Role: The Blacksmith
Saffron Hall, Saffron Walden, Essex
A mysterious knight must save Saffron Walden from a terrible basilisk, but nothing is quite as it seems. Five centuries of local history collide in Saffron Hall and Saffron Walden County’s spectacular new opera production performed with young people from eight schools, alongside professional singers and instrumentalists.
Philip Sunderland musical director
Anna Moorhouse director
Sue Raven choreographer
Role: The Blacksmith
Saffron Hall, Saffron Walden, Essex
A mysterious knight must save Saffron Walden from a terrible basilisk, but nothing is quite as it seems. Five centuries of local history collide in Saffron Hall and Saffron Walden County’s spectacular new opera production performed with young people from eight schools, alongside professional singers and instrumentalists.
Philip Sunderland musical director
Anna Moorhouse director
Sue Raven choreographer
Role: The Blacksmith
Saffron Hall, Saffron Walden, Essex
A mysterious knight must save Saffron Walden from a terrible basilisk, but nothing is quite as it seems. Five centuries of local history collide in Saffron Hall and Saffron Walden County’s spectacular new opera production performed with young people from eight schools, alongside professional singers and instrumentalists.
Philip Sunderland musical director
Anna Moorhouse director
Sue Raven choreographer
Role: The Blacksmith
Saffron Hall, Saffron Walden, Essex
A mysterious knight must save Saffron Walden from a terrible basilisk, but nothing is quite as it seems. Five centuries of local history collide in Saffron Hall and Saffron Walden County’s spectacular new opera production performed with young people from eight schools, alongside professional singers and instrumentalists.
Philip Sunderland musical director
Anna Moorhouse director
Sue Raven choreographer

Baritone soloist
Amaryllis Fleming Concert Hall, Royal College of Music, London
Vladimir Jurowski conductor
Katie Coventry mezzo-soprano
Peter Aisher tenor
Kieran Rayner baritone
RCM Symphony Orchestra
R Strauss Le bourgeois gentilhomme op 60
Stravinsky Pulcinella
2016 Rod Williams Memorial Concert
Principal conductor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra Vladimir Jurowski returns to the RCM for Stravinsky’s lively ballet music Pulcinella. Featuring the exceptional voices of RCM singers Katie Coventry, Peter Aisher and Kieran Rayner, the RCM Symphony Orchestra brings to life the tale of the eponymous ladies’ man.
Pre-concert talk: Join RCM professor Pande Shahov for an introduction to the evening’s concert at 6.30pm.
This event will be streamed live online at www.rcm.ac.uk/live

Benjamien Lycke (music) / Mien Bogaert (words): Stream of Consciousness, Sea of Blood
Role: The President
Alex Paxton (music and words): Bel and the Dragon
Role: The King
Kenichi Ikuno Sekiguchi (music and words): 76 Days
Role: Fear
Lionel Friend coductor
Bill Bankes-Jones director
Sarah Booth designer
Following the success of Hogarth’s Stages in 2014, don’t miss this opportunity to hear a series of six brand-new mini operas created by RCM composers and performed by outstanding RCM singers.
Based on the theme of crime and punishment, marking 150 years since the publication of Dostoyevsky’s famous novel, each opera packs a punch in just fifteen minutes.
We are fortunate to welcome both Bill Bankes-Jones, inspirational founder of Tête à Tête, and Lionel Friend, celebrated conductor and Musical Director of British Youth Opera, to help us bring these daring contemporary new interpretations to life on the Britten Theatre stage.
Produced by the Royal College of Music in association with Tête à Tête
Please note that some of the operas contain adult themes

Benjamien Lycke (music) / Mien Bogaert (words): Stream of Consciousness, Sea of Blood
Role: The President
Alex Paxton (music and words): Bel and the Dragon
Role: The King
Kenichi Ikuno Sekiguchi (music and words): 76 Days
Role: Fear
Lionel Friend coductor
Bill Bankes-Jones director
Sarah Booth designer
Following the success of Hogarth’s Stages in 2014, don’t miss this opportunity to hear a series of six brand-new mini operas created by RCM composers and performed by outstanding RCM singers.
Based on the theme of crime and punishment, marking 150 years since the publication of Dostoyevsky’s famous novel, each opera packs a punch in just fifteen minutes.
We are fortunate to welcome both Bill Bankes-Jones, inspirational founder of Tête à Tête, and Lionel Friend, celebrated conductor and Musical Director of British Youth Opera, to help us bring these daring contemporary new interpretations to life on the Britten Theatre stage.
Produced by the Royal College of Music in association with Tête à Tête
Please note that some of the operas contain adult themes

Please join me for my final Masters of Performance recital at the RCM, the culmination of 2 years of study! Joining me will be the excellent Leanne Singh-Levett (piano) and Laura Balboa (violin). It will be in the Recital Hall, 5pm Tuesday 7 June – as it is an exam, please do arrive a little early if you can.
Alongside some of my current favourite songs and arias, the recital will also feature a piece by RCM composition graduate and fellow Kiwi Andrew Baldwin, a hauntingly beautiful musical setting of a letter home from an ANZAC soldier during World War I. Andrew’s piece was one of the winners of the Gallipoli Songs Competition in 2014, to mark the centenary of WWI – do come along to hear our rendition of it.
Hope to see you there!
Kieran Rayner Baritone
Leanne Singh-Levett Piano
Laura Balboa Garcia Violin
Dreams, Visions, and Restless Nights
Restless, Relentless Lovers
Handel – Tu sei il cor (Giulio Cesare)
Donizetti – Come Paride vezzoso (L’Elisir D’Amore)
Sleep, Perchance to Dream
Trad. – Hine E Hine
Bennett – The Mouse & the Bumblebee
SHORT INTERVAL
Eternal Rest
Andrew Baldwin – Dawn, May 11 1915 (with Laura Balboa, Violin)
Mendelssohn – For the mountains shall depart (Elijah)
Finzi – Channel Firing
Lost in Dreams
Korngold – Mein Sehnen, mein Wähnen (Die Tote Stadt)
Massenet – Vision Fugitive (Hérodiade)
Repertoire:
Barber – Dover Beach
Butterworth – Love Blows as the Wind Blows
Performed with string quartet
St. Anne’s Church, Lewes, East Sussex
Three singers from the Royal College of Music collaborate with the wonderful string players of Ensemble Reza (www.ensemblereza.com), in a programme of Holst, Vaughan Williams, Barber, Rebecca Clarke and Butterworth, including Dover Beach and On Wenlock Edge.

British Youth Opera: English Eccentrics
By Malcolm Williamson
Libretto by Geoffrey Dunn based on the book by Edith Sitwell
Roles: Dr Katterfelto, Lord Rokeby, Alderman Birch, Lord Rothschild, Mr Worrall and Etienne
In this rarely performed chamber piece we meet hermits, quacks, mariners, indefatigable travellers, and men of learning. Peopled with – as the title suggests – the most absurd of English eccentricity, this is a glorious gallery of the extremes of human nature, portrayed with humour, sympathy, knowledge, and love.

British Youth Opera: English Eccentrics
By Malcolm Williamson
Libretto by Geoffrey Dunn based on the book by Edith Sitwell
Roles: Dr Katterfelto, Lord Rokeby, Alderman Birch, Lord Rothschild, Mr Worrall and Etienne
In this rarely performed chamber piece we meet hermits, quacks, mariners, indefatigable travellers, and men of learning. Peopled with – as the title suggests – the most absurd of English eccentricity, this is a glorious gallery of the extremes of human nature, portrayed with humour, sympathy, knowledge, and love.

Kieran Rayner – Baritone
Lucy Colquhoun – Piano
Franz Schubert (1797 – 1828)
Gesänge des Harfners (D478)
1. Wer sich der Einsamkeit ergibt
2. Wer nie sein Brot mit Tränen aß
3. An die Türen will ich schleichen
Der Musensohn (D764)
Ganymed (D544)
Wanderers Nachtlied II (D768)
Willkommen und Abschied (D767)
Kieran and Lucy will perform a recital of Schubert songs with Goethe texts, centred around the moving 3-song cycle Gesänge des Harfners (The Harpist’s songs).
https://www.oxfordlieder.co.uk/event/663
Role: Nardo
The Royal College of Music International Opera School presents Mozart’s early comic opera La finta giardiniera, sung in Italian and conducted by Michael Rosewell.
http://www.rcm.ac.uk/events/seasonhighlights/giardiniera/
Role: Nardo
The Royal College of Music International Opera School presents Mozart’s early comic opera La finta giardiniera, sung in Italian and conducted by Michael Rosewell.
http://www.rcm.ac.uk/events/seasonhighlights/giardiniera/
The London Handel Festival in conjunction with the Royal College of Music International Opera School present Handel’s early opera, Faramondo. Kieran will play Gustavo, the main baritone role.
Britten Theatre, Royal College of Music, London
Conductor: Laurence Cummings
Director: William Relton
The London Handel Festival in conjunction with the Royal College of Music International Opera School present Handel’s early opera, Faramondo. Kieran will play Gustavo, the main baritone role.
Britten Theatre, Royal College of Music, London
Conductor: Laurence Cummings
Director: William Relton
Kieran Rayner – Baritone
Lucy Colquhoun – Piano
Kieran will sing an afternoon concert of operatic arias, in one of the smaller rooms at the prestigious Royal Albert Hall. Join him for afternoon tea and some gorgeous music! More details, including programme, to follow.
The Royal College of Music International Opera School presents a hilarious French comedy double bill: Chabrier’s Une Éducation Manquée and Poulenc’s Les Mamelles de Tirésias.
Kieran will play three roles:
Le Mari (Poulenc lead role) on 30 June / 4 July
Pausanias (Chabrier) and Le Directeur (Poulenc) on 28 June / 3 July
Britten Theatre, Royal College of Music, London
Conductor: Michael Rosewell
Director: Stephen Unwin
The Royal College of Music International Opera School presents a hilarious French comedy double bill: Chabrier’s Une Éducation Manquée and Poulenc’s Les Mamelles de Tirésias.
Kieran will play three roles:
Le Mari (Poulenc lead role) on 30 June / 4 July
Pausanias (Chabrier) and Le Directeur (Poulenc) on 28 June / 3 July
Britten Theatre, Royal College of Music, London
Conductor: Michael Rosewell
Director: Stephen Unwin
The Royal College of Music International Opera School presents a hilarious French comedy double bill: Chabrier’s Une Éducation Manquée and Poulenc’s Les Mamelles de Tirésias.
Kieran will play three roles:
Le Mari (Poulenc lead role) on 30 June / 4 July
Pausanias (Chabrier) and Le Directeur (Poulenc) on 28 June / 3 July
Britten Theatre, Royal College of Music, London
Conductor: Michael Rosewell
Director: Stephen Unwin
The Royal College of Music International Opera School presents a hilarious French comedy double bill: Chabrier’s Une Éducation Manquée and Poulenc’s Les Mamelles de Tirésias.
Kieran will play three roles:
Le Mari (Poulenc lead role) on 30 June / 4 July
Pausanias (Chabrier) and Le Directeur (Poulenc) on 28 June / 3 July
Britten Theatre, Royal College of Music, London
Conductor: Michael Rosewell
Director: Stephen Unwin
Kieran Rayner will be featuring as the Forester in The RCM International Opera School’s autumn production of Janáček’s tragi-comic opera The Cunning Little Vixen.
Michael Rosewell conductor
Daniel Slater director
Alex Berry designer
Hannah Wolfe costume designer
Janáček The Cunning Little Vixen
English translation by Norman Tucker
An enchanted forest comes to life in a wooded glen on a summer afternoon. A clever Vixen is captured by a Forester, but she outwits him and escapes. As the story unfolds, she encounters many woodland animals along the way before finding love with a Fox and having cubs of her own. But her dealings with the Forester are far from over – he sets a trap, but then realises the splendour of nature all around him in a life-affirming final scene.
Exploring the cycles of life and nature, Janáček combines dance, folk music and sensuous orchestral interludes in this beguiling and thought-provoking opera.
Tickets: £10, £20, £30, £40, £50
Kieran Rayner will be featuring as the Forester in The RCM International Opera School’s autumn production of Janáček’s tragi-comic opera The Cunning Little Vixen.
Michael Rosewell conductor
Daniel Slater director
Alex Berry designer
Hannah Wolfe costume designer
Janáček The Cunning Little Vixen
English translation by Norman Tucker
An enchanted forest comes to life in a wooded glen on a summer afternoon. A clever Vixen is captured by a Forester, but she outwits him and escapes. As the story unfolds, she encounters many woodland animals along the way before finding love with a Fox and having cubs of her own. But her dealings with the Forester are far from over – he sets a trap, but then realises the splendour of nature all around him in a life-affirming final scene.
Exploring the cycles of life and nature, Janáček combines dance, folk music and sensuous orchestral interludes in this beguiling and thought-provoking opera.
Tickets: £10, £20, £30, £40, £50
Kieran Rayner will be featuring as the Forester in The RCM International Opera School’s autumn production of Janáček’s tragi-comic opera The Cunning Little Vixen.
Michael Rosewell conductor
Daniel Slater director
Alex Berry designer
Hannah Wolfe costume designer
Janáček The Cunning Little Vixen
English translation by Norman Tucker
An enchanted forest comes to life in a wooded glen on a summer afternoon. A clever Vixen is captured by a Forester, but she outwits him and escapes. As the story unfolds, she encounters many woodland animals along the way before finding love with a Fox and having cubs of her own. But her dealings with the Forester are far from over – he sets a trap, but then realises the splendour of nature all around him in a life-affirming final scene.
Exploring the cycles of life and nature, Janáček combines dance, folk music and sensuous orchestral interludes in this beguiling and thought-provoking opera.
Tickets: £10, £20, £30, £40, £50
Kieran Rayner will be featuring as the Forester in The RCM International Opera School’s autumn production of Janáček’s tragi-comic opera The Cunning Little Vixen.
Michael Rosewell conductor
Daniel Slater director
Alex Berry designer
Hannah Wolfe costume designer
Janáček The Cunning Little Vixen
English translation by Norman Tucker
An enchanted forest comes to life in a wooded glen on a summer afternoon. A clever Vixen is captured by a Forester, but she outwits him and escapes. As the story unfolds, she encounters many woodland animals along the way before finding love with a Fox and having cubs of her own. But her dealings with the Forester are far from over – he sets a trap, but then realises the splendour of nature all around him in a life-affirming final scene.
Exploring the cycles of life and nature, Janáček combines dance, folk music and sensuous orchestral interludes in this beguiling and thought-provoking opera.
Tickets: £10, £20, £30, £40, £50
Samling Masterclass and Concert
Saturday 9 December 2017
1.30pm – 4.30pm and 5.15pm – 6.00pm
Sage Two, Sage Gateshead
Led by internationally renowned soprano Joan Rodgers CBE, Italian baritone Claudio Desderi and award-winning pianist James Baillieu, the climax of Samling’s prestigious Artist Programme week sees eight new Samling Artists share what they have learned in masterclass followed by a short concert.
Louise Fuller, soprano
Claire Lees, soprano
Gemma Summerfield, soprano
Olivia Warburton, mezzo-soprano
Kieran Rayner, baritone
Benson Wilson, baritone
Alastair Chivers, piano
Adam McDonagh, piano
Samling Masterclass and Concert
Saturday 9 December 2017
1.30pm – 4.30pm and 5.15pm – 6.00pm
Sage Two, Sage Gateshead
Led by internationally renowned soprano Joan Rodgers CBE, Italian baritone Claudio Desderi and award-winning pianist James Baillieu, the climax of Samling’s prestigious Artist Programme week sees eight new Samling Artists share what they have learned in masterclass followed by a short concert.
Louise Fuller, soprano
Claire Lees, soprano
Catriona Hewitson, soprano
Olivia Warburton, mezzo-soprano
Kieran Rayner, baritone
Benson Wilson, baritone
Alastair Chivers, piano
Adam McDonagh, piano
Kieran will be singing solos in this year’s Christmas Gala Concert for the Josephine Baker Trust, which organises and supports hundreds of oratorio and choral concerts all around the UK every year.
More details to follow.
Kieran Rayner will be featuring as Demetrius in The RCM International Opera School’s spring production of Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
Michael Rosewell conductor
Liam Steel director
Tickets: £10, £20, £30, £40, £50
Kieran Rayner will be featuring as Demetrius in The RCM International Opera School’s spring production of Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
Michael Rosewell conductor
Liam Steel director
Tickets: £10, £20, £30, £40, £50
Alvarez Young Artist with Garsington Opera
As an Alvarez Young Artist, Kieran will play the following roles in Garsington Opera’s upcoming 2018 season:
Diener: Strauss Capriccio
Remo (cover) & Young Honeymooner: David Sawer The Skating Rink
Chorus: Mozart Die Zauberflöte
Alvarez Young Artist with Garsington Opera
As an Alvarez Young Artist, Kieran will play the following roles in Garsington Opera’s upcoming 2018 season:
Diener: Strauss Capriccio
Remo (cover) & Young Honeymooner: David Sawer The Skating Rink
Chorus: Mozart Die Zauberflöte
Alvarez Young Artist with Garsington Opera
As an Alvarez Young Artist, Kieran will play the following roles in Garsington Opera’s upcoming 2018 season:
Diener: Strauss Capriccio
Remo (cover) & Young Honeymooner: David Sawer The Skating Rink
Chorus: Mozart Die Zauberflöte
Alvarez Young Artist with Garsington Opera
As an Alvarez Young Artist, Kieran will play the following roles in Garsington Opera’s upcoming 2018 season:
Diener: Strauss Capriccio
Remo (cover) & Young Honeymooner: David Sawer The Skating Rink
Chorus: Mozart Die Zauberflöte
Alvarez Young Artist with Garsington Opera
As an Alvarez Young Artist, Kieran will play the following roles in Garsington Opera’s upcoming 2018 season:
Diener: Strauss Capriccio
Remo (cover) & Young Honeymooner: David Sawer The Skating Rink
Chorus: Mozart Die Zauberflöte
Alvarez Young Artist with Garsington Opera
As an Alvarez Young Artist, Kieran will play the following roles in Garsington Opera’s upcoming 2018 season:
Diener: Strauss Capriccio
Remo (cover) & Young Honeymooner: David Sawer The Skating Rink
Chorus: Mozart Die Zauberflöte
Alvarez Young Artist with Garsington Opera
As an Alvarez Young Artist, Kieran will play the following roles in Garsington Opera’s upcoming 2018 season:
Diener: Strauss Capriccio
Remo (cover) & Young Honeymooner: David Sawer The Skating Rink
Chorus: Mozart Die Zauberflöte
Alvarez Young Artist with Garsington Opera
As an Alvarez Young Artist, Kieran will play the following roles in Garsington Opera’s upcoming 2018 season:
Diener: Strauss Capriccio
Remo (cover) & Young Honeymooner: David Sawer The Skating Rink
Chorus: Mozart Die Zauberflöte