Silver Birch programme

SILVER BIRCH WORLD PREMIERE PERFORMANCES

28 | 29 | 30 July 2017 7.30pm

WELCOME

to the world premiere performances of Silver Birch.

In my previous life as an oboist I commissioned Roxanna Panufnik to write for me.

She produced a remarkable work, Letters from Burma, inspired by the life of Aung San Suu Kyi which led me to invite her to compose a large-scale piece for Garsington Opera.

The Creative team also includes Jessica Duchen, whose libretto is moving and powerful, and our charismatic Creative Director of Learning & Participation, Karen Gillingham, as director. With other members of the team they have produced an extraordinary work that involves over 180 performers on the stage and in the pit, from local schools and the community, working alongside professional soloists, Pinewood Studios Group and our own Garsington Opera Orchestra.

The rehearsal process has been an inspiration, not least witnessing the engagement and commitment of our huge cast, most of whom have never been on a stage before.

These are potentially life-changing opportunities and highlight the amazing work that our Learning & Participation team does throughout the year, touching hundreds of people. This is crucial to the ethos and development of Garsington Opera. We have all given the same commitment and professionalism to Silver Birch as all our main stage productions and I am proud to be conducting these performances in collaboration with such wonderful people.

Finally I would like to thank BBC Arts Digital for their involvement in this project and all our supporters without whom this opera would not have been possible.

Douglas Boyd, Artistic Director

This project is generously supported by: Arts Council England The Belvedere Trust The Garfield Weston Foundation Helen Hamlyn Trust Old Possum’s Practical Trust PF Charitable Trust Rothschild Foundation The Steel Charitable Trust La Fondation Terrévent Four anonymous donors and Julia Abel Smith, The Ambache Charitable Trust, The Behrens Foundation, The Bergqvist Charitable Trust, Celia and Andrew Curran, The David Laing Foundation, Frédéric de Mevius, Anonymous for Sam Furness, The D’Oyly Carte Charitable Trust, The Drapers’ Charitable Fund, J Paul Getty Jnr Charitable Trust, The Juniper Trust, The Leonard Ingrams Foundation, Brian G Muirhead, Spencer Hart Charitable Trust, One anonymous donor.

Silver Birch was commissioned by Garsington Opera.

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28 | 29 | 30 July 2017 7.30pm

SILVERAN OPERABIRCH IN ONE ACT

Music Roxanna Panufnik Libretto Jessica Duchen Additional text Siegfried Sassoon Anna Jack’s mother Victoria Simmonds Simon Jack’s father Darren Jeffery Mrs Morrell Jack’s teacher Sarah Redgwick Siegfried Sassoon a ghostly presence Bradley Travis Jack Sam Furness Davey Jack’s brother James Way Leo Jack’s brother Sacha Smith*, William Saint** Chloe Jack’s sister Maia Greaves*, Katya Harlan** Jack age one Imogen Whelan†, Finlay Hawkins‡ Director Karen Gillingham Conductor Douglas Boyd Designer Rhiannon Newman Brown Lighting designer Rob Casey Movement director Natasha Khamjani Video design Mischa Ying Sound design Glen Gathard and Foley artists from Pinewood Studios Group Assistant conductor Jack Ridley Vocal director Suzi Zumpe Sound and music consultant Jem Panufnik Repetiteurs James Longford, Emily Leather

Garsington Opera Orchestra, student instrumentalists and Foley artists Garsington Opera Adult, Military, Youth and Primary Companies Licensed by arrangement with Peters Edition Limited, London Poems by Siegfried Sassoon reprinted by kind permission of the Estate of George Sassoon

There will be no interval *29 July **28 & 30 July † 28 & 29 July ‡ 30 July

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PRIMARY COMPANY CHALGROVE COMMUNITY PRIMARY SCHOOL Bradley Douglas Alex Douglas Miya Jacobs Alex Read Ariane Richards

LANE END PRIMARY SCHOOL Daniel Bangs Eloise Bangs Arjun Bellur Keira Bird Rowena Linnane Oliver Malonney

FRIETH CE PRIMARY SCHOOL Ottoline Agan Ava Ainsworth Jack Clark Eleanor Gowers Emma Lumley Chloe Roberts Molly Saunders Sacha Smith Charlotte Tedder Bertie Trevelyan

MILLBROOK COMBINED SCHOOL Malakhi Allick Edward Bull Emily Burges Kelis Markwell Mary Rafferty Harry Rouse Zach Semmens

HOLY TRINITY CE (A) SCHOOL James Bourne Keira Brennan Elissa Davis Bethany Evans Harriet Evans Rebecca Hale Nicole Killington Ella Papageorgiou Kayleen Powis-Wallen Ruby Qureshi

ST. AMAND’S CATHOLIC PRIMARY SCHOOL Sebastian von Wenden STOKENCHURCH PRIMARY SCHOOL Ruby Durden Sofia Herrero Isabella Morrissey Alexandra Pitt Jessica Porteous Lucas Pyper William Saint James Thompson

YOUTH COMPANY

FOLEY COMPANY

Calum Brand Elana Brand Becky Buxton Giorgio Caldesi Emily Case Immy Creed Matthew Daly James Dexter Kashaf Ghauri Annabel Gracey Devon Grimsdell Rhys Hancock Hailey Hepburn Izzy Higgs Harmony Hill Ellie Jones Archie Knowles Libby Lapthorne Beth Lewin Tom Lidgley Hannah McGuinness Fiona Macrae Sophie Maynard Morgen Michel Nikola Milkiewicz Emily Sampson Vitalijs Strelcuks Anya Whittaker

Jade Furer Toby Knowles Cameron Mutch James Pang Matty Scholey Harry Weedon

DANCERS James Ashton Amy Croall Oliver Gordon Ellen Macrae Sarune Oganauskaite Joshua Wilberforce Courtney Williams

“The more I work in the world of opera the more I fall in love with it.”

Natasha Khamjani, Movement Director

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ADULT AND MILITARY COMMUNITY COMPANY Joanna Bains Josephine Biss Lisa Bennett Michael Bennett Kiera Bentley Phil Birtles Sheila Bristow Wendy Brand Frank Brooks Georgie Brooks Stephen Bucknill Helen Burns David Cairns Paul Clare Sam Crockford David Danson Luke Deacon Luke Delahunty Charlotte Dennis Caroline Dix Amanda DrakeBrockman Beverley Evans Stephen Fletcher Sue Hammond Caryl Haxworth Cate Holloway Mary-Anne Howlin

Kate Hussey Ben Keene Judy Knowles Johnny Langridge Andrew McDonald Emily McLeish Rod Macrae Angela McTavish Paula Moyes Judith Newenham Kate Paterson Sue Price Liz Ramage David Redhouse Alison Rogers Marion Saint Catherine Saker Becky Saunders Ute Scrace Jen Swallow Caroline Swanborough Scott Thompson Silvana Turner Topsy Turner Daniella Varadi Amy Whelan Tim Williams

“I have loved everything about being in Silver Birch, especially learning the actions and trying on the costumes!” Maia Greaves, Chloe

“I have not really sung since leaving school and I am spurred on to carry on singing and join a local choir or acapella group somewhere once this project is finished!”

Liz Ramage, Adult Company

“It gives children a chance to experience performing and acting so they can see if they want to pursue it as a profession.”

Sacha Smith, Leo

“The commitment shown by all the groups participating has been amazing.”

James Longford, Repetiteur

“This project seems to have covered every gamut of emotions. It’s been a hugely joyous process and I hope you’ll feel this in the more celebratory scenes.”

Roxanna Panufnik, Composer

“It is an honour and thrill to be contributing towards Roxanna’s amazing score.”

Jem Panufnik, Sound and Music Consultant

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SYNOPSIS

Anna and Simon plant a silver birch to grow up alongside their children. But later, when Jack and Davey join the army to prove their strength, devastating experiences await the entire family. Spring restores a weather-beaten tree, but can their damaged bonds of love sustain them all through the impact of war?

GARSINGTON OPERA ORCHESTRA The Garsington Opera Orchestra is integral to the artistic core of the company. It has excelled in performances and styles ranging from Mozart to Tchaikovsky and Britten.

Over the past few years Garsington Opera has collaborated with Aylesbury Music Centre and Buckinghamshire Learning Trust Music to provide a team of young instrumentalists to perform alongside our Youth Opera Company during their summer workshops. The group also includes players from other local partners including Chiltern Music Academy and, from further afield students from the Royal College of Music Junior Department. Roxanna Panufnik has written specific parts for the students to play alongside the professionals in the pit and for many this will be their first experience of performing a professional opera.

Flute/Piccolo Julian Sperry, Elena Stamp* Oboe/Cor Alun Darbyshire Clarinet Douglas Mitchell, Jenny Savage*, Sarah White* Bassoon/Contra Philip Gibbon Horn Hugh Sisley Trumpet Tim Hawes Bass Trombone Ian Fasham Percussion Cameron Sinclair, Tom Bonsall*, Hugh Laughton* Harp Sue Blair Violin I Robert Salter, Clare Hayes, Jenny Pang*,

Conor Simpson* Violin II Clare Hoffman, Malu Lin Swayne,

Benjamin Biss*, Imaan Kashin* Viola Zoe Matthews, Chris Pitsillides,

Varun Dinesh* Cello Jane Fenton, Philippa Schofield,

Nina Bernatowicz*, Elizabeth Corbett* Bass Chris West, Nicholas Watt* Piano Susanna Stranders *student instrumentalists

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PART 1 Outside the family’s home on the housing estate.

A pub/bar across the street.

Prologue: Simon and Anna are outside their new home, in love, holding their baby, Jack. Simon has planted a silver birch tree to grow up alongside the child. Their neighbours warn them that nothing can grow in this soil.

Transition: 19 years pass. Anna and Simon have three more children: Davey, Leo and Chloe. The marriage breaks down after Simon loses his job.

The silver birch grows tall and strong. Simon, who was once in the army – but wasn’t tough enough – buries his cap under the tree.

19 years later: The youngsters play football.

Simon challenges Jack for “moping” over poetry (by Siegfried Sassoon). Jack, who works packing parcels, is chief breadwinner for the family. Simon tells Jack he’s useless. Anna protests; she and Simon quarrel. Davey, by contrast, can do no wrong in his father’s eyes. Jack declares he will prove himself by joining the army. Anna and the neighbours try fruitlessly to dissuade him.

Jack loves the war poems of Siegfried Sassoon.

In his imagination he meets his former teacher, Mrs Morrell, who introduced him to poetry, and Sassoon himself – who at first was nicknamed Mad Jack for his daring in World War I. They sing Sassoon’s ‘The Humbled Heart’. Jack imagines stepping into Sassoon’s place.

Jack is about to leave for the army recruitment centre when Davey declares he’s joining up too.

Jack is horrified: how can he look after his brother in the army? Many local teenagers all want to experience the adventure the army seems to offer.

The smaller children are envious. The adults warn there is no reset button on life. Chloe tells Jack that every night she’ll send a kiss to the moon for him to download with the password ‘Silver Birch’.

Everyone encourages the youngsters as they leave – except for Simon, who thinks they have lost their minds.

PART 2 Transition: The young soldiers experience tough training.

An army base in a hot, war-torn place, some months later. Jack writes to Anna, but won’t tell her entirely how hellish the war is. The soldiers peel their boots off their swollen feet after a long day. Post arrives from home: their lifeline. Jack receives a package from Simon, but it’s really for Davey, who’s in another base. By starlight, Jack runs across the desert, thinking of Chloe at home.

He places the parcel by the sleeping Davey and leaves without waking him.

At home: The school playground. The children sing ‘O Soldier, Soldier, Won’t You Marry Me?’ Leo has found Jack’s Siegfried Sassoon book.

The children ask him to read something. He reads out the Declaration Against the War, aided by Siegfried’s spirit. The children grab the book, taunting him about his brothers at war. Leo lashes out. A fight starts. Mrs Morrell, the head teacher, intervenes. Simon becomes aggressive on finding Leo in trouble; Anna pleads that the boy’s world has been turned inside out. Mrs Morrell longs to help them, but has to suspend Leo from school.

They sing from Sassoon’s ‘Glory of Women’.

On the battlefield. The soldiers experience chaos and terror. In the heat of battle, Jack is startled to find Davey is among his company’s reinforcements. Davey is injured by an enemy gunman. Jack chases the gunman and kills him at close range. Then he helps Davey to safety, saving his life.

PART 3 Scene as Part 1.

The soldiers are home: there’s a parade and a street party. Siegfried and Mrs Morrell observe them. Davey is in the parade. Jack arrives late – traumatised by war, haunted by the image of the man he killed to save Davey. Leo and Chloe notice how much he has changed. The silver birch has been lopped.

Simon and the neighbours celebrate the soldiers’ return, playing a drinking game of ‘forfeits’. When Jack refuses to join in, Simon orders him to drink three litres of cider, then – even though Jack has gone through the hell of war – taunts him about not being tough enough. Jack can take no more and is about to assault his father. Davey restrains him. They and their fellow soldiers are trapped in a nightmare, reliving their experiences. Anna intervenes, telling Jack to rely on the strength of her love; after all he has been through, he can’t fall now that he is back.

Jack converses with Siegfried, asking why he returned to war despite having spoken out against it. Siegfried says he had to help his men: he belonged with those whose suffering he shared.

Jack struggles with himself, reflecting on the troubles returning soldiers face, seeking escape through running away, drugs, violence, jail. He has proved his strength at war; can he be strong enough to win his peace?

The neighbours turn on Simon, whose lack of support for Jack is responsible for all this. Simon recognises he has failed his son. Revealing his own ill-fated time in the army, acknowledging he was a hopeless father, he begs forgiveness. Jack says he can’t undo it all now. Anna encourages Jack to stay with them.

But Davey and Jack together decide they must help their ‘brothers’ traumatised by war. They must live with their experiences – but they have learned their own strength and now it’s up to them to make the best of their lives. Sassoon’s ‘Everyone Sang’ blends with the Silver Birch song. Spring will return...but the singing will never be done. The emotional impact of war is the same in the 21st century as it was in World War I.

“I have enjoyed the challenge of learning to sing and act at the same time – it is quite hard!”

William Saint, Leo

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IN IT TOGETHER Some years ago Roxanna Panufnik and I reckoned we would like to team up to write an opera. We cooked up ideas and pitched them.

For each suggestion, though, there were ten obstacles; for every note of hope, a possibly predictable disappointment – such as: “We love it, but next year we’re commissioning John Adams…”.

One day the phone rang: “You’re not going to believe this,” Roxanna told me, “but Garsington just called…”

Writing Silver Birch has been unlike anything else I have done: it has been deeply collaborative on every level. We were asked to create a “people’s opera” for audiences and participants aged 8 to 108, involving professionals, amateurs, children and a connection to Siegfried Sassoon, who was a regular house guest at the original Garsington – only a small challenge, then…! In initial discussions we decided against a purely World War I story, as by summer 2017 there would already have been plenty of such creations. We wanted something different, uniting that history with a look at the impact of war on military families today. My strategy as librettist was to be open and receptive to whatever the process might bring.

And it brought much. First, there was Sassoon: we chose some of his poems to form key structural points of the opera. Then it turned out that in the Garsington Community Chorus is…

Siegfried Sassoon’s great-nephew, Stephen Bucknill (he is singing in the opera). Thanks to him, I was able to meet members of the family who remember Sassoon himself.

I was also fortunate to meet Jay Wheeler, a former Lance Corporal in the Irish Guards, who served on the front line in Iraq in 2003. Jay has been through experiences more extreme than any of us could reasonably imagine – and

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survived to rebuild his life. Rarely has anyone impressed and inspired me so much. Some elements of Jack’s story are based on Jay’s, and we are touched that he has given us his own army number for our hero, Jack, to use.

Teamwork has been equally essential for Roxanna while she composed the music. “I kept photos of the cast around my desk,” she says, “and it has been fantastic to have singers like Darren Jeffery visit me in my ‘shed’ to see what sounds and techniques we could come up with. The most challenging thing has been balance: making sure that the whole score will work for all the many different elements involved.”

Karen Gillingham’s key experience as director has centred on the community chorus and youth company. “Each person has been on an extraordinary journey to get to this point,” she reflects. “Many of them have never done anything like it before.” The ranks of performers – all of whom have been auditioned – include, among others, some armed forces veterans and women from a local refuge for whom participating in the opera has represented a significant step in building confidence and selfesteem.

And the Silver Birch? Early on, Karen and I undertook some schools’ workshops on Sassoon’s poetry and the idea of going to war.

In Lane End Primary School, we asked the children what they would miss were they in that situation. One little boy put up his hand…and said he would miss the silver birch tree in front of his family home, because his parents had planted it as a sapling and watched it grow up.

No symbol could be more perfect. The silver birch grows tall and strong, is battered and damaged, then renewed by the sun in spring...

Jessica Duchen, Librettist, Silver Birch

BIOGRAPHIES Douglas Boyd conductor Douglas is Artistic Director of Garsington Opera and Music Director of the Orchestre de Chambre de Paris. He has conducted Glyndebourne on Tour, Opera North and Zurich Opera in repertoire including Die Zauberflöte, La clemenza di Tito and Salieri’s La grotto di Trofonio. He conducts regularly in Europe, Australia (including a complete cycle of Beethoven symphonies and piano concertos in Melbourne) and North America with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra and Musikkollegium Winterthur (Music Director 20092016). Plans include returns to the Auckland Philharmonic, Tasmania Symphony, West Australian Symphony and North Carolina Symphony Orchestras. Previously for Garsington Opera: Fidelio, Don Giovanni, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, Così fan tutte, Mendelssohn’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream with the RSC, Haydn’s The Creation with Rambert, Eugene Onegin and Le nozze di Figaro.

Rhiannon Newman Brown designer Rhiannon has worked in the theatre, opera and events industry as a Set and Costume Designer, Art Director and Producer. Her set and costume designs include: Apollo et Hyacinthus, Die Schuldigkeit des ersten Gebots (Classical Opera Company); Le nozze di Figaro (Longborough Opera); The Hogboon (LSO The Barbican); Così fan tutte (Royal Northern College of Music); Monster in the Maze (LSO The Barbican); Tarka the Otter

(Two Moors Festival, Exeter Cathedral); The Freedom Game (Surrey Arts, Royal Albert Hall); Road Rage (Garsington Opera); Tamerlano, Così fan tutte and Eugene Onegin (opera by definition); On Off, When I am Old (Glyndebourne Youth Opera).

She has worked for the London 2012 Olympic Ceremonies (Props Production Manager); Secret Cinema and Alice’s Adventures Underground (Art Director); Secret Cinema presents Back to the Future (Producer); Ninth House Creative (Founder and Creative Production Director); and The Cyberscene Project, Theatre Royal Haymarket (Creative Producer).

Rob Casey lighting designer As Lighting Designer: Old Vic Gala (The Brewery); National Theatre Gala (Olivier, National Theatre); Messiah and King Lear (Bristol Old Vic); Ariodante and Giove in Argo (Britten Theatre); Honk! (Guildford School of Acting); I and the Village (Theatre503); Sister Act (Yvonne Arnaud Theatre); The Music Man (ArtsEd). As Associate Lighting Designer for the National Theatre: wonder.land, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time, The Light Princess and James I/II/III. Other Associate Lighting Designer credits include Bat out of Hell, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Peter and Alice and Wolf Hall (West End); Red Shoes, The Phantom of the Opera and Sleeping Beauty (UK/US tour).

Jessica Duchen librettist Jessica’s writing about, for and with music has included

numerous novels, dramatic works and biographies. She was a classical music correspondent for The Independent for 12 years and has written for BBC Music Magazine, The Guardian and The Sunday Times. Silver Birch is her first opera libretto, and she has also worked with Roxanna Panufnik on several choral works. Her latest novel, Ghost Variations, was chosen as Best Read of 2016 by John Suchet in the Daily Mail Christmas Books Choice and three of her novels have been adapted into narrated concerts, popular with music clubs and festivals. Her play A Walk through the End of Time won the Medal of the Town of Saint-Nazaire, where it was premiered.

Sam Furness tenor, Jack Sam has sung major roles in Paris, Florence, Madrid, Santiago and Toulouse. Engagements in the 2017–18 season include his role debut as Flamand in Capriccio (Garsington Opera); Gloriana (Teatro Real Madrid); and Ferrando Così fan tutte (Northern Ireland Opera). He also makes his debut in Finland as Don José Carmen. Previous engagements include title role Albert Herring (Toulouse and Florence); the Novice Billy Budd (Santiago and Madrid); Fidelio and Intermezzo (Garsington Opera); and a recital at the Wigmore Hall.

Glen Gathard sound design Glen is a multi-award winning sound recordist/designer. He has worked for Pinewood Studios for 13 years and been a part of many films such as Harry Potter,

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Avengers: Age of Ultron, Edge of Tomorrow, The Monuments Men, Captain Phillips, Skyfall and Prometheus.

Karen Gillingham director Karen is Creative Director of Garsington Opera’s Learning & Participation and Opera for All programmes and CoArtistic Director of the Royal Opera House’s Youth Opera Company. In addition to Silver Birch she is currently working on A Trip to the Moon at LSO The Barbican. She leads workshops for Garsington Opera, London Symphony Orchestra, ROH, Abu Dhabi Festival, Victoria and Albert Museum and Rosetta Life. Recent directing engagements include: Contagion (a collaboration with University of York); The Hogboon (LSO The Barbican); Beautiful World (Abu Dhabi Festival); Magna Carta – The Freedom Game (Surrey Arts at the Royal Albert Hall); Out of the Ruins (ROH); The Crackle (ROH Linbury).

Maia Greaves soprano, Chloe Maia is 8 and attends Guildford High School. She sings in her junior school choir and has had the lead part in three of her pre-prep school plays. She loves going to Cornwall, playing rounders, listening to music and playing with her sister.

Katya Harlan soprano, Chloe Katya is 9 years old and home-educated which allows her to enjoy the things she loves including singing and making things. Silver Birch is her first opera engagement.

Darren Jeffery bass-baritone, Simon Darren’s diverse range of roles have seen him perform at the Salzburg, Glyndebourne, Aixen-Provence and Garsington Festivals, at the Chicago Lyric Opera and New Israeli Opera. His European performances include La Monnaie, Brussels, Teatro Real, Madrid and his debut at the Bolshoi Theatre, Moscow. He has appeared at the BBC Proms and has worked with leading orchestras, including the Hallé, London Philharmonic, London Symphony, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Philharmonia and BBC Philharmonic. Recent engagements include Kothner Die Meistersinger (Glyndebourne); Speaker The Magic Flute (English National Opera) and the title role in Maometto Secondo (Garsington). Plans include the title role Fliegende Holländer in the Netherlands, Marnie at ENO, Sprecher Die Zauberflöte and Monterone Rigoletto for the Royal Opera House, Mr. Flint Billy Budd at the Bolshoi Theatre and concerts with Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic.

Natasha Khamjani movement director Natasha trained at London Studio Centre and began her career as a performer before deciding to concentrate on being a creative from behind-thescenes. Her versatility enables her to work across the industry including theatre, commercials, bespoke commissions and ceremonies. She worked on all four Olympic Ceremonies as a mass movement coordinator

as well as the Commonwealth Games and Roald Dahl’s City of the Unexpected. She is CoArtistic Director of Folk Dance Remixed, a groundbreaking company fusing folk and hip hop dance and music. She is a passionate education specialist working for organisations including East London Dance, RADA, Southbank Centre and various schools and colleges.

Emily Leather repetiteur Since graduating from the University of Leeds, the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and the College-Conservatory of Music in Cincinnati, Ohio, Emily has enjoyed a varied career as a repetiteur, vocal coach and music director. In the US, Emily has worked with Cincinnati Opera, Portland Opera, Kentucky Opera and Opera Manhattan. In the UK she has been the Music Director for Opera Up Close in West End productions of La bohème, Don Giovanni and Tosca.

Other work in the UK includes productions for British Youth Opera, London Lyric Opera, Glyndebourne and the Royal Opera House. Emily regularly runs workshops for Opera North, Royal Opera House, Garsington Opera, English National Opera and the Southbank Centre.

James Longford repetiteur A former Organ Scholar of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, James studied at the Royal College of Music, winning the coveted Tagore Gold Medal. Working as a collaborative pianist, repetiteur and continuo player, and in music theatre and education, recent highlights include the

“It unlocked a part of me I never knew was there!”

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Chloe, Primary Company

15th birthday celebrations of Southbank Sinfonia, of which he was a founder member, and the European premiere of Carmen: Fire & Fate with US mezzosoprano Kirstin Chávez at the Cervantes Theatre, London, and on tour. He was selected as a Steinway Artist in 2014.

Jem Panufnik sound and music consultant Jem has always passionately combined music and visuals in his work. Although from a classical music family background (his father being Sir Andrzej Panufnik and sister Roxanna Panufnik) most of Jem’s extensive output has been in the world of club music and electronica. In the late ’90s he co-founded the award-winning underground label Finger Lickin’ Records, for which he not only wrote and produced a multitude of singles but created lavish sleeve illustrations, as well as videos and projections for his international DJ tours and festival appearances. Jem continues to be a prolific illustrator, artist and composer, releasing singles and DJing as Jem Stone.

Roxanna Panufnik composer Since studying composition at the Royal Academy of Music, Roxanna has written a wide range of pieces – opera, ballet, music theatre, choral works, orchestral and chamber compositions, and music for film and television – which are performed all over the world.

She has a great love of music from different countries and different faiths, whose influence she uses liberally throughout

her compositions. Roxanna is Associate Composer with the London Mozart Players. Her compositions are published by Peter’s Edition Ltd and recorded on many labels including Warner Classics, Chandos, Signum and EMI Classics.

Sarah Redgwick soprano, Mrs Morrell Sarah graduated from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama (GSMD), completing her studies on the postgraduate Opera Course. She is a winner of the GSMD Gold Medal for singers and was a Samling Artist.

Operatic roles include Violetta La traviata, Gilda Rigoletto, Ellen Orford Peter Grimes and Mimì La bohème. In recent seasons she has performed Donna Elvira Don Giovanni for English National Opera, Mrs Maurrant Street Scene in Paris and Barcelona and the Notary’s wife in Intermezzo for Garsington Opera. Sarah performs regularly in Classical Spectacular concerts for Raymond Gubbay and with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

Jack Ridley assistant conductor Jack made his debut with Glyndebourne on Tour in 2013, conducting The Rape of Lucretia. Notable conducting engagements in recent seasons include Tosca and Patience (English Touring Opera), and Eugene Onegin (Garsington Opera), for which he received a Leonard Ingrams Award in 2016.

He has worked as Assistant Conductor on productions of Owen Wingrave (British Youth Opera); La finta giardiniera and The Yellow Sofa (Glyndebourne);

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Punch and Judy (Neue Oper Wien); and La clemenza di Tito (Drottningholm). In concert and masterclass he has conducted the Polska Filharmonia Bałtycka, London Sinfonietta and BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, and he was a participant on the 2015 Tanglewood conducting programme.

William Saint treble, Leo William is 11 years old and a pupil in Year 6 at Stokenchurch Primary School. When not singing he likes gymnastics, table tennis, tennis and playing football. He was a newt in the 2013 Garsington Opera community opera, Road Rage, and also sang in the Così fan tutte film.

Victoria Simmonds mezzo-soprano, Anna Following her studies at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, Victoria has been a company principal at English National Opera and sung at the major UK opera companies including the highly acclaimed Pinocchio The Adventures of Pinocchio (Opera North).

Engagements abroad include Aix-en-Provence Festival, Staatstheater Stuttgart, Opernhaus Halle, La Scala, Bavarian State Opera, Netherlands Opera and Danish National Opera. Recent and future commitments include Fox The Cunning Little Vixen (Garsington Opera); Luke Bedford’s Through His Teeth (Royal Opera House); Boy The Way Back Home (ENO); title role Mignon (New Sussex Opera); Second Angel/Marie Written on Skin (Netherlands Opera, Opéra

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Comique, ROH, Lincoln Centre New York, Wiener Festwochen); Angelina La Cenerentola (Danish National Opera and Opera Holland Park); and Minskwoman Flight (Scottish Opera).

Sacha Smith treble, Leo Sacha is 11 years old and attends Frieth C.E.C. School. He enjoys drumming, singing, acting, rugby and cricket. Silver Birch is his first role following auditions for high profile films. His dream is to be an actor and he is excited for the opportunity to perform at Garsington.

Bradley Travis bass-baritone, Siegfried Sassoon Bradley studied at the Royal Northern College of Music and the Royal College of Music International Opera School where roles included Figaro Le nozze di Figaro, Don Iñigo Gómez L’heure espagnole, Lord Ellington La vie parisienne, and Ottone The Coronation of Poppea. Major engagements include Figaro (Opera North); Lesbus Agrippina (Iford); Fireman Biedermann and the Arsonists (Independent Opera); Minister of the Sanctuary Iphigénie en Tauride and Bunthorne Patience (English Touring Opera); Masetto Don Giovanni (ETO, Opera Project and Classical Opera Company); Count Robinson The Secret Marriage (British Youth Opera); and Minos Arianna in Creta and Argenio Imeneo (London Handel Festival). He was a winner of the 2015 Leonard Ingrams Award from Garsington Opera.

James Way tenor, Davey After graduating in music from

King’s College London, James is continuing his training at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. A winner of the 2nd Prize in the 62nd Kathleen Ferrier Awards and the 2016 Simon Sandbach Award from Garsington Opera, he made his Proms debut in 2016 in Vaughan Williams’s Serenade to Music with the BBC Symphony Orchestra. Engagements for 2017 – 2018 include Jupiter Semele with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and joining the Le Jardin des Voix Academy for young singers at Les Arts Florissants. Previously for Garsington Opera: Gondolier Death in Venice, Monsieur Triquet (cover) Eugene Onegin and Ferrando Così fan tutte (Alvarez Young Artists’ Programme).

Mischa Ying video design As a freelance artist Mischa’s unique style of mixed media animation connects the analogue with the digital to produce distinct abstract narratives. Her progressive style draws upon early experiences in music, sculpture and fashion which led to a career as a live visual artist, touring the globe for a string of headline acts and entertaining crowds of up to 20,000 people.

Her commissions feature widely across the artistic spectrum from producing award-winning music promo for R&B recording artist Bernhoft, to animating and performing the work of Damien Hurst as part of a Pete Tong Ibiza residency. Recent collaborations with Roxanna Panufnik led to a series of classically based videos including a projected 3D performance space for the BBC’s

New Shakespeare Songbook featuring Kathryn Rudge.

Suzi Zumpe vocal director Suzi Zumpe is a vocal animateur who specialises in teaching complicated material to a broad range of people, regardless of their previous musical experience. Suzi is Co-Founder and Joint Artistic Director of the Royal Opera House’s Youth Opera Company, and Vocal Director of Garsington Opera’s Youth Company. She is a lead artist on ROH’s Create and Sing Programme, a national dramatic singing programme for primary schools. In addition to Garsington Opera and ROH, companies with whom she has recently worked include English National Opera, the Royal Academy of Music, Spitalfields Music Festival, Southbank Centre, Aurora Orchestra, the Stephen Petronio Company, Glyndebourne Opera, and the London Symphony Orchestra.

Foley Artists The sound team is from the post production sound department of Pinewood Studios.

They are: Zoe Freed, Jemma Riley-Tolch, Sam Walsh, Rebecca Heathcote, Charlotte Harris, Robert Man, Adam Oakley and Sophia Leader. They have been involved in many blockbuster films including Wonder Woman, King Arthur, Trainspotting 2 and Fantastic Beasts. They have been joined by six students performing Foley sound effects for the opera.

Primary Company Our primary company is a mix of children from years 4-6 from six local partner Primary Schools, all of

whom auditioned to take part in Silver Birch. The schools from Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire are: Millbrook Combined School, Frieth C of E School, Lane End Primary School, Chalgrove Community Primary School, Stokenchurch Primary School and Holy Trinity C of E Primary School. We also have one member of our primary company who has bravely joined the ranks on his own and gets a short solo in the opera as a reward. We are so grateful to all the teachers and parents who have supported us on this journey and hope to work with many of them again in the future.

Adult Company Since Garsington Opera moved to Wormsley we have established a strong network of local people who now take part in a variety of projects run by our Learning & Participation team. From carol singing in a local pub grew a more adventurous programme to include, most recently, a partnership with patients from the Spinal Injuries Unit at Stoke Mandeville Hospital. Many took part in our community opera Road Rage in 2013 and have appeared in other operas on the stage at Wormsley. We have drawn in newcomers and hope that they will continue to work with us beyond Silver Birch on projects in future years. Many have other family members taking part with them in this opera.

Youth Company The Youth Company has met annually every summer since our Community Opera Road Rage in 2013, performing small-scale

performance pieces on the stage at Wormsley, accompanied by a student orchestra. Over 25 schools, colleges and universities are represented in the Silver Birch company, ranging from those living near Wormsley to the valleys of South Wales. Many are from local secondary schools and discovered Garsington Opera through Learning & Participation projects and our OperaFirst performance visits.

Military Company In January 2017 we put a call out to audition members of the Armed Forces community to join our Adult Company. We offered this opportunity to serving personnel, injured and sick, veterans, reservists, family members and those transitioning to civilian life.

Our eight recruits represent a mix of these categories and some are more seasoned performers than others. None have performed opera. Their involvement has been of huge benefit and has helped us to give the subject matter (and marching!) authenticity.

“It has been fantastic to have a role tailored to my voice, and to research and play such an interesting figure.”

Bradley Travis, Siegfried Sassoon

“The weekly rehearsals have been a lot of fun and it’s been a great collective journey for us all.”

Emily Leather, Repetiteur

“The chance to be involved in a world premiere is hugely exciting.”

Darren Jeffery, Simon

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INSPIRING PEOPLE THROUGH OPERA Silver Birch is part of our thriving Learning & Participation Programme that we deliver all year round providing engaging and innovative projects. We are passionate about the importance and power of this work and such projects are a core element of Garsington Opera’s ethos. We firmly believe in the value of cultural learning in unlocking creativity and building selfconfidence in all ages. This is achieved through an ambitious programme of creative projects targeting young people, their families and broader communities locally. Our fantastic resource of highly talented directors, composers, singers, musicians and designers ensures that we inspire and demonstrate that opera really is for everyone. Listed here are a few of the projects that have engaged people in addition to Silver Birch.

This year our new commission, GARSINGTON OPERA Silver Birch, will be attended FOR ALL by young people who will have Our free public opera screenings with local participation, in been involved in a project areas of the country with low exploring the themes and music of the opera with professional cultural engagement, provide singers and a director, prior ground-breaking opportunities to coming to Wormsley to for communities to be involved in creating and learning about watch a performance. opera and, in most cases, seeing an opera for the first time.

ADULT COMMUNITY COMPANY This is the third year of Opera Every year we run a series for All which is a partnership Biographies of workshops with our Adult between Garsington Opera, the charitable trust Magna Vitae Company who, as well as performing in Silver Birch, will and the Coastal Communities be Legion working with patients at the Alliance, and is supported by+ British advert?

National Spinal Injuries Centre, Arts Council England. This year Stoke Mandeville and six London Garsington’s production of hospitals in ‘A Hospital Passion Handel’s Semele will be shown at venues from Grimsby to Margate Play’ at the V&A, London. and Bridgwater. The film will YOUTH OPERA COMPANY also be available to view free of We have a thriving Youth charge on BBC Arts online.

Company made up of young people who we’ve engaged OPERAFIRST through our schools’ programme, OperaFirst gives an exceptional usually involving creating a opportunity to a new generation piece and performing in the of local young people to attend opera house at Wormsley. one of our opera performances Look out for auditions, we’d at Wormsley each year. love to hear from you.

ABOUT GARSINGTON OPERA Garsington Opera was founded in 1989 by the late Leonard Ingrams and his wife Rosalind at Garsington Manor, near Oxford.

In 2011 the company moved to the Wormsley Estate in the beautiful Chiltern Hills, building an award-winning Opera Pavilion overlooking the lake and Deer Park, close to Sir Paul Getty’s famous cricket ground.

The festival presents a programme of four operas each year, engaging the very best performers from around the world, as well as championing talent from within the UK, providing a platform for

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those just beginning to make their names on the worldwide opera stage. Mozart is at the heart of Garsington Opera’s repertoire, as well as the exploration of lessknown works, including a number of notable British premieres.

In 2018, the programme includes our third world premiere, The Skating Rink, based on the novel

by Roberto Bolaño and written by leading British composer David Sawer and award-winning playwright Rory Mullarkey. A collaboration with Santa Fe Opera brings Strauss’s Capriccio to the stage, Bruno Ravella returns

to direct Verdi’s Falstaff and a new production of Mozart’s The Magic Flute will be conducted by Christian Curnyn.

Garsington Opera continues to introduce a new generation to opera through its Learning & Participation Programme and exploring digital innovations that will enable the Festival’s productions to be experienced by a new and wider audience. In 2017, Handel’s Semele will be screened for free in four areas across the UK as well as being available to watch online on the BBC Arts platform.

COMPANY Kate Laughton Producer

Julian Guidera Adult, Primary, Child Soloists Company Manager Keri Marshall Youth Company Manager Gemma Holsgrove Military Community Company Manager Fran Stafford Assistant Company Manager Laura Burnett Work Experience Elisabeth Cawood Orchestra Manager Fay Hayhurst Student Instrumentalist Orchestra Manager Hannah Muddiman Silver Birch Commissioning Administrator Tim Locke and Pippa Hughes Cooks Ellie Carter-Stovold, Freddie Creed, Matilda Gibbs, Molly Graham, Jonny Herd, Lily Heron, Theo Moutrie, Emily Page Opera Runners

Production Steve Hawkins Production Manager Ian Smith Production Assistant Timothy Knight Technical Stage Manager Paul Carr Stage Manager Laura Page Deputy Stage Manager David Putman Assistant Stage Manager Beatrice Wallbank Assistant Stage Manager Sam Floyd Production Electrician Scott Carter Chief Electrician and Programmer James MacGregor Deputy Chief Electrician Rose Bonsier Assistant Electrician Alice Lessing Costume Supervisor Kate Flanaghan Wardrobe Manager Hannah Marshall Deputy Wardrobe Manager Max Tolland Head of Stage David Ashford Senior Stage Technician James Humby Stage Technician and AV Operator Rosheen McNamee Stage Technician Lucy Moore Stage Technician Trainee Philip Gietzen Surtitles Sound supplied by Dan Gregory at DGAF

Garsington Opera Company Douglas Boyd Artistic Director Nicola Creed Executive Director Laura Canning Director of Artistic Administration Steve Hawkins Technical Director Johnny Langridge Director of Membership & Communications Conor Marren Finance Director Karen Gillingham Creative Director, Learning & Participation Clare Adams Press & PR Pippa French Head of Corporate Development Marina Abel Smith Membership Development Manager Emily Kenefeck Marketing Manager Philip Gietzen, Anna Playfair, Julian Guidera Box Office and Administration Helen Kirkaldie Administrator Susanna Stranders Head of Music Angus Boyd-Heron Event Manager Suzie Moutrie Household Coordinator Sarah Playfair Artistic Consultant Lee Stephenson Music Librarian

Board of Directors Bernard Taylor DL (Chairman), Miranda Curtis (Deputy Chairman), Dr John Drysdale, Professor Jonathan Freeman-Attwood, Catherine Ingrams, Neil King QC, Iain Mackinnon, Lady Marks, David Suratgar With thanks Mark Getty and the Wormsley Estate team

Aylesbury Music Centre, Patrick Barrett, BBC Arts Digital, Keira Bentley, Frank and Georgie Brooks, Buckinghamshire Learning Trust Music, Stephen Bucknill, Lizzie Cahill, Cambridge University Library and Barbara Levy Literary Agency, Chiltern Music Academy, Steve Cook, Lea Cornthwaite, Cressex Community School, Beverley Evans, Jess Gatty, Paul Grist, Paul Guenault, Ben Hamilton, Headteachers, teachers and parents from all participating schools, Hilary Hodgson, Ben Keene, Charlotte Lane, Jacqui Laing, Lane End Primary School, Sam Laughton, Laura Manuira, Gwen Medd, Kerry Newall, Pinewood Studios Group, Spitalfields Music, Stokenchurch Centre, Video Illusions, Zerlina Vulliany, Frances Waddington, Jay Wheeler, Jonathan Williams, Fred Woods, Wycombe Swan John Snelling Photos Annie Rushton Programme design

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From Siegfried Sassoon’s notebooks