GOCHA ABULADZE Tomsky Spades Was born in Georgia and studied at the Balanchivadze in Kutaisi and Tbilisi State Conservatoire. Recent engagements include Masetto Giovanni (Montpellier) and Mozart’s Figaro (Magdeburg). Conservatoire roles include Papageno, Onegin and Figaro Barbiere. He sang Figaro Barbiere and Germont Traviata (Tbilisi), the latter also in Ferrara. In 2012 he sang Silvio Pagliacci (Verona with Franco Zeffirelli). Festival appearances include Autumn Tbilisi, Tbilisi International Festival of Chamber Music and ArtGeni organised by the Patriarch of all Georgia Ilia II. In 2011 he won the Citta di Ferrara vocal competition and received the Daniele Barioni prize. In 2012, he added the Critics’ Prize at the Zandonai competition in Riva del Garda. MAITE AGUIRRE Chorus Master Is a Spanish conductor and concert pianist. Music Director of the British Spanish Society and conductor of the choirs Legal Harmony, BLP and AMVoices. Maite completed her Masters at GSMD and is a fellowship holder at RAM. Maite is currently mentored by Christine Croshaw. She is a scholar of the Georg Solti Accademia and is featured in the BBC documentary Maestro or Mephisto; the real Georg Solti. She has worked with the BBC SO as Chorus Master and has conducted amongst others, Milton Keynes Orchestra, Kammerphilarmonie Graz, Latin Chamber Orchestra, British Spanish Chamber Ensemble and Orpheus Sinfonia. She has played all over Europe and recorded both for TV and radio including Spanish National Radio (RNE) and BBC Radio3. GISELLE ALLEN Lisa Spades Was born in Belfast and studied at GSMD and RAM. Her varied repertoire includes Marie Wozzeck (Canadian Opera), Martha The Passenger (ENO), Ellen Orford Peter Grimes (Opera North and in Aldeburgh Festival’s award winning production on the beach, recorded for CD and DVD), Miss Jessel Turn of the Screw (Glyndebourne and Opera de Lyon) and Senta Der Fliegende Holländer (Northern Ireland Opera). Appearances on the concert platform include Beethoven 9 (Philharmonia), Glagolitic Mass with Mark Elder (Hallé) and Sieglinde Act III Die Walküre with Sir Andrew Davis. Next season Giselle sings Miss Jessel (Opernhaus Zürich) and Salome (Northern Ireland). JONATHAN ALLEY Messenger Traviata, Ténébrun /Party guest Don Quichotte / ensemble Trained at the Queensland Conservatorium, Griffith University. He is also a graduate of RNCM and in 2011 he won the prestigious Joyce and Michael Kennedy Award for the Singing of Strauss. Roles include
Captain Onegin (Grange Park Opera), Mr Gedge Albert Herring and Morales Carmen (RNCM), Dulcamara L’elisir d’amore (Mananan Festival), Aeneas Dido & Aeneas (ABC National Broadcast). He performed with Opera Australia, Opera Queensland and Ozopera, singing the role of Ricardo The Sound Garden (Montgomery). PAUL ANDERSON Lighting Designer Grimes & Traviata Opera credits include Rape of Lucretia (GFO); Don Giovanni (ENO) and A Dog’s Heart (Complicité, ENO and La Scala). He also works extensively in UK and internationally where his recent credits include A Small Family Business, A Taste of Honey, This House and Amen Corner (National Theatre, Olivier); The Mouse and His Child, Julius Caesar, The Tempest and A Servant to Two Masters (RSC); The Master and Margarita (Complicité, Barbican, Paris); Shun Kin (Complicité/NYC); Two Into One, Candide and Proof (Menier Chocolate Factory). He was nominated for the 2013 Olivier Award for Best Lighting Designer for The Master and Margarita and received Drama Desk and Lucille Lortell awards for Mnemonic (Complicité). RENATO BALSADONNA Conductor Don Quichotte Was born in Venice, studied piano and composition at Milan Conservatory and philosophy at Padua University. He regularly conducts RPO, has conducted ROH Orchestra, Orchestra of the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia Rome, NDR Philharmonie and South Bank Sinfonia. He conducted Don Quichotte (COG at QEH) and will conduct a new I due Foscari (ROH). Chorus Director at ROH since 2004, he has worked with conductors such as Semyon Bychkov, Colin Davis, Mark Elder, John Eliot Gardiner, Daniele Gatti, Bernard Haitink, Charles Mackerras, Antonio Pappano, and Simon Rattle. He has conducted the BBC Singers, Chorus of Frankfurt Opera, Netherland Radio Chorus, Chorus of Accademia Santa Cecilia Rome and Grant Park Festival Chorus, Chicago. He has worked as pianist repetiteur and assistant chorus master in Basel, Chorus Director at La Monnaie 1995–2004, assistant to Norbert Balatsch at the Bayreuth Festival 1999–2000. He has recorded with EMI, DGG, Decca, Sony Classical, Chandos, Opera Rara and OpusArte. STEPHEN BARLOW Conductor Grimes Studied at Trinity College‚ Cambridge and GSMD and was a co-founder of Opera 80. Current Artistic Director of Buxton Festival, recent and future projects include Jacobin, Barber of Baghdad, Intermezzo, La Colombe and La Princesse Jaune (Buxton); Boheme, Falstaff‚ Norma, Capriccio‚ Rusalka, Tristan und Isolde, Queen of Spades and Carmelites (Grange Park Opera); Les Contes d'Hoffmann (Beijing); Carmen, Faust and Nabucco (Australia); Bluebeard’s Castle (Auckland Philharmonia); Rake’s Progress (Reisopera); Otello (Birmingham) Rape of Lucretia (Irish Youth Opera) and Midsummer Night’s Dream (Guildhall). He has appeared at Glyndebourne, ROH, ENO, Opera Northern Ireland, Scottish Opera and Opera
99
099-113_GPO - EDBIOGS_R.indd 99
19/05/2014 12:13