and Sing Finzi runner-up Siân Dicker.

St Laurence’s Church

Siân Dicker soprano
Kieran Rayner baritone
Krystal Tunnicliffe piano

Gerald Finzi  Til Earth outwears
Judith Weir  The Voice of Desire
Edward Rushton  From Katherine Mansfield’s Diary (Premiere)
Gerald Finzi  Before and after Summer