in 2011. Fergus has taken the RTÉ NSO on tour in Ireland with Beethoven’s Symphony No 9 (Choral), and with violinist Tasmin Little. He has also involved the orchestra in community and youth initiatives such as Rain Falling Up (2012) and Bluebottle (2014) by Brian Irvine (music), John McIlduff (text) and Matthew Robins (visuals). Fergus has also conducted the Ulster Orchestra, the Irish Chamber Orchestra, the RTÉ Concert Orchestra, the Northern Sinfonia, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and many others. As well as performances at home, Fergus has conducted in USA, Canada, South Africa, Australia, UK, France, Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Estonia and Portugal.
Annemarie Woods Designer Annemarie is co-winner of the Ring Award Graz and the European Opera Prize 2011. Recent designs include: Turn of the Screw (NI Opera/Nevill Holt), La Favourite (Graz), Macbeth (NI Opera), Candide (Opera National de Lorraine, Nancy) L’elisir d’amore (NI Opera), The Importance of Being Earnest (Opera National de Lorraine, Nancy), The Triumph of Time and Truth/ The Triumph of Beauty and Deceit (Handel Festival Karlsruhe), La Cenerentola (Luzern Opera), Der Zigeunerbaron (Stadttheater Klagenfurt), Katya Kabanova (Landestheater Coburg), Jakob Lenz (English National Opera), Sigurd der Drachentöter (Bayerische Staatsoper, Munich), I Capuleti e I Montecchi (Teatro Sociale Como), Sigurd the Dragon Slayer (Bavarian State Opera), Albert Herring (Aldeburgh) and she provided the digital design to Alice in Wonderland (Scottish Ballet). Theatre includes: Over Garden’s Out (Riverside Studios), Twelfth Night and As You Like It (Classic Stage Ireland), Mother Teresa is Dead and Picasso’s Women (Focus Theatre Dublin), Well of the Saints and The End of the Beginning (Riverside Theatre, Coleraine), for Contact Theatre, Manchester she designed You Hang Up First, and Bro9 which won the Manchester Evening News Theatre Award for Best Design in 2004.
12
Ilona Karas Costume Designer Ilona Karas studied BA Theatre Practice at the Central School of Speech and Drama. She has worked as a Costume Designer and Supervisor for Theatre, Opera, Dance and Circus. Her costume design work includes Les Miserables and West Side Story for Pimlico Opera, and Physical Theatre productions for companies Mimbre and Acrojou Circus. She regularly works as an assistant costume designer and supervisor for Antony McDonald, including productions of Lohengrin (Welsh National Opera), L’enfant et les Sortileges (Bolshoi Theatre), and Queen of Spades (Grange Park Opera). Other supervision work includes Rat’s Tales (Manchester Royal Exchange), Maestro at the Opera (BBC), Coram Boy (Bristol Old Vic), Albert Herring (Aldeburgh Music Hall), Opera Shots (Royal Opera House), and Can We Talk About This (DV8).
Kevin Treacy Lighting Director Opera designs include The Flying Dutchman, The Bear, The Turn of the Screw, NI Opera Shorts and Tosca (NI Opera); Imeneo, Rodelinda (Royal College of Music); Flavio, Xerxes and La Tragédie de Carmen (English Touring Opera); Orpheus in the Underworld (Scottish Opera, NI Opera); Acis and Galatea, The Barber of Seville, Xerxes, La Cenerentola, The Kiss, Hansel and Gretel, Bastien and Bastienne and The (Little) Magic Flute (Opera Theatre Company); La Voix Humaine, Suor Angelica, The Medium and La tragédie de Carmen (Wexford Festival Opera); Orango (Royal Festival Hall). Future opera projects include Macbeth (NI Opera) Faramondo (Händel Festspiele Göttingen). Theatre designs include The Seafarer (Perth Theatre and Lyric Theatre, Belfast); The Changeling, The Wonderful World of Dissocia and Rose Bernd (Platform Theatre); The Government Inspector and Arrah-na-Pogue (Abbey Theatre, Dublin); Beside the Sea (Southbank Centre); Theatre Brothel (Almeida Festival, London); Anything But Love (Belltable Arts Centre, Limerick); The Shawshank Redemption (West End and Irish Tour); Twelfth Night (Nottingham Playhouse); The Nose
(The Performance Corporation, Irish Times Award for Best Lighting Design); Drive-By (Dublin Fringe Festival and Canterbury Festival); The Yokohama Delegation (Kilkenny Festival); Dr Ledbetter’s Experiment (Edinburgh Fringe Festival and Kilkenny Festival – nominated Best Production, Irish Times awards).
Richard McGrath Répétiteur Richard holds a first class honours degree in Music and French from NUI Maynooth, and a performance masters in piano accompaniment from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London where he was also a student on the répétiteur course. Richard was the trainee répétiteur at English National Opera (2013) where he worked on La traviata, The Barber of seville and La bohème and played in the orchestra for The sunken garden, Wozzeck and The perfect American. Since then he has worked on productions including NI Opera’s L’elisir d’amore and Wide Open Opera’s Nixon in China. He has worked as a staff accompanist at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and a coach at London College of Music. He currently teaches at the DIT Conservatory of Music and Drama. Other credits include Comedy on the Bridge, La Navarraise, Le portrait de manon (GSMD), The Bartered Bride (BYO), Our Town and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (GSMD).
Anthony Flaum Nemorino Anthony Flaum is a London born lyric tenor who studies with Ryland Davies and previously at the Royal Academy of Music in musical theatre following a career in the financial world. He was chosen by the National Opera Studio to join the “Singers of the Future” programme in 2011 and completed the full-time course there in 2013. He was presented with a Nicholas John Fellowship award for his achievements. Credits include; Macduff, Macbeth (Scottish Opera), Nemorino, L’elisir d’amore (Northern Ireland Opera), Tschekalinski, Piques Dames (Grange Park Opera), Henrik, A Little Night Music (Opera Project), Raoul, La Vie Parisienne
(Opera Della Luna at Iford Arts Festival), Lensky, Eugene Onegin (Grange Park Opera), Tamino, The Magic Flute (Regents Opera), Cover Nemorino, Elixir of Love (ENO), Rodolfo, La bohème and Don Ottavio, Don Giovanni (Opera Up Close) and Jean Valjean, Les Miserables (Pimlico Opera, HMP Erlestoke Prison). Previous musical theatre roles include; Dracula, Hell-Sing (Bloomsbury Theatre, London), Basil, Come Dancing (Theatre Royal Stratford East) and DH Lawrence, Scandalous (Nottingham Playhouse) amongst others. Future engagements include cover David in ENO’s new production of The Mastersingers of Nurenberg, Motel, Fiddler on the Roof (Grange Park Opera) and three concert debuts – an Opera Gala with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Spectacular Classics for Raymond Gubbay Ltd. and Puccini’s Messa di Gloria at Arundel Cathedral.
Anna Patalong Adina Anna Patalong studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, where she received numerous awards and was a finalist at the Kathleen Ferrier Awards. She was named as the Concordia Foundation Young Artist by the Worshipful Company of Musicians and is a Samling scholar. In 2014 she won 2nd Prize in the Francisco Viñas International Singing Competition (Liceu‚ Barcelona) and in 2013 3rd prize in the Moniuszko International vocal competition. Recent and future operatic plans include Mimi, La bohème (Theater Lübeck)‚ Terinka, Jakobin (Buxton Festival Opera)‚ Eleonora, Prima le musica e poi le parole (West Green House) ‚ Annchen, Der Freischütz (Opéra de Limoges)‚ Lauretta Gianni Schicchi (Opera Holland Park) and cover Roxana, Krol Roger (Royal Opera House). Other operatic roles include Flowermaiden, Parsifal (Royal Opera House) Serpetta, La Finta Giardiniera (Buxton) Beauty, The Triumph of Time and Truth (Karlsruhe Handel Festival)‚ title role Cendrillon (Blackheath Halls)‚ Anne Trulove, The Rakes’s Progress (St Endellion Festival), Elle, La Voix Humaine (Battersea Arts)‚ Lisette, La Rondine (Go Opera/ Opera di Peroni)‚ Pedro, Don Quichiotte (Chelsea Opera Group), Musetta, La bohème (BYO); Donizetti’s Rita, Blanche, Dialogues des Carmélites (GSMD) and Susanna, Le Nozze di Figaro (Opera Brava). Anna has appeared on BBC Radio 3’s In Tune
13