Giuseppe Verdi
4, 7, 14, 21, 24, 27 June | 4, 6 July
5, 8, 19 June
SUMMERTIME SWING 12, 13 June
THE MEATH GALA
15 June
Johann Strauss II
20, 22, 25, 28 June | 5 July
BERNSTEIN ON BROADWAY 26, 29 June
LES INDES GALANTES
Jean-Philippe Rameau
30 June | 1, 2 July
BALLET BLACK: DOUBLE BILL
3 July
I am delighted to welcome you to the ninth season of The Grange Festival hosted within the incomparably beautiful setting of The Grange.
The 2025 Festival is testament to the spirit of ambition of those who founded the Festival in 2017 and, building on that success, we enter an exciting new era under the leadership of our new Chief Executive Tyler Stoops who brings extensive experience from Glyndebourne, the Royal Opera, the Metropolitan Opera and Santa Fe Opera.
In the short time since his arrival, Tyler has begun to redefine The Grange Festival as a true festival celebrating music with opera at its heart, and already we begin to see what might be in store in the future.
This festival offers more performances across a wider range of repertoire, including an outstanding international collaboration making its UK debut, and no less than four guest orchestras complementing our great partnership with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra.
This has all the makings of a true festival, one which is already attracting new audiences and establishing The Grange Festival as a focus for music-making in Hampshire, enriching our communities, driving the local economy and defining our national and international identity.
The breadth of our programming reinforces our commitment to developing talent and nurturing new audiences and ensuring a future for musical and performance excellence. Throughout the year we work with local schools and communities providing opportunities for young people to discover the life enhancing power of music and theatre.
A performing company is nothing without the crucible of talent which is The Grange Festival – singers, dancers, musicians, creative teams, production and stage teams, front of house staff, our leadership and administrative teams and our brilliant volunteers, and I want to take this opportunity to recognise everyone’s contribution to the success of this Festival.
I would like to pay tribute to the commitment and engagement of our board of trustees as part of the wider Grange Festival team, and over recent months we have welcomed three new trustees – Helen Byrne, Peter Woods and Jantiene Klein Roseboom Van Der Veer.
Finally, I extend a huge thanks to you our audiences, members and supporters. We are truly grateful for your support and would like to invite those of who love The Grange Festival or are discovering it for the first time to join with us as we build an exciting future for creative music making.
I look forward to meeting many of you in person during the Festival.
Sir Richard Mantle Chair of the Board of Trustees
The range and depth of this year’s programme underscores our determination to transform the lives of all who take part, both behind, on, and in front of the stage, so that people of all ages and backgrounds can experience the force of the live performance of music and drama in opera and dance.
It gives great pleasure to be presenting the first full staging ever in the UK of Jean-Phillipe Rameau’s seminal opera-ballet Les Indes Galantes, and welcoming the brilliant Capella Mediterranea to perform it; and, surprisingly, the first new production in this country for eight years of one of the best known operettas, Die Fledermaus, in which the layered intricacies of Viennese society are uproariously and mercilessly exposed. La traviata continues to be many opera lovers’ favourite.
I retain a strong memory of taking my stalls seat many years ago in Covent Garden, and being rather aware that the outrageously elegant and glamorous Freddie Mercury with two equally beautiful chaperones was doing the same, for what turned out to be a historic performance of Verdi’s Otello. Freddie loved grand opera, and his deep friendship with the great lyric soprano, Montserrat Caballé, resulted, as we know, in their Barcelona. Our celebration of his and Queen’s operatic rock legacy, Queen at the Opera, has pleasingly turned out to be a big draw.
Ballet Black are dear friends of The Grange Festival. Memorably, they lit up our main portico in a rain-affected sequence for our outside performances in 2020 when few other summer festivals dared to open. And welcoming for the first time The Jazz Orchestra of the Concertgebouw from Amsterdam, as well as Welsh National Opera Orchestra and BBC Concert Orchestra to join our beloved Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra is a step-change for the Festival. 2025 feels pretty special.
I hope you have a wonderful visit and savour all that is on offer.
Michael Chance CBE Artistic Director
Welcome to our landmark 2025 Festival, full of timetested masterpieces, exquisite rarities, creative collisions, inspired designs, cutting-edge craft, and through all: artistic excellence. Whether this is your first Festival visit or your fiftieth, we hope you feel welcome here and that you cherish the memories you create with us tonight and in the years to come.
The Grange Festival has always been known for its gorgeous setting, friendly experience, and artistic integrity, but since I arrived our teams have set their sights on reaching many more people with the incredible work that we create here. We now stand on the eve of a Festival with thousands more tickets sold than ever before, over 70% more than last year. I'm incredibly grateful to the team and the Board for trusting in a renewed vision and programme, and for working so hard to deliver such an ambitious range of excellent work. There is even more excitement ahead, and we hope we’ll keep tempting you back for more.
Our unprecedented growth is indeed a bright spot for the performing arts in Britain, which remain under threat, but of course tickets sales only cover a portion of our operating costs and we are not immune to these rocky seas in the arts ecosystem. We are immensely grateful to our supporters who are joining us on this journey of wider impact, and welcome further support from those who like to back an effective operation with its eyes on the future. Pound for pound we aim to be one of most impactful places to invest in philanthropic outcomes, whether you’re fuelling our work onstage, in schools, in the community, or with emerging talent.
One of my earliest career mentors wisely noted that “you build an opera company one handshake at a time,” and that’s certainly true here, building on the care that Michael Chance and the founding team poured into those early entrepreneurial years. I look forward to meeting many of you personally and hope you’ll take a moment to connect with our staff, artists, and your fellow audience members. We want to keep our reputation for friendliness in top form, exhibited so brilliantly by our volunteers, without whom we could not do what we do.
Thank you for making our Festival part of your summer. Your presence here truly completes what we do.
Tyler Stoops Chief Executive
The Grange Festival embarks on a significant renewal this season, honouring our architectural and artistic heritage while enhancing the audience experience. As you arrive, you’ll notice thoughtful changes designed to improve access, as well as let our Grade I listed home speak more eloquently for itself.
This renewal addresses practical needs while preserving aesthetic integrity. We’ve completely resurfaced the approach roads on Festival Drive for a smoother arrival experience – a direct response to visitor feedback. Key staircases now feature better railings, including the path from John’s Terrace to Cedar Tree Terrace. Our accessibility ramps have been widened and reinforced with railings on both sides, ensuring safer navigation for all guests.
Inside the main house, we’ve reconfigured visitor flow to showcase the grand entrance hall to more guests. This architectural jewel now serves as a welcoming space where you can find tickets and speak with our team. For convenience, we maintain a staffed information point near the theatre entrance to address any questions during your visit, and quite wonderfully, this reorientation places more dining in the sun-soaked Southeast room.
We’ve made an even bigger change to our Portico. Since 2017, we’ve erected a temporary bar platform extending the Portico but in doing so obscured views of the Greek Revival columns, perhaps the most dramatic vantage on the property. This year’s simplification now reveals uninterrupted views of our neoclassical façade and Greek Revival columns, returning to the original vision of architect William Wilkins.
Our cultural partnerships also reflect this spirit of renewal. After successful partnerships with the Winchester Hospice and Outside In in recent years, we are delighted to
be working this year with the Meath Epilespy Charity on a special gala on 15 June, as well as with the Hampshire Music Education Hub with whom we are producing the Gosport Festival at the Fort and who featured at our Family Open Day. This means that individual artists return to The Grange this season, with exciting works by Joanna Cohn and Jane Gordon Clark on display, and our tea and coffee service will be provided by the same team running our bars.
Looking forward, we’re addressing significant conservation needs and deferred maintenance of our home, inside and out. Major restorations of the orangery roof and portico are planned for 2025–2026, with substantial investment from English Heritage. But beyond this, there will be significant investment needed into updates to wiring, safety systems and theatre infrastructure as the theatre approaches three decades of use. While the costs of preserving this historic treasure are considerable, we view these challenges as opportunities to honour centuries of craftsmanship and continue to open our heritage and our building’s heritage to even more artists and audiences. Should you be in touch with individuals and foundations in a position to help us fund this access and renewal, please do put them in touch with Rachel Pearson, Director of Development.
The Grange has witnessed remarkable changes throughout its history while maintaining its essential character. This season’s refinements continue this tradition – a thoughtful balance of preservation and progress. As we prepare for another season of world-class performances, we celebrate The Grange not just as a venue but as a living participant in the artistic experience we create together. We look forward to welcoming you to experience these enhancements firsthand, where the timeless beauty of our setting shines more brightly than ever.
The Grange Festival has always been about more than world-class performances, it is about the people, the place, and the shared joy of opera. Many of our most loyal supporters tell us that their time here has brought them lasting memories: summer evenings with family and friends, breathtaking performances, and a deep sense of belonging.
By leaving a gift in your will, you can help ensure that this experience lives on, for future audiences, for young artists taking their first steps, and for all those who will discover the magic of opera at The Grange Festival. Leaving a legacy is simple and can be highly tax-efficient. The Grange Festival is a registered charity, and gifts are exempt from inheritance tax.
Your legacy, whatever its size, will support everything from bold new productions to our year-round education and outreach programme, which inspires over 1,000 young people each year. It could help a young singer find their voice or give a budding director or conductor the professional experience they need to build a career. It’s a simple and lasting way to share the joy this Festival has given you with others.
Some of our most meaningful work has been made possible by legacy gifts, and every one, large or small, helps us plan boldly and build for the future.
If The Grange Festival has been a special part of your life, we hope you’ll consider making it part of your legacy. To find out more, or to have a confidential conversation, please contact Rachel Pearson at rachel@thegrangefestival.co.uk Your generosity today will echo for years to come.
“Some of our most meaningful work has been made possible by legacy gifts, and every one, large or small, helps us plan boldly and build for the future”
The Grange Festival is flourishing. This year we will welcome more new audience members than ever before, with record-breaking ticket sales across the season. Yet even in the midst of success, we face challenges. The arts continue to be under threat, and while we generate around half of what we need through ticket sales, we rely entirely on your generosity to make up the difference. Although a charity, The Grange Festival receives no funding from the Arts Council. Every production, every education workshop, every opportunity we offer to a young artist is made possible by people like you.
Supporting The Grange Festival is not just about sustaining a summer season of exceptional opera, it’s about investing in the future. It’s about sharing world-class performances with new audiences. It’s about helping to develop the next generation of performers, creatives, and technicians. It’s about giving children, many of whom have never experienced live performance before, the opportunity to be inspired by the power of music and storytelling.
Giving to The Grange Festival feels different. You become part of a community. You know your support is creating real, lasting change, both on our stage and far beyond it. It’s your generosity that keeps us moving forward, reaching higher, dreaming bigger. It’s what allows us to make work of the highest quality, to commission new voices, to nurture emerging talent, and to deliver award-winning education and outreach.
You might have heard of our innovative Under 36 ticket scheme, an initiative that’s bringing a new generation of opera lovers through our doors. That is only possible thanks to philanthropic support. It is just one of the many ways in which gifts from our audience help us to reimagine what an opera festival can be, and who it can be for.
Each year, our education programme reaches over 1,000 young people from diverse backgrounds, many of whom have limited access to the arts. The impact is profound, and you can be part of that story.
Becoming a Member of The Grange Festival brings you closer to the heart of everything we do. From exclusive events and behind-the-scenes insights to priority booking and invitations to recitals and group trips abroad, we offer our supporters unique experiences throughout the year. But more than anything, it offers a chance to belong, to play an essential role in safeguarding the future of opera for generations to come.
There are many ways to support. You might consider joining one of our memberships, sponsoring an artist or production, giving to our education programme, or leaving a legacy in your will. However you choose to give, your support helps us to thrive.
If you would like to find out more about joining our community of supporters, please visit our website or get in touch. We would love to hear from you and to start a journey together.
We believe that opera’s future depends on the people who shape it whether it is on stage, behind the scenes, and in every creative and technical role in between. That is why talent development is not an add-on, but a central strand of our artistic mission. We are proud to be recognised as a festival where careers begin, where potential is nurtured, and where young professionals are given the tools and opportunities to grow.
Opera is a collaborative art form. It demands not only exceptional performers but imaginative directors, skilled répétiteurs, brilliant craftspeople, and agile producers. The Grange Festival is uniquely placed to support emerging talent across all these fields, providing early-career artists with meaningful, paid professional experience in a context defined by excellence, mentorship, and creativity.
Every year, our productions offer young artists the chance to take a step forward. Chorus members learn from seasoned professionals, cover key roles, and are coached and supported throughout the season. The Grange Festival Prize has a remarkable legacy of launching careers. 2023 winner Armand Rabot returned to perform principal roles in 2024 and has recently joined the renowned voice residency at Festival d’Aix-en-Provence. 2024 winners Sam Martson and Annie Reilly are singing major roles in 2025,
an extraordinary opportunity so early in their careers, and one rarely offered in the sector.
Beyond the stage, our commitment extends to those who shape the work from the wings. Assistant directors, répétiteurs, and emerging stage managers find a space here to learn their craft through real-time collaboration, rehearsal room experience, and expert guidance. They leave with confidence, skills, and contacts that can shape the rest of their careers.
This is made possible by a simple but powerful approach: embed young professionals directly into the life and work of the Festival. Let them learn by doing. Give them responsibility, feedback, and the space to rise to the challenge. And above all, trust in their potential.
We are proud of what has been achieved, but we are also ambitious for what comes next. With greater support, we aim to build deeper year-round development opportunities, mentoring, placement schemes, creative labs, and stronger partnerships with training institutions across the UK and beyond. We want The Grange Festival to be not just a launchpad, but a learning environment: somewhere artists return to, grow with, and carry forward into the world.
Everyone deserves a first chance. At The Grange Festival, we make sure that chance counts.
“…It especially means a lot to be able to recognise and celebrate the work which goes on backstage… The Grange Festival is always a joy to work and build for, and I’m very thankful for all the opportunities it brings”
Evie Redfern
Talent development at The Grange Festival extends far beyond the performers on stage. Earlier this year, Kimberley Reilly (Production Co-ordinator) and Alice Blincoe (Head of Insights and Innovation) were selected to join the 11th cohort of the Opera Management Course, run by Opera Europa, a network supporting over 240 opera organisations across 43 countries.
The course offers an immersive deep-dive into the essentials of opera management, bringing together early-career professionals from across Europe and as far afield as Canada and Tokyo. It blends expert-led lectures from renowned institutions, such as the Royal Opera House, Teatro Real, and the Wiener Staatsoper, with small group seminars where participants explored the themes in greater depth.
“Taking part in the OMC course was a fantastic experience. Our group represented 14 nationalities, all early- to mid-career professionals. Having the opportunity to ask other participants about their work and experiences of working in opera was just as valuable as the presentations and seminars we participated in throughout the week.” says Kimberley.
The course culminated in an intensive group challenge: planning the 2027/28 season for a real opera house in just 48 hours. A task that would usually take months, if not years, was condensed into a two-day sprint, with the added twist of each participant taking on a responsibility outside their usual area of expertise.
Beyond the skills and knowledge gained, both Kimberley and Alice found the course invaluable for its
impact on confidence and strategic thinking. “The course gave us space to zoom out,” says Alice. “When you’re working as part of a small team like the Festival, you’re often focused on immediate delivery. OMC encouraged us to think holistically about how departments interconnect and how decisions made at the top affect every part of an organisation.”
Returning to work, both have already begun applying what they learned. Whether it’s introducing data-led approaches to audience engagement, rethinking project workflows, or bringing new clarity to cross-departmental conversations, the course has left a tangible legacy. It also provided space to connect with peers internationally, offering fresh benchmarks and shared challenges across cultural contexts.
For organisations like The Grange Festival, where small teams juggle multiple roles and structured development opportunities are rare, external training programmes like the OMC are essential. They allow emerging leaders to access new ideas, tools, and networks they might not encounter in their day-to-day work.
As the opera sector continues to evolve, investing in the professional growth of offstage talent is more important than ever. Courses like Opera Europa’s OMC help build a confident, connected, and forward-thinking generation of arts professionals, ensuring that what happens behind the scenes is just as ambitious as what’s on stage. Supporting emerging leaders through initiatives like the OMC isn’t just an investment in people, it’s an investment in opera’s future.
When people ask what I do, I’m never sure what to say. I don’t have a snappy title, and explaining the ins and outs of arts organisations takes too long. So, I usually just say, “I work in opera” (not as a singer!) and quickly move on. But over time, I’ve come up with a better answer: “I create new work both for and with people who may not traditionally come to the concert hall or opera house.”
The Grange Festival Learning department does exactly this. The ‘for’ is represented in their groundbreaking research project Teaching for Creativity which brings together artists and educators to embed creative arts into the curriculum as an essential tool for learning.
The ‘with’ is broad and far-reaching. Last year alone The Gosport Cultural Education Project reached over a thousand young people who used design, music, creative writing and dance to explore their home and heritage. The Come and Create project invites local young people to The Grange itself to devise a brand new opera in 5 days. In 2024, AI and Us was born, and in 2023 Dawn to Dusk, a new commission, was written with teenagers from across the globe, from Italy, to Syria and Palestine, and performed at The Grange. These projects explored hopes, beliefs and dreams through music and text.
The work of this small but mighty department and the individual projects led by teams of specialist artists are documented on the website through films and images, and we can see the fantastic collaborations and projects that run year-round through their programme. A key question though: why should any arts organisation run this kind of work? Cultural education, inspiring future audiences, and sharing main-stage work are all valuable reasons.
But there are also answers to this question which speak to our values and our understanding of what the arts can and should do. I have deep belief in the power of art to unite, amplify unheard voices, and enhance lives. Working in classrooms, village halls, or hospital wards shows me the tangible impact of creative arts in the real world.
But it’s not just about doing good; it’s about staying connected to the wider community. A learning programme ensures that an organisation remains dynamic and engaged. Seeing the excitement of a school performance or a child hearing opera for the first time demonstrates how these experiences enrich both the artform and the community.
Article 27 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights affirms: “Everyone has the right to freely participate in the cultural life of the community, to enjoy the arts, and to share in scientific advancement and its benefits.”
Access to the arts is not a luxury, but a fundamental human right, enshrined in those fragile post-war years as an essential facet of a safe and happy existence.
For those of us privileged to work in the arts, it is our responsibility to share this with others. We must create work with and for those around us.
A creative workshop isn’t meant to coerce young people into becoming career artists, it offers the chance for anyone to be immersed in music, dance, art and thinking. It sparks critical thinking, inviting us to critique, praise, and question. Through the creative arts, we cultivate compassion, empathy, and meaningful conversation.
These skills are more vital than ever.
Hazel Gould
Hazel Gould is a writer, director and workshop leader who specialises in the creation of new opera
Hampshire Music Education Hub (HMEH) engages over 30,000 children weekly, offering instrumental lessons, ensembles, class teaching, and musical enrichment, with a particular focus on supporting vulnerable children and young people both inside and outside of school. Our mission is to eliminate barriers to participation, ensuring that every child has the opportunity to learn about and through music.
Over the past three years, HMEH has fostered a highly impactful partnership with The Grange Festival Learning, which has significantly enhanced music and arts provision in the priority area of Gosport. This collaboration has been pivotal in expanding access to the arts through The Gosport Cultural Education Project allowing children and young people to explore and celebrate their community’s rich culture and heritage through music, dance and design.
A major milestone in this partnership was the culmination of The Gosport Cultural Education Project in the summer festival held at Fort Brockhurst, which brought together 3,600 members of the Gosport community. This event highlighted the powerful impact of our shared work, demonstrating how arts-based education can engage local communities, foster a sense of pride, and provide meaningful learning experiences.
This partnership ensures that children and young people across the county have access to the highest-quality arts provision. It secures essential funding to build a sustainable infrastructure, fostering progression and long-term opportunities and aspirations. Our shared vision and values emphasise the importance of arts education and equitable access for all, regardless of background, location, learning needs, or ethnicity.
At the heart of this collaboration is a shared vision and set of values that prioritise arts education and equitable access for all, regardless of background, location, learning needs, or ethnicity. Through our work together, HMEH and The Grange Festival are committed to breaking down barriers and ensuring that every child, regardless of their circumstances, can benefit from the transformative power of the arts.
Shaun Riches Head of Hampshire Music Education Hub
Three years ago, a ground-breaking initiative was set up involving 10 primary schools in Hampshire to help teachers bring more creativity into the classroom. This Creativity Collaborative is a partnership of The University of Winchester, its Academy Trust, and Arts Council England. The aim of teaching for creativity is to encourage children to be more confident in thinking about how to describe and solve problems, to work together as a team, communicate their ideas, and thereby improve their opportunities down the line.
As a key partner, the Festival has led workshops in primary schools on a range of cross-curricular themes, including local habitats, human rights, health and well-being. The team worked with pupils and their teachers to show how music and drama and design can fundamentally enhance classroom teaching.
Professor Paul Snowden, who leads research and evaluation on the impact of teaching for creativity as part of his work as a professor of Psychology at the University of Winchester, reports that one of the key results is that teachers have observed a marked increase in student engagement, making lessons more memorable, and deepening their understanding of the subject matter. The teachers have also welcomed the practical value of the resources and teaching strategies provided by the artistic team, allowing them to incorporate these creative approaches into their teaching, regardless of their prior experience or skill levels in using the arts in education.
Susan Hamilton Director of Learning, The Grange Festival
SAMWELL FOUNDER
Sarah and Tony Bolton
Delfont Mackintosh Theatres
The Linbury Trust
Tim and Thérèse Parker
Richard and Cynthia Thompson and anonymous donors
WILKINS FOUNDER
Mark and Sophie Ashburton
Daniel and Alison Benton
Richard and Rosamund Bernays
David and Simone Caukill
Bernard and Caroline Cazenove
Malcolm Herring
Andrew and Caroline Joy
Malcolm and Sarah Le May
Joe and Minnie MacHale
Richard and Chrissie Morse
Sir Sigmund Warburg’s Voluntary Settlement
Michael and Cathy Pearman
Sir Simon and Lady Robertson and anonymous donors
COCKERELL FOUNDER
Mark and Clare Armour
John and Claudia Arney
Sally Ashburton
Chris and Tony Ashford
Jamie and Carolyn Balfour
Robin and Anne Baring
Nigel Beale and Anthony Lowrey
Glynne and Sarah Benge
Sophie Boden
John Booth and Tim Ashley
Simon and Sally Borrows
Robert and Fiona Boyle
Consuelo and Anthony Brooke
Sir Euan Calthorpe Bt
Rex and Sarah Chester
Edward and Antonia
Cumming-Bruce
Ina De and James Spicer
Michael and Anthea Del Mar
Sir Vernon and Lady Ellis
Catherine and Jón Ferrier
Mr and Mrs James Fisher
Marveen and Graham Flack
Tom and Sarah Floyd
J Paul Getty Jnr Charitable Trust
Scott and Caroline Greenhalgh
Susie, Katie, Anna, Christina and Hwfa Gwyn
Sir Charles and Lady Haddon-Cave
Rumiko Hasegawa
James and Rhona Hatchley
Sheelin and John Hemsley
Charles and Catherine Hindson
Herman and Claire Hintzen
Roger and Kate Holmes
Adrian Hope
David and Patricia Houghton
Howard and Anne Hyman
Owen and Jane Jonathan
David and Penny Kempton
Morgan and Georgie Krone
Claudia Langdon and Janie Cadbury
Alan and Virginia Lovell
Thomas and Alexandra Loyd
The Peter and Elisabetta
Mallinson Trust
Simon and Nathalie
Marshall-Lockyer
Nigel and Anna McNair Scott
Joanna and Luke Meynell
Patrick Mitford-Slade
Martin and Caroline Moore
The Ogilvie Thompson Family
Nick and Julie Parker
Clive and Deborah Parritt
William and Francheska Pattisson
Mark and Rachel Pearson
Lord and Lady Phillimore
Jonathan and Gillian Pickering
Ernst and Elisabeth Piech
Michael and Sue Pragnell
Richard and Iona Priestley
Bianca and Stuart Roden
Sophie Service
John and Erica Simpson
Graeme and Sue Sloan
Dr Helmut and Anna Sohmen
The Stevenston Charitable Trust
Judy and Graham Staples
Tim and Charlotte Syder
Peter and Nancy Thompson
Mr Peter Stewart Tilley
John and Wendy Trueman
Lou and John Verrill
Andrew and Tracy Wickham and anonymous donors
SMIRKE FOUNDERS
Peter and Rosemary Andreae
The Band Trust
David and Elizabeth Benson
Anthony and Sarah Boswood
Consuelo and Anthony Brooke
Rex and Sarah Chester
Ina De and James Spicer
Domenica Dunne
Robina and Alastair Farley
For Elise
Peter and Judith Foy
Malcolm Herring
Peter and Sue Holland
The Hollingbery Family
Graham and Amanda Hutton
Owen and Jane Jonathan
David and Penny Kempton
Tammy Lavarello
Charles and Sue Marriott
James and Caroline Masterton
Patrick Mitford-Slade
Martin and Caroline Moore
Mr and Mrs Jonathan Moseley
Colin Murray
Roger and Virginia Phillimore
Jonathan and Gillian Pickering
Ernst and Elisabeth Piech
Bianca and Stuart Roden
David and Alexandra Scholey
Sophie Service
Paul and Rita Skinner
Peter Tilley Esq
Alan and Alison Titchmarsh
Lucy and Michael Vaughan
Mr and Mrs Hady Wakefield and anonymous donors
COX FOUNDERS
Boo and Bill Andrewes
Isla Baring OAM
Tom and Gay Bartlam
Beaulieu Beaufort Foundation
Simon and Julia Boadle
Anthony and Sarah Boswood
Michael and Belinda Boyd
Britwell Trust
Julian and Jenny Cazalet
William and Kathryn Charnley
Julia Chute
Colwinston Charitable Trust
Henrietta Corbett
Corin and Richard Cotton
Carl Cullingford
Edward and Antonia
Cumming-Bruce
The de Brye Charitable Trust
Michael and Anthea Del Mar
Marveen and Graham Flack
Gamlen Charitable Trust
The Golden Bottle Trust
Roger and Victoria Harrison
Richard and Frances Hoare
Lucy Holmes
Luke and Polly Hughes
Andrew and Kay Hunter Johnston
Howard and Anne Hyman
John and Sara Jervoise
Max and Caroline Jonas
Ralph and Patricia Kanter
Morgan and Georgie Krone
Alan and Virgina Lovell
William and Felicity Mather
Dr and Mrs Jonathan Moore
Annette Oakes
The Ogilvie Thompson Family
Kevin Pakenham
David and Sarah Parker
Clive and Deborah Parritt
The Countess of Portsmouth
Richard and Iona Priestley
The Bernard Sunley
Charitable Foundation
James and Judy Scott
George and Veronique Seligman
Rebecca Shelley
Brian Spiby
Fiona and Geoff Squire OBE
Richard and Clare Staughton
Robert and Tiggy Sutton
Simon and Alison Taylor
Peter and Nancy Thompson
The Worshipful Company of Dyers
The Wykeham Gallery and anonymous donors
THE THEATRE CIRCLE
Nigel Beale and Anthony Lowrey
Helen Culleton
Graham and Marveen Flack
David and Penny Kempton and anonymous donors
THE LIMELIGHT
Nick and Sarah Allan
Peter and Rosemary Andreae
Isla Baring OAM
Robert and Caroline Bordeaux-Groult
Julian and Jenny Cazalet
Lady Conran
Howard and Donna Dyer
Gini Gabbertas
Robert and Pirjo Gardiner
John and Alison Mayne
The Nicholson Family
Lady Plastow
Lord and Lady Remnant
Andy Rogers and Stuart O’Donnell
George and Veronique Seligman
Robin and Sarah Thorne
Professor Michael and Dame Jenifer Trimble
Sara and Tim Watkins and anonymous donors
THE PROMPT CORNER
Georgina Agnew
Charles and Clare Alexander
The Hon Mrs Susan Baring OBE
Geoffrey Barnett
Peter and Valerie Bedford
Julian and Jane Benson
Anthony and Emma Bird
Judy Bishop
Nick and Sue Brougham
Mark Burrows AO
Tom and Elizabeth Busher
Michael and Linda Campbell
George and Anne Carter
Chris Carter and Stuart Donachie
Giles and Heather Chipperfield
Jane Clarke
Pru de Lavison
Simon and Noni de Zoete
Felicity Fairbairn
Tim and Rosie Forbes
Lindsey Gardener
David and Bridget Glasgow
Malcolm and Mary Hogg
Sue Humphrey
Andrew and Kay Hunter Johnston
Graham and Amanda Hutton
Diane Katsiaficas
Mr and Mrs Jean-Paul Luksic
Lyon Family Charitable Trust
Sir Richard and Lady Mantle
John and Pat Marden
Alison Mayne
The McLaren Trust
Dr and Mrs Jonathan Moore
Ian and Jane Morrison
Michelle Nevers and Nathan Moss
David and Angela Moss
Charles Parker
Sir Desmond and Lady Norma Pitcher
Hugh Priestley
K A Radcliffe
Neil and Julie Record
Stephen Riley and Victoria Burch
James and Lygo Roberts
Mrs Pierre Rostand
Dr Edward Rowland
Alicia Salter
Ginny and Richard Salter
Alex and So Scott-Barrett
Nigel Silby
Marcus and Sarah Stanton
Peter and Sarah Vey
Mr Niko Vidovich
Edward and Katherine Wake
Marion Wake
Johanna Waterous CBE and Roger Parry CBE
Clare Williams
Mary Rose and Charles Wood and anonymous donors
THE ROSTRUM
Mrs Rosemary Alexander
Chris and Denise Amery
David and Jane Anderson
Richard Baker
Mrs Rupert Beaumont
Adrian Berrill-Cox
Simon and Julia Boadle
Mrs Sheila Gay Bradley
Nicholas and Carol Brigstocke
Alison and Michael Brindle KC
Adam and Sarah Broke
Tony and Mo Brooking
Hugh and Sue Brown
Mrs Maurice Buxton
Peter and Auriol Byrne
Ian Clarkson and Richard Morris
Dr and Mrs Peter Collins
Dr Neville Conway
Anthony and Daryll Cooke
David and Nikki Cowley
Johnny and Liz Cowper-Coles
Lady Curtis
Baron and Baroness de Styrcea
Patrick and Nikki Despard
Julia P Ellis
Alun Evans
Iris Dell’Acqua and Alex Fisher
Michael and Nicola Fitzgerald
Mrs Andrea Frears
Alan and Valerie Frost
Richard Gabbertas
Jillian Ede and David Gendron
William Gething
Jenny Gove
Jane and Charlie Graham
Andrew Green
Alistair and Jenny Groom
Max and Catherine Hadfield
Allyson Hall
Melanie Hall
Edward and Rosie Harford
Mark and Sarah Holford
Linda and Peter Hollins
Diane Hume
Peter and Morag James
John and Sara Jervoise
Nigel and Cathy Johnson-Hill
Mr and Mrs Bill Lawes
Harry and Amelia Le May
Roger and Natalie Lee
Derek and Susie Lintott
Ian and Jane Macnabb
Charles and Sue Marriott
Fairhurst Estates
Brigid McManus
Mrs Primrose Metcalf
Brian and Bernadette Metters
Kate and Malcolm Moir
David and Alison Moore-Gwyn
Diana and Nigel Morris
Jonathan Newman
Charles and Martie Nicholson
Roy and Carole Oldham
Lavinia and Nick Owen
Robin Pauley
John and Judy Polak
The Countess of Portsmouth
Mrs C Rainey
John and Virginia Raymond
Sir Martin Read and Dr Marian Gilbart Read
Miles and Vivian Roberts
Dr Angela Gallop CBE and Mr David Russell
Charles and Caroline Scott
Tom Seabrook
Jeremy and Sarah Sillem
Mim Smith
Dr Anthony Smoker
Diana and David Sommerville
David and Unni Spiller
Dr and Mrs Ralph Stephenson
Mrs Patricia Taylor
A H Thomlinson
Elaine and James Tickell
George and Lucinda Tindley
Sir Tom and Lady Troubridge
Dr Kevin and Mrs Ruchanee Tuffnell
Clive and Tessa Tulloch
Mr and Mrs James Vernon
Magali and Henri Wagner
Sandra and Paul Walker
David and Meriel Walton
Penelope Williams
James and Sarah Williams
The Winser family and anonymous donors
THE WINGS
Mrs Julia Abbott
Philippa Abell
Daphne and John Alderson
Charles and Victoria Arthur
Dr Richard Ashton
Claire Bailey
Michael and Louise Baines
Kim and John Barrett
Paul and Janet Batchelor
David Baxendale
Anne Beckwith-Smith
Nicholas Berwin
Mike and Sarah Bignell
Annabel and Alverne Bolitho
Charles and Ann Bonney
Charles and Patricia Brims
Penny and Robin Broadhurst
Robin and Jill Broadley
Richard Butler Adams
The Carter Family
Belinda and Jason Chaffer
Alan Chance
Suzie Chesham
Simon Clift
Mrs Laurence Colchester
Michael and Virginia Collett
Gill Collymore
Henrietta Cooke
Diana Cornish
Julia and Stephen Crompton
Peter and Pamela Davidson
Sir John and Lady de Trafford
Elizabeth Dean
Dr Graham and Janna Dudding
Hugh and Christina Dumas
Christina and Andrew Dykes
Sir James Eadie
David and Jennie Wilson
Robert and Mary Elkington
David and Susan Elton
Elaine Fear and Sol Mead
Nicholas and Jane Ferguson
The Fischer Fund
Simon and Hilke Fisher
Andrew and Lucinda Fleming
Jules and Jonathan Flory
J A Floyd Charitable Trust
Mr and Mrs John Foster
Sir Robert and Lady Francis
Rod and Marie Franks
Andrew Gamble
Diane Gibbons
Brett and Caroline Gill
Dr David Glynn
Philippa and Charlie Goodall
Dr Stephen Goss
Gill Graham Maw
Charles Grant
Robin and Gilly Greenwood
Richard and Marguerite Griffith-Jones
Felicity Guinness and Simon Ricketts
Susanna Hardman
Maggie Heath
David and Odette Henderson
John and Catherine Hickman
Will and Janine Hillary
Alan Hoaksey
Mr and Mrs I F Hodgson
Daniel and Diana Hodson
H R Holland
Denzil How
Mrs William Howard
Luke and Polly Hughes
Robert Hugill and David Hughes
David and Wendy Hunter
Allan and Rachel James
John and Jan Jarvis
Professor and Mrs J Jennings
Scot and Sally Johnston
Penelope Kellie
Michael and Julia Kerby
Martin and Clare Knight
Dr and Mrs S Knights
Beth and Peter Lamb
John and Joanna Lang
Simon and Sarah Lavers
James and Jan Lawrie
Patricia H Le Flufy
Caroline and David Lentaigne
Paul and Diana Leonard
Lighthouse
Anthony and Fiona Littlejohn
James and Susie Long
Brigadier and Mrs
Desmond Longfield
Pamela and Peter Macklin
JJ and Victoria Macnamara
Bill and Sue Main
Dwight and Jenny Makins
Stephen Mallet and Susan Hamilton
Andrew Marchant
Frances Marsden
Anthony and Sarah McWhirter
Nigel and Maria Melville
Sarah and David Melville
Paul and Emily Michael
Sylvia Mills
Ann and Bill Monk
Christopher Napier
Tom and Ros Nell
Lady Bridget Nixon
Steve Norris
Lord and Lady Northbrook
A O’Connor
Denise Osborn
Colin and Rosalind Osmer
C A and P M Palmer-Tomkinson
Michael and Sally Payton
Richard and Michelle Pelly
Caroline Perry
Jeremy and Bryony Pett
Mr and Mrs Julio Pinna-Griffith
Charles and Catherine Powell
Nigel and Vicky Prescot
Charles and Tineke Pugh
Tony and Etta Pullinger
Christopher and Phillida Purvis
Jane and Douglas Rae
Andreas Raffel
Christopher and Sheila Richards
Dr Lynne Ridler-Wall
The Rev’ds Tana and Royston Riviere
Trevor and Deborah Roberts
James and Catharine Robertson
Annie Robertson
Alan Sainer
Simon and Abigail Sargent
Charles and Donna Scott
Hugh and Patricia Sergeant
Mary and Thoss Shearer
David and Rebecca Sheppard
Julian Slater
Jock and Annie Slater
Lady Snyder
Andrew and Jill Soundy
Brian and Henrietta Stevens
Jeremy and Phyllida Stoke
Canon Ron and Dr Celia Swan
Tom and Jo Taylor
Jeremy H Taylor and Raye Ward
Hugh and Sandy Thomas
Simon and Mary Troughton
Rupert Villers
Nick and Holly Villiers
Anthony and Sue Walker
Mrs Jane Wallace
Baroness Warwick
Alison Welch
Mrs Elizabeth Wells
Peter and Alexandra White
Hamish and Elisabeth Williams
Keith and Keren Williams
Jane Williams
Peter and Lissa Wilson
Jilly Wise
Jane Wood
Richard and Noely Worthington
Paul and Sybella Zisman and anonymous donors
THE FOOTLIGHTS
Jamie Adams and Madeline Hutton
Pelham and Janet Allen
The Amar-Franses and Foster-Jenkins Trust
P and C Appleby
Martin Armstrong
Julie and Keith Attfield
Mr and Mrs Michael Hobson
Louise Baird
Marie and Michael Bakowski
Caroline Barber
Mr and Mrs Bartholomew Sefi
Mr and Mrs D Bartle
Tim Battcock
Christina Belloc Lowndes
Paul and Pam Bennett
John and Anne Bevan
Mark Birrell
Juliet Blackburn
Mrs Jean Boney KC
Joanna Boxer
Branko Bozic
Marcel and Judith Bradbury
David Bramwell
David and Diana Briggs
Mr and Mrs J M Britton
Robert Brodrick
Charles and Amanda Bromfield
David Buchler
Russell Burdekin
Mark Burgess
Penelope Burley
Terri Burman
Carl Calvert
Jim Carroll
Frances Carver
Jeremy and Kate Cave
Neil Chrimes
Caroline Clark
Henry and Louise Clay
The Clemson Family
Capt and Mrs C K D Cobley
Tim Cockerill
Richard and Verity Coleman
Prof Richard Collin
Philip and Rosemary Collins
Rosie and Derek Collinson
Elisabeth Colquhoun
D Connolly
Richard and Sindy Coppin
Erica and Neil Cosburn
J A Cox
Lin and Ken Craig
Nick Thomas and Eleanor Cranmer
David and Jane Crawshaw
Melissa Crawshay-Williams
Philippa Crosse and Simon Hopkins
Jill Cundy and Alan Padbury
Lois Dando
Andrew Davidson and Rosina Cottage
Mike and Suzette Davis
Ashley de Safrin and Nick Swan
Linda and Hugo Deschampsneufs
Mr and Mrs Dinkeldein
Carl and Mary Dore
Jonathan and Lynn Dowson
Jean-Philippe Duranthon
Mrs Claire Durtnall
Clive and Alison Earl
Mrs Sherry Edmondson
Mark and Margaret Edwards
Mr and Mrs John Ellard
Martin and Rachel Ellis
Hugh Elwes
Rob and Anne England
Dr Gillian Fargher
Mrs Christopher Ferrer
O Fetherston-Dilke
Ron and Meg Finlayson
Gabriel Fisher
Giles and ’Wenna Fletcher
Andrew Foot and Michael Hart
David and Elizabeth French
Jo Gammell
Jamie Gammon
Howard Gatiss
Robert and Ginna Gayner
Carol Geddes
Jane Skelton and Richard Geoghegan
Alan and Mary Gibbins
Michael Godbee
Dr Stephen Golding
Colin and Letts Goodwin
Sam and Jane Gordon Clark
RJG
Canon John Green
Mr Andrew Greystoke
Mr and Mrs M Griffin
Alex and Isabelle Griffith
James and Sophie Grillo
Mr and Mrs A Groom
C Guth
Mr and Mrs Tichy
Robert and Elizabeth Haldane
Dilys Hall
John and Margaret Hall
Helen and Richard Hall
Peter and Romy Halliwell
A J Halsey
Rosemary Hamilton
J M Hardigg
Helen and Philip Heims
Shirley Hemstock
Roger Holden
Ron Holmes
Christopher and Marianne Hopton
Penelope Horner
Mrs Jane L Hough
Colin and Irene House
Delphina and Francis Howard
Linda Infelise
Simon and Lucy James
Neil and Elizabeth Johnson
James Joll
Henry and Betty Jones
Alison and Jamie Justham
Rohini Karve
Mae Keary
John and Jennifer Kelly
Jocelyn Kennard
Oliver and Sally Kinsey
Victoria Kleiner
E Labram
Barry Laden MBE and David W Kidd
Madi and David Laurence
Jane Lavers
Sue Leach
Simone and Roger LeBoff
Carola and Adam Lee
Nicky Levy
Simon Littlewood
David Livermore
James and Samantha Livingston
Mr Trefor Llewellyn
Michael Llewellyn
Louise Locock
Simon and Irène Loftus
Sue Logan
V Lowings and B Cozens
Tim and Rosanne Lowry
Deborah Luff
Stephen and Karen MacDonald
Victoria Mackintosh
Catherine Maddock
Richard and Renata Mair
Vesna Mandic-Bozic
Trish and Jeff Mardon
Chris and Clem Martin
Nigel and Sue Masters
William and Felicity Mather
Louise Matlock
Nicky Maxted
Mr and Mrs James McGill
John McVittie
Stephen Meldrum
Mr and Mrs Tim Messom
Judith and Theo Mezger
Elaine and Peter Mills
Nicholas and Charlotte Morley
Christabel Myers
Sara Nangle
Amanda Nash
Dr Christopher Nobes
Geoffrey Nobes
Michael and Adeline Nolan
Chris Nutting
Steven and Hilary Oldham
Dr Cecily O’Neill
Tina & James Osborne
Sue and Ken Osman
Adrienne Page KC
Colin and Judy Patrick
David Pearmain
Mr and Mrs Penfold
Anthony and Sally Pfiffner
Mr Robert Phillips
Christopher Pilkington
Geoffrey and Jan Planer
Anthony Powell
Graham Prain
David and Jacqueline Protheroe
Mr and Mrs Pugh
John Pugh-Smith
Stephen Purse
Dick and Fiona Rainsbury
Alan and Judy Ratner
Dr John Rea
Anne Reynolds
Florence and Robert Rice
Dr Peter Richardson
Brenda Jane Pettifer
Dick Richmond
Nerys Roberts
Roger and Geraldine Robinson
James and Sue Robinson
Sarah Rose
Deborah Roslund
Mr and Mrs Jeremy Rothman
Robert Ryan
Mr Peter Saunders and Mrs Jeannine Lindt Saunders
The Dowager Countess of Selborne
Katherine Sellon
Mattie Silman
Caroline and Mark Silver
Angie Simonds
Christopher and Lucie Sims
Annie Skipwith
Dorcas Slaney
The Shenker Smiths
Gill and Barry Smith
Nicholas and Caroline Spearing
John Stanning
Sarah and Richard Staveley
Richard George Stead
Kate Mather
Marilyn Stock
Richard and Sue Stockton
Fiona and Toby Stubbs
Stephen Taylor
Stephen Tedbury and Loveday Shewell
David Templeman
Mr and Mrs Roger ter Haar
L M Tew
Jeffrey and Jane Theaker
Sue Thomas
Mr and Mrs P M Thomas
David and Joanna Thomas
Jonathan Thompson
Michael and Cara Thomson
Mrs A J Thorman
Mark Tousey
Mrs K Truscott
Sylvia Turner
James A Turtle
Barbara-Ann Tweedie
Edward Vandyk
Roland Vernon
Charles and Elizabeth Vyvyan
Mr and Mrs Edward Wakefield
Mark and Rachel Waller
Mr and Mrs Walsh
Anthony and Jane Ward
Nicholas Warren and Catherine Graham-Harrison
Garry and Dessi Watts
Georgina Wells and Ruben Bhagobati
Josephine Westby
Judith Wheatley
The Whittington Family
Jackie Wilkinson
Anne Williams
Mrs G C Williams
Paul Williams
Graeme Wilson
Angela Winwood
Bob and Felicity Wood
Sue and Stuart Woodward
Andy and Caroline Wright and anonymous donors
Laidlaw Opera Trust
FESTIVAL LEGACIES
Phillip Arnold and Ann Andrews
Mrs Sheila Gay Bradley
Lord and Lady Bridges
John Farr
Catherine and Jón Ferrier
David and Patricia Houghton
Nigel and Cathy Johnson-Hill
David McLellan
Heleen Mendl-Schrama
Michael and Cathy Pearman
Andy Rogers and Stuart O’Donnell and anonymous donors
CORPS DE BALLET PIONEERS
The Allenby Sisters
Nigel Beale and Anthony Lowrey
Peter and Valerie Bedford
Justin and Celeste Bickle
Sarah Bunting
David and Simone Caukill
Carl Cullingford
Robina and Alastair Farley
Peter and Judith Foy
Sir Charles and Lady Haddon-Cave
Roger and Kate Holmes
Mr and Mrs Morgan Krone
Martin and Caroline Moore
Charles Parker
Stephen and Isobel Parkinson
Mrs Adam Quarry
Sir Simon and Lady Robertson
Kristina Rogge
Gail and David Sinclair
Graeme and Sue Sloan
Lou and John Verrill and anonymous donors
THE GRANGE FESTIVAL LEARNING
Geoffrey Barnett
Lady Conran
Baron and Baroness de Styrcea
The Dyers’ Company
Martin and Rachel Ellis
Tim and Rosie Forbes
The Hampshire Fair Ltd
Claire and Herman Hintzen
Peter and Morag James
Kerslake Robshaw Foundation
John and Alison Mayne
Ian and Jane Morrison
John and Judy Polak
The Witheren Foundation and anonymous donors
THE YOUNG ARTISTS FUND
David and Simone Caukill
Giles and Heather Chipperfield
Joan Clark, in memory of Graham
Tim and Rosie Forbes
Clive and Virginia Lloyd
Patrick Mitford-Slade
Nick and Julie Parker
Roger and Virginia Phillimore
Jonathan and Gillian Pickering
Bernard Sunley Foundation
Andrew and Tracy Wickham and anonymous donors
2025 MATCHED GIVING CAMPAIGN
Georgina Agnew
Richard and Patricia Bayley
Rosamund Bernays
Anthony Davis
Alun Evans
O Fetherston-Dilke
Tim and Rosie Forbes
Tom and Sarah Floyd
Gini Gabbertas
Lindsey Gardener
David and Patricia Houghton
David Kempton
Sir Richard and Lady Mantle
David and Alison Moore-Gwyn
Simon and Abigail Sargent
John and Christine Thornton
Di Threlfall
Mr and Mrs James Vernon
Helen Webb
Clare Williams and anonymous donors
PRODUCTION AND SINGER SUPPORT
Tim Ashley and John Booth
Robert and Fiona Boyle
The Consuelo and Anthony
Brooke Charitable Trust
Rosamond Brown
Club Figaro
Delancey
Tim and Rosie Forbes
Gini Gabbertas
Richard and Judy Haes
Herman and Claire Hintzen
Belinda and Jean-Paul Luksic
Joe and Minnie MacHale
Stephen and Isobel Parkinson
Jonathan and Gillian Pickering
Tim and Charlotte Syder and anonymous donors
OTHER GENEROUS DONATIONS
Tim Ashley and John Booth
Rosamond Brown
Richard and Rosamund Bernays
Tim and Rosie Forbes
Joe and Minnie MacHale
Jonathan and Gillian Pickering
Richard and Iona Priestley
Tim and Charlotte Syder
The Witheren Foundation and anonymous donors
Kynance Fine Art has pleasure in supporting The Grange Festival
KFA/David Kempton offer a fine selection of Modern British Art which can be viewed on www.kynancefineart.com or by appointment in Kensington or Winchester.
▲ JOHN MA CLAUGHLAN MILNE RSA (1886–1957)
Une Promenade dans le parc
⊲ WILLIAM GEAR RA RBSA (1915–1997)
Abstract Composition
⊳ IVON HITCHENS (1893–1979)
Sussex River, Evening Sky
▼ EDWARD SEAGO RBA ARWS RWS (1893–1979)
The Two Bridges, Venice
Other artists include Christopher Wood, Frederick Gore, Graham Sutherland, Lucien Pissarro, Gilbert Spencer, George Leslie Hunter, Sir John Lavery, Sir John Kyffin Williams.
Please contact 07836 609200 | Email: dk@kemptonholdings.com
Other artists include Christopher Wood, Frederick Gore, Graham Sutherland, Lucien Pissarro, Gilbert Spencer, George Leslie Hunter, Sir John Lavery, Sir John Kyffin Williams.
www.kynancefineart.com
The Grange Festival’s education and impact initiatives bring high-quality, accessible arts experiences to young people, educators, and communitiesespecially in under-resourced areas.
Through creative projects, we inspire imagination, build life skills, and empower the next generation to thrive in a changing world.
When foundations are right, legacies last.
Phillips Law proudly supports this timeless legacy of opera and the arts.
Whether you’re honouring a loved one, celebrating your passion for the arts, or helping to secure the Festival’s future, a named seat is a lasting gesture.
You’ll be supporting more than just a seat. You’ll be supporting emerging artists, education projects, and the next chapter in our growth. You’ll be helping us share world-class performances with new and diverse audiences.
Librettist Francesco Maria Piave | Sung in Italian with English surtitles by Kenneth Chalmers 4, 7, 14, 21, 24, 27 June | 4, 6 July
Conductor Richard Farnes
Director Maxine Braham
Designer Jamie Vartan
Lighting Designer Johanna Town
Violetta Valéry Samantha Clarke
Alfredo Germont Nico Darmanin
Giorgio Germont Dario Solari
Flora Bervoix Annie Reilly
Marquis D’Obigny Leo Selleck
Baron Douphol Peter Edge
Doctor Grenvil Peter Lidbetter
Gastone Sam Marston
Annina Isabel Garcia Araujo
Giuseppe Samuel Kibble
BOURNEMOUTH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
Leader Amyn Merchant
Chorus Master William Vann
Assistant Conductor Valeria Racco
Assistant Director Rachel Wise
Assistant Choreographer Monica Dominguez
Repetiteur Chad Vindin
Production Manager Tom Nickson
Costume Supervisor Alexa Moore
This production is supported by Joe and Minnie MacHale | Tim Ashley and John Booth
The edition of La traviata used in these performances is published by G Ricordi & Co. (London) Ltd.
Paris 1850s, Violetta’s Salon.
To follow…
Violetta, the exquisite courtesan of Baron Douphol, throws a grand party after a period of illness. Her salon is opulent and, as was the fashion, decorated with commissioned canvasses of Violetta painted as heroines from the Bible and antiquity. She is introduced to Alfredo by her friend Gastone and is astonished to learn that Alfredo came every day during her illness to enquire about her health. Whilst going in to supper Violetta feels ill, but tells her guests to continue without her. Alfredo stays behind to care for her and declares his love to her. Violetta is initially mocking and incredulous, but gradually Alfredo convinces her of his sincerity. She sends him away, but he extracts her permission to return the flower she has given him the next day.
Everyone comes back after supper explaining they must leave. Once alone, Violetta wrestles with her warring emotions. Could true love ever be possible for a courtesan, or would it be a disaster to embark on such a fantasy? Eventually Violetta convinces herself to continue in Paris’ whirl of luxurious pleasures and not to follow her heart.
Three months later. A villa by the sea. Violetta and Alfredo have escaped from Paris to a secret love nest. Alfredo discovers from Annina, Violetta’s maid, that Violetta has been discreetly selling her possessions to pay for their new home. Deeply ashamed Alfredo leaves for Paris to rectify the situation.
Violetta returns with paintings from her Paris house which she plans to sell. Alfredo’s father, Père Germont, arrives unexpectedly. He demands that Violetta leave Alfredo. Père Germont explains that Alfredo’s sister cannot marry because of the moral stain the relationship with Violetta has brought upon his family. Unmoved by the fact that Violetta will soon die from her illness, he rejects her offer to leave Alfredo for a short while to allow his sister to be married. Père Germont explains that God has sent him to ask her to leave Alfredo forever and requests “Siate di mia famiglia l’angel consolatore” (be the consoling angel for my family – by leaving it). Violetta’s dream of redemptive love collapses and she realises her redemption will be only through the sacrifice of that which she treasures most –Alfredo. She agrees to end the relationship and Père Germont leaves her but waits in the garden. Whilst writing her farewell letter to him, Alfredo returns. Violetta swears her enduring love to him and leaves for Paris. A messenger arrives with Violetta’s letter to Alfredo telling him that she is leaving him. Père Germont comes in from the garden to comfort his son, but Alfredo is inconsolable. He finds the discarded invitation to Flora’s party and suspecting she has returned to the Baron, Alfredo pursues Violetta to Paris, his heart bent on revenge.
INTERVAL (90 minutes)
Paris, Flora’s Party. News has reached Paris that Violetta and Alfredo have separated.
Gastone co-ordinates the Spanish themed party entertainments he has organised – The Romani and The Matadors. Everyone is astonished to see Alfredo at the party. Violetta arrives with the Baron and the tension at the gambling tables builds as the rivals – the Baron and Alfredo – play against one another. After supper is announced Violetta anxiously waits to see if Alfredo will come to talk with her as her note requested.
Alfredo demands she return home with him and when she replies that she has made a sacred oath and cannot, he summons the entire party as witnesses. He states he will pay his debts to Violetta and publicly humiliates her. Père Germont arrives and castigates his son for such disrespectful behaviour to a woman. The Baron challenges Alfredo to a duel to avenge Alfredo’s mistreatment of his mistress. The distraught Alfredo leaves to travel abroad.
Carnival week – Mardi Gras, Violetta’s house in Paris. Violetta’s illness has progressed terribly. She is desperately poor with only Annina as her loyal companion. The sole possession she retains from her Paris salon is the portrait of her painted as Saint Mary Magdalen, whose image is a great comfort to her. When speaking with Violetta, the Doctor is optimistic about her recovery, but he tells Annina the truth – Violetta has a few hours to live.
Alone, Violetta re-reads her treasured letter from Père Germont. He writes that he has told Alfredo how he convinced Violetta to sacrifice her love for the sake of the family. He also promises that Alfredo will return from his travels to ask her forgiveness. Violetta rails against the lack of time she has left. Disorientated by her illness, the vivacious sounds of the Carnival Baccanale heighten her sense of life slipping away
Alfredo arrives and Violetta ecstatically welcomes his return as a miracle. Violetta attempts to go to church to give thanks, but is too weak. She rages against her fate. Père Germont and the doctor arrive. Violetta suddenly finds the strength to stand, as though her love for Alfredo has caused another miracle – her own recovery, but the progression of her disease is implacable.
In La traviata, Verdi weaves an original path between shocking novelty and tradition
By the early 1850s, Giuseppe Verdi was famous, accomplished and financially secure, and this gave him the confidence to consider taking a bit of a risk with his next opera. His celebrity status in Europe rendered him almost flameproof, he had become a national treasure at home, his music adopted for the cause of Italian Unification (especially the celebrated Hebrew Slaves’ chorus, in Nabucco), and he was just approaching the peak of his very considerable powers. Gruff and independent-minded at the best of times, he cared little for the expectations of others and his initial drafts of operas frequently fell foul of the censors. His personal life, too, had raised a few eyebrows: he openly lived with a mistress who had a chequered past and illegitimate children, and he made no secret of his disdain for organised religion. This combination of personal success and mild contempt for establishment values, together with his genuine desire to extend the boundaries of his craft, led him in 1852 to embark on a project that was going to ruffle more feathers than anything he had previously attempted. Wounded by social slurs directed at his beloved Giuseppina Strepponi (because the couple were not married), and infuriated by the hypocrisy of a society that simultaneously permitted and reviled a culture of prostitution, he allowed his irritation to spill onto the staves by crafting his next opera around the character of a high class courtesan. Worse still, he intended to set the show in a contemporary context, with modern dress, based on a novel and play that had scandalised even licentious Paris. Aside from sex workers, the plot would include gambling, revelry, gypsy dancing, unbridled drinking, an unmarried couple living together, and a centrepiece lovers’ tiff, witnessed, to the embarrassment of all, by the entire company. One can sense Verdi’s glee as he submitted his latest work to the Venetian censors. He was deliberately holding up a mirror to a society with double standards; but he also suspected that his irresistible heroine would appal and enthral audiences in equal measure. ‘Ban me if you dare,’ was the subtext that accompanied the cocksure composer’s new submission. He had often in the past threatened to walk away and retire from music altogether. He might just do so again.
But his choice of subject matter was not all swagger and provocation. He had learnt from experience that a sure way to elicit a strong emotional response from an audience was – initially, at least – to shock them. He had just done it with Rigoletto, creating a character who at face value was a faintly ridiculous hunchback jester, but whose inner life was fired by profound love and passion. No gods, warriors, pillars of
history, biblical colossi, or momentous heroics to be found there. Nor in La traviata, which was based on Alexandre Dumas fils’ autobiographical play about his own affair with a well-known Parisian courtesan. Verdi used the contemporary setting, with its bourgeois characters, its intimate city salons, and pleasant country houses, to demonstrate that it was possible for traditional operatic themes such as human nobility, personal sacrifice and subliminal passion to be played out in a drama that resembled real life, warts and all. He was in fact laying the foundations of the operatic generation that came after him, with composers like Mascagni, Leoncavallo, Giordano, and Puccini. It would become known as Verismo because it took musical drama to new, fiercely realistic heights.
However, despite the modern relevance and shocking realism, Verdi was also, in a way, just updating a repackaging some familiar operatic building blocks of the past. We still have the well-used triangle formula of soprano, tenor, and baritone principals, pulling in different directions, whose interests and pressures set the dramatic parameters within which the various inter-personal tensions play out. We still have a plot centred on an overarching love between a man and a woman that defies fate and circumstances and is prepared to take on death itself. The expectations of an audience steeped in Romantic theatre would have been comfortably met by such deliberately contrived characters and plot. But La traviata does go deeper than the monochrome predictability of its precursors, and the key to its greater subtlety and psychological depth lies in the character of Violetta Valéry, the central protagonist. On the one hand, at the opening of the drama, we have Violetta, the frothy, pleasure-loving, and morally reprehensible courtesan, whose first appearance on stage would have landed like a smack in the face to so-called polite society members of the audience. But something magical happens in the next couple of hours, and by the end Violetta emerges bathed in almost holy pity and sympathy. The truly reprehensible characters on stage are in fact the dubious gentlemen who finance her ill-spent life, and one particular gentleman who compels this woman of integrity to sacrifice the only true love she has ever known for the sake of social embarrassment. The frivolous party girl comes through at the last as a not unconventional operatic heroine possessed of great moral fibre. Unquestionably, the branding of women as either sluts or madonnas is a dichotomy representative of a kind of patriarchal misogyny prevalent at the time, but the particular journey that Verdi bestows on Violetta is pure alchemy.
What precipitates her transformation? In the first act she is the embodiment of high society sophistication: witty, hospitable, beautiful (of course), well-connected and sparkling company. But it is an elaborate masquerade, a decorative but fragile veneer, waiting to be shattered. The two factors that cause her former self to collapse are her incipient illness and the unfettered declaration of love expressed by a complete stranger, Alfredo Germont, someone who has landed on her turf out of the blue and who causes her façade to implode. Her life of superficial indulgence comes to an end, and she reinvents herself as a monogamous, dutiful, devoted country spouse (in all but name). Her weaknesses – physical and emotional – are the chinks whereby she begins to discover her higher self. She even sells her old trinkets, without a second thought, to finance her precious and apparently innocent new life with Alfredo. The sobriety of her consequent encounter with Alfredo’s stern father, and the heartbreaking conclusions that derive from that meeting contrast starkly with the gaiety of the earlier Parisian scene, both dramatically and musically, and reveal the depth of character transformation that Verdi was engineering for his heroine. But it is not enough for her just to cast off her wicked past and become a reformed character. No, this is Italian opera, and in some ways formulaic: Violetta must be punished for her sins and must ultimately die in order to earn redemption. And so, after a brief expression of pain and resistance, she sees the greater good and concedes to Germont’s demands, thereby showing her calibre and resolving to sacrifice her life with Alfredo, for the sake of others.
After Violetta’s subsequent, unhappy return to Paris, she ascends to a third level of character transformation. Having graduated from courtesan to devoted spouse, she is now apotheosised as a creature almost angelic – again, unfortunately, embodying a female archetype, as conceived by a mid-nineteenth century Italian Catholic patriarchy. For example, she sings of retreating to church to give thanks for Alfredo’s return, she distributes her money to the poor outside her door, she absolves Germont, the architect of her downfall, and she envisages her future as an angel in heaven, looking down protectively on those she has left
behind. In short, she becomes the Christian personification of a Magdalen-type fallen woman redeemed: made good, ready, adorned, and attired to meet her maker on the other side.
These successive stages of character development were not merely devised to serve the expectations of an audience hungry for a rich, moralistic operatic dénouement. They also allowed Verdi to do justice to musical conventions of the day, by giving his soprano the opportunity to show off the full range of her vocal accomplishments. First, we have the mercurial, fluid, coloratura fireworks of her early self, while still enjoying a life of extravagant folly; then we have the forthright melodic drama of her newfound steel and altruism; and finally we have her etheric, plaintive, legato vocal lines, as she fades and takes on almost divine properties. All three display Verdi’s exemplary proficiency in the composition of traditional bel canto, as befitted a maestro of his standing, and as would have been expected by his audiences.
Despite a disastrous premiere at La Fenice opera house in Venice, and despite (or because of) some prudishly moralising reviews, La traviata quickly became a huge hit, principally because audiences (as Verdi had rightly gambled) were drawn by the shock value of the drama’s context and modern setting. But they were also gratified because it served them exactly what they wanted: not only magnificent tunes and vocal virtuosity, but a drama that celebrated moral fortitude, that induced profound pity and placed altruism and personal sacrifice above the glitter of passing pleasure. The sad but uplifting journey of Verdi’s unlikely heroine touched their hearts, and audiences would emerge after performances with tears in their eyes but also with a sense of elevation in their grief for Violetta, as if touched by her benedictory message: that principled rectitude was a painful but righteous path, one that might help to cleanse this flawed and wicked world.
Roland Vernon
Roland Vernon is an English writer of novels, biographies of musicians, and Star in the East, a biography of the philosopher Jiddu Krishnamurti.
“First, we have the mercurial, fluid, coloratura fireworks of her early self, while still enjoying a life of extravagant folly; then we have the forthright melodic drama of her newfound steel and altruism; and finally we have her etheric, plaintive, legato vocal lines, as she fades and takes on almost divine properties”
The woman whose story was first immortalised in Alexandre Dumas’s La Dame aux Camélias, and then in Verdi’s opera La traviata, was a French courtesan called Marie Duplessis.
Born plain Alphonsine Plessis into rural obscurity in Normandy in 1824, her father, Marin Plessis, was a travelling tinker, the illegitimate son of a priest and a peasant girl. Her mother, Marie Deshayes, was the last of a respectable but impoverished family. The marriage was an unhappy one, and when Alphonsine was a very small child, her mother abandoned her, leaving her in the uncertain care of a female relative. While the details of her early life tend to vary according to the teller, it seems that when she was still in her teens, she was prostituted to an older man, very possibly by her own father. Later, she made her way to Paris (according to one of the more fanciful versions of her life, travelling in company with a band of gypsies to whom she had been sold) where she found employment as a shopgirl. A young woman of outstanding beauty – one of her lovers, the composer Franz Liszt, considered her “the most absolute incarnation of Woman who has ever existed” – she was not destined for the life of a Parisian grisette for long. Soon she became the kept mistress of a well-known Parisian restauranteur, while a golden chain of other richer and more aristocratic lovers soon followed in quick succession.
By the time Alphonsine met Alexandre Dumas, in September 1844, she was already one of the city’s most celebrated courtesans, having reinvented herself as the more refined sounding ‘Marie Duplessis’. Dumas was the illegitimate son of the famous Alexandre Dumas père (he of The Three Musketeers fame). Tall, blonde and handsome, Dumas fils was already a familiar if rakish figure in the cafés and gaming rooms of Paris. Despite already having a much older and richer protector, Marie quickly took Dumas as her amant de coeur. Although neither was to be the great love of each other’s life, when La Dame aux Camélias was published soon after her early death by consumption a few years later, the novel was widely regarded as a roman à clef, with Marie appearing in the guise of Marguerite Gautier, and Dumas himself as Armand.
While the story of their doomed love, and of Marguerite’s redemption though self-sacrifice, is a literary invention of Dumas’s own (in real life, their affair lasted less than a year and Dumas broke with her, most unchivalrously, by letter) the details of a courtesan’s life that he provides for his readers are drawn from the most vivid of lived experiences, and was this that gave the story its special frisson. When La Dame aux Camélias was first published in 1848 it caused a sensation.
Falling in the shadow land somewhere between mistress and prostitute, a courtesan was unambiguously a ‘professional’ woman, but one whose gifts of company and conversation, of wit and intelligence as well as of erotic pleasure, were only ever bestowed upon a favoured few. These men paid fabulous, often ruinous, sums for the privilege. A courtesan was the ultimate status symbol, and in order to keep her position she knew they had to live up to the part. Women such as Marie Duplessis spent stupendous sums not only on their houses and carriages, but also on their wardrobes and their lingerie; while their toilettes de boudoir, a mode of dress which they more or less invented, were at this period elevated almost to an art form. A single one of these marvellous confections of gold-embroidered satin and yards of exquisite tumbling lace could cost as much as 3,000 francs. In the novel, this sum represents Armand’s entire yearly allowance. A single camelia cost three francs, more than the average daily wage for a working-class woman.
Mid-nineteenth century Paris was the golden age of courtesans. For all that, an impenetrable barrier divided their world from the rest of society. Despite the apparent glamour of her life, once a woman had crossed over the invisible line, from the monde to the demi-monde, there was no turning back.
“A great deal of mystery was made about these ladies of the “half-world”,” wrote one contemporary Englishwoman, Lady Augusta Fane. “In conversation they were only mentioned in private and in a whisper… It was an unheard of thing for any respectable dame to acknowledge that she knew such ladies existed.”
Naturally, the greater the secrecy, the greater the fascination. La Dame aux Camélias begins with a scene taken in its entirety from real life. Marguerite Gautier has just died, and her possessions are being auctioned off to pay her debts. Her apartment is crowded with society ladies, “for if there is one thing that these ladies of fashion desire to see above all else… It is the rooms occupied by those women who have carriages which spatter their own with mud every day of the week, who have their boxes at the Opera or the Théâtre-Italien just as they do, and indeed next to theirs, and who display for all Paris to see the insolent opulence of their beauty, diamonds and shameless conduct.” Death, the narrator explains, “has purified the air of this glittering den of iniquity,” and even “the most virtuous of ladies were thus able to go everywhere, even into the bedroom.” They would always be able to say, he adds, that they had done “no more than come to a sale without knowing whose rooms these were.”
For a woman of good upbringing to deviate even in the slightest from this unwritten societal rule would have devastating consequences. When Armand’s father visits Marguerite in secret to persuade her to give him up, the argument that resonates with her perhaps more than any other is that by remaining with Armand she will ruin the marriage prospects of his younger sister. The fact that Marguerite is prepared to give up her courtesan’s life completely, forgoing her annual income of more than 100,000 francs for the sake of love, makes no difference. The virginal and therefore morally blameless sister will be tainted by mere association with Marguerite. It is here the true tragedy of the courtesan’s predicament lies.
It is hard to think of another work of fiction that has had such an extraordinary after-life as La Dame aux Camélias
Since its publication in 1848, it has never been out of print, running to more than seventy editions, in countless different translations. It was the stage adaptation of the novel, however, which Dumas is said to have written in just one week – allegedly dashing off the whole of Act II in just one
day, between lunch and tea – that was his greatest triumph. Verdi attended the premier in Paris in 1852 and immediately saw its potential. The first production of La traviata was staged in Venice the following year. Since then, all the great opera divas, from Patti and Melba to Callas and Sutherland, have sung the role of Violetta. In addition, there have been ballets and television series, and over twenty screen adaptations. Sarah Bernhardt played the lead in the silent movie of 1913; while no-one who ever saw Greta Garbo in George Cukor’s 1937 Camille, ever forgot her. Not one of these, however, could ever be so poignant as the true-life story of the young peasant girl called Alphonsine Plessis.
Katie Hickman
Katie Hickman is an English novelist, historian and travel writer. Her most recent work, Brave Hearted, was preceded by She-Merchants, Buccaneers and Gentlewomen: British Women in India 1600–1900 (published in 2019), and by the highlyacclaimed series of novels, The Aviary Gate, The Pindar Diamond and The House at Bishopsgate. Her two history books include Courtesans: Money, Sex and Fame in the 19th century
Librettist Carl Haffner and Richard Genée
English version by John Mortimer | Sung in English 20, 22, 25, 28 June | 5 July
Conductor Paul Daniel
Director Paul Curran
Designer Gary McCann
Lighting Designer Johanna Town
Associate Costume Designer Gabriella Ingram
Eisenstein Andrew Hamilton
Rosalinde Sylvia Schwartz
Adele Ellie Laugharne
Prince Orlofsky Claudia Huckle
Dr Falke Ben McAteer
Alfred Trystan Llŷr Griffiths
Frank Darren Jeffery
Ida Isabelle Atkinson
Dr Blind John Graham-Hall Frosch Myra Dubois
BOURNEMOUTH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
Leader Amyn Merchant
THE GRANGE FESTIVAL CHORUS
Chorus Master William Vann
Assistant Conductor Sergey Rybin
Assistant Director William Byram
Repetiteur Mark Austin
Production Manager Tom Nickson
This production is supported by Jonathan and Gillian Pickering | Tim and Charlotte Syder
The music of Die Fledermaus used in these performances was made possible by the generous assistance of Damien Kennedy, music librarian at English National Opera.
To follow…
As the city celebrates, Alfred serenades his former flame Rosalinde, now married to Gabriel von Eisenstein. Meanwhile, Rosalinde’s clever maid Adele schemes to attend a lavish ball hosted by the eccentric Prince Orlofsky. Her plans are foiled – until Eisenstein is sentenced to a short jail term for striking a policeman. Rather than heading straight to prison, Eisenstein is persuaded by his friend Dr. Falke to attend Orlofsky’s ball in disguise. Rosalinde, suspicious and intrigued, agrees to go as well, masked and elegant, to spy on her husband. Once Eisenstein departs for “prison”, Alfred reappears and is mistaken for Eisenstein when the warden arrives – leading to his arrest in Eisenstein’s place.
INTERVAL (25 minutes)
At Prince Orlofsky’s opulent villa, guests revel in a night of outrageous fun under Orlofsky’s decree that everyone does whatever they like. Adele arrives in disguise, passing herself off as a Russian actress. Eisenstein and Frank (the warden), both posing as French noblemen, enjoy the party unaware of each other’s true identities. When a mysterious Hungarian countess arrives – Rosalinde in disguise –Eisenstein is instantly smitten, unaware he’s flirting with his own wife. She cleverly steals his pocket watch as proof of his infidelity. Falke, the mastermind behind the evening, reveals the prank he’s orchestrated as payback for an old humiliation, and the guests toast to the new year with champagne and dancing until dawn.
INTERVAL (90 minutes)
Back at the jail, confusion reigns. Alfred sings from his cell, Frank returns drunk from the ball, and Eisenstein arrives to serve his sentence – only to discover someone is already imprisoned in his name. Disguised as his own lawyer, Eisenstein tries to uncover the truth, but when Rosalinde arrives and asks for a divorce, the confrontation reaches its peak. In a dramatic twist, she reveals the stolen watch, proving Eisenstein’s guilt. Just as tensions rise, Falke, Orlofsky, and the ball guests arrive, and the entire scheme is laid bare. Laughter, forgiveness, and a final toast celebrate love, mischief, and the magic of a New Year’s Eve no one will ever forget.
The perfecting of what we now know as operetta is one of the more enduring legacies of that relatively peaceful –albeit socially revolutionary – age that ran from the end of one European war in 1815 to the start of another in 1914. Nor is there a more accomplished or beguiling example of the genre than Johann Strauss’s Die Fledermaus
The work had its premiere in Vienna on 5 April 1874. Until then, operetta had been an essentially continental phenomenon, brewed to perfection in Paris and Vienna, where waspish wit and sexual abandon were comrades-inarms, unafraid to parade their wares in public.
The undisputed master of the medium was JeanJacques Offenbach whose operettas had taken Vienna by storm in the 1860s. Offenbach and Strauss admired one another’s works, though Offenbach was baffled by Strauss’s apparent lack of interest in writing for the theatre. He said as much in the hearing of Strauss’s wife who was similarly bemused by her theatre-going husband’s reluctance on the matter.
The reality was, Strauss had a low opinion of the librettists who worked in Vienna at the time: an opinion that had plumbed yet greater depths in the late 1860s after influential friends in Vienna’s theatrical and financial circles had talked him into a handful of ill-fated experiments with music-theatre.
At which point, something extraordinary happened. Max Steiner, the Hungarian-born director of the Theater an der Wien, acquired the rights to an 1872 French stage play, Le Réveillon (‘A Christmas Eve Revel’) by Offenbach’s and (in the case of Carmen) Bizet’s two finest librettists, Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy. Offenbach would probably have set the play had the Franco-Prussian war of 1870–71 not thrown his career into disarray. But he didn’t and Le Réveillon – Die Fledermaus in waiting – was now in Viennese hands.
Back in 1866, Meilhac, Halévy and Offenbach had sharked up La Vie parisienne, a mischief-making vaudeville designed to hold a mirror up to the pleasure-seeking residents of a city increasingly referred to as ‘gay Paree’. This, ahead of Napoléon III’s showpiece event, the 1867
Paris World Fair, during which (so the operetta suggested) adventure-seeking tourists would be royally fleeced and seduced.
Never afraid to push their luck, Meilhac and Halévy had returned to the theme in Le Réveillon, lampooning what they saw as the self-indulgent behaviour of Paris’s well-heeled upper class after the catastrophe of Franco-Prussian war and the civil war that followed. Needless to say, the Parisians adored it, just as the Viennese would adore Die Fledermaus, in defiance of those who thought the city should still be donning sackcloth and ashes after the humiliation of ‘Black Friday’, 9 May 1873, when the high-rolling Viennese banking system collapsed, sending shock waves throughout Europe and beyond.
To adapt Le Réveillon for a Viennese audience, Steiner engaged two of his most experienced colleagues, the composer, conductor, and lyricist Richard Genée (1823–95) and the dramaturg Karl Haffner (1804–76). Just as Meilhac and Halévy were experienced in writing for the actorsingers of Paris’s Théâtre Palais-Royal, so Haffner and Genée were masters of the art of creating text that could turn speech into song. Genée, in particular, knew precisely what Strauss would do with text once he received it. This, after all, was a composer whose waltzes, polkas, marches, and quadrilles skilfully addressed all manner of characters and narrative situations.
In a city where duplicity was a way of life, and where sentimentality could be weaponised as a substitute for genuine feeling, the sleaze-factor in Meilhac and Halévy’s story was not a problem. Witness the wonderful scene in Act 1 where Dr Falke, the eponymous bat, lures his friend Eisenstein into skipping prison and going instead to a ball at the salon of the young Russian Prince Orlofsky. It would be years before female emancipation reached Vienna, but in the twilight world of theatre and the arts, actresses, dancers and the like were very much part of ‘society’. As Orlofsky’s maître de plaisir – ‘pimp’ would be too ungentlemanly a term – Falke can guarantee Eisenstein a salon replete with desirable young women, ‘theatre rats’ as Falke calls them.
“In a city where duplicity was a way of life, and where sentimentality could be weaponised as a substitute for genuine feeling, the sleaze-factor in Meilhac and Halévy’s story was not a problem”
Die Fledermaus is the story of the bat’s revenge, yet as Falke’s spiteful game is all but complete it’s Falke, surprisingly, who we hear proposing the toast, ‘So let us all be one great family of brothers and sisters’. In fact, all the characters in Die Fledermaus are double-sided coins. Rosalinde is prepared to deceive her husband but loves him nonetheless. Eisenstein is a choleric brute who deceives Rosalinde but is utterly captivated by her in the ball scene. Adele is both charming and vulgar, a lovely laughing creature whose ambition is to become one of Falke’s theatre rats. In the original play, the hapless Alfred is a conductor. By recasting him as a high tenor, the Fledermaus team could mock his crude populist manner yet use a drinking song to allow him to express in a few breathtakingly beautiful phrases the work’s motto, ‘Glücklich ist – wer vergisst/Was nicht mehr zu ändern ist’ (‘To forget – happy fate/When for change it is too late’).
Strauss was a master of many styles. The wonderful set-piece aria for Rosalinde, posing as the ‘mysterious Hungarian lady’ at Orlofsky’s ball, is one of Strauss’s grandest essays in the Hungarian style. More easily missed are those echoes of Russian Orthodox church music that help characterise Prince Orlofsky, the sweet-natured but free-living, free-loving (‘Chacun à son goût’) young man who’s come to Vienna to dissipate his wealth.
In La Vie parisienne, Meilhac and Halévy show us revellers emerging ashen-faced at dawn, sated with wine, women, and song. ‘Hey there, you happy toffs!’ a nearby road sweeper shouts. It’s a trick they repeat in Le Réveillon This posed no problem for Strauss and his librettists. It’s astonishing what they packed into the cleverly crafted 35-minute prison scene that’s the drama’s final act, beginning with the cameo of the drunken gaoler Frosch
and continuing with episodes reminiscent of other great operatic moments. One thinks of prison governor Frank, much the worse wear after Orlofsky’s ball, stumbling round his office: a comic dumb show comparable to that of the beaten and dishevelled Beckmesser attempting to search Hans Sach’s shop in Wagner’s Die Meistersinger
The final coup de théâtre comes when Rosalinde silences her accusatory husband in mid-rant by producing the special ‘seducing’ watch he’d been lured into surrendering to the ‘mysterious Hungarian lady’ at the ball. The allusion to Leonora stopping Pizzaro in his tracks by ripping off her disguise in the prison scene in Beethoven’s Fidelio would have not gone unnoticed in Vienna. ‘I gather the recognition scene has already been played’ remarks a triumphant Falke after it’s all over – another joke designed to delight any opera lover.
Bank crashes, sexual scandals, alcohol frowned upon, reputations made and lost. ‘Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose’ we might be thinking in 2025 as we look back to Strauss’s Vienna. But let’s not lose sight of the fact that in Die Fledermaus it’s champagne that oils the wheels of reconciliation and that – as in two other immortal masterpieces, Mozart’s Figaro and Verdi’s Falstaff –it’s forgiveness that’s the name of the game. We can all raise a glass to that!
Richard Osborne
Richard Osborne is a writer and former presenter for BBC Radio 3. His books include biographies of Rossini and Herbert von Karajan, a history of the music and musicians of Eton, Garsington Opera: a celebration and The Grange, Hampshire. A reviewer for Gramophone since 1973, he has contributed a music column to every issue of The Oldie since its foundation in 1992.
“Bank crashes, sexual scandals, alcohol frowned upon, reputations made and lost.
‘Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose’ we might be thinking in 2025 as we look back to Strauss’s Vienna”
Johann Strauss’s Die Fledermaus is not only a musical masterpiece of the very first rank, but its score also holds a mirror up to Viennese society more penetrating than any social commentary. Here, married to the lightness and frivolity of the former imperial capital are the bittersweet melancholy, cynicism, and Schlamperei (slapdash incompetence), which, even today, are often instantly recognisable hallmarks of the Viennese mentality.
Fledermaus was written in the early 1870s but the enduring nature of these traits has long been chronicled. Arthur Koestler captured this unchanging sensibility when writing about Vienna in the 1920s observing: “The nouveau riche of the 1920s possessed the unique Viennese art of being not only rich but actually enjoying it. They had the courteous gaiety and amused self-mockery, warm malice and flickering erotic spark of pre-war Vienna”.
This gaiety required incessant playacting. Everyone from the lowly concierge to the wealthiest count delighted in impersonation and witty repartee, transforming every social encounter into a smoothly-acted scene. It did not matter that the scene could bring no lasting results. Why seek change when acting relieved frustration by raising it to the level of an aesthetic art? Such temperamental listlessness could be navigated with the help of these tools of encounter.
That there was also an element of mendacity was of course selbstverständlich (self-evident) but emotions channelled into dramatics rarely involved blatant lies. Instead, a general insincerity with remarkably little hypocrisy prevailed. It is Strauss’s genius to capture all these different facets in his music. He even manages to realise the bitter-sweet in that arguably most typical of Viennese circumstances: marital infidelity. Who else but Strauss could have suddenly produced six bars of his most yearning melody to accompany Eisenstein’s coldblooded, cynical resolution in Act I to escape for the evening. (“But Rosalinde won’t be persuaded!”).
Cynicism on the part of Viennese men, neurosis on the part of Viennese women; these were the inevitable consequences of a society that reflected the duplicity natural in a system which reverenced tradition. Well might Freud observe that Vienna was not so much a city but a state of mind.
Nothing arguably expressed this more vividly than the age-old tradition of the Viennese masked ball. Just as Fledermaus brought together a cast of aristocrats, rentiers, servants and lowly bureaucrats in varying settings, the tradition of the masked ball fostered, beneath a veil of levity, a spirit of social inclusion which went back to the 18th century and the great Empress Maria Theresa.
Theresian Vienna enjoyed a degree of social mobility few other parts of Europe could match: a young orphan could capture the empress’s eye and become chancellor of the Habsburg empire; a Nigerian slave released from his bonds could become a valued member of the Vienna court, while a modest waitress, immortalised in Liotard’s famous pastel of La Belle Chocolatière could marry a Count Dietrichstein and transform her status into welcome Hoffähigkeit (acceptance at court).
Masked balls offered anyone who wished to enjoy mixed company, a chance to banish class divisions. Then, as today, Lenten austerities in Vienna were preceded by a good month or so of Fasching (carnival) where there might be as many as a score of balls in a single evening. Not all were masked but the Empress Maria Theresa began a fashion for high society to attend more modest balls incognito. With the 1920s there came the introduction of a Flanierkarte (Flâneur’s ticket), offering reduced entry fees for guests of modest means wishing simply to dance rather than dine.
Behind the mask, echoes of stiff Habsburg court etiquette could be forgotten while Viennese courtesy and manners prevailed. Such courtesies could always be relied upon to navigate the altogether more unbreachable divide between appearance and reality. They served on the one hand as an outer rampart, beyond which no-one could trespass, while maintaining that Viennese tradition, perhaps first enunciated in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte, that one should never be taken in by appearances.
In the 1920s, the Austrian essayist, Anton Kuh, could observe: “the Habsburgs have been deposed, the empire is in ruins and Bolshevism is standing at the gates of Vienna but when a gentleman bends his back to kiss the effortlessly elegant, gently rising hand of a lady he is indulging in what is the most spontaneous and legally permitted recognition of the Ancien Régime”.
Beneath the hand-kissing chivalry was always the “erotic spark”. For Viennese men and increasingly, as the twentieth century gathered momentum, emancipated women, sex offered another route to discreet aesthetic dalliance. Here the Viennese climate played a cameo role. Long cold winters and the enervating heat of dry dusty summers all afforded potential for liaisons of varying degrees of erotic languor. Eighteenth-century English visitors to Vienna, such as William Wraxall were struck by the beauty and intelligence of Austrian aristocratic women but noted their “indolent indifference” towards anything serious.
Gustav Klimt’s pre-First World War portraits captured the neurosis and this listless quality of the nouveau riche women of the Habsburg twilight. The repression of their upbringing may have been lost as they sat for Klimt, but any conviviality outside the Fasching season would have been mostly limited to the private sphere.
The growth of traditional coffee houses and Hofzückerbäckerei – (imperially appointed cake-shops) like Demel and Gerstner, however, offered other possibilities of encounter. Yet, it was somehow typically Viennese that these should be usually unrequited. What, asked a veteran waiter at Sacher’s, could be more perfect than glancing up from a newspaper to lock eyes fleetingly with a beautiful woman at a nearby table? “No conversation, nothing gained perhaps, but also, nothing risked. No disappointments ahead”. Such were the highpoints of the undemanding life led by the more cautious professional classes in Vienna, personified in Fledermaus by the bumbling lawyer Dr Blind.
Fledermaus encapsulates all the ambiguities and indeterminate characters of Vienna where virtues are often the verso of vices. Lightness and cheerfulness, despite the tears which are never far away, mix levity with homesickness, nostalgia with biting sarcasm. Like the Viennese themselves, such characteristics are the opposite of anything concrete that one can easily put one’s finger on. As the Styrian conductor Nikolaus Harnoncourt once remarked of Fledermaus, “Behind every musical phrase is the Viennese dialect and like the Viennese themselves it is gelatine, a jelly fish; ungreifbar” (slips out of the hand).
Unlike Lehár and the masters of Vienna’s “silver” epoch of operetta, Strauss succeeds in capturing what lies behind the wit and laughter. Both composers were using the idiom of Austrian German with its many Czech, French and Hungarian words but Strauss penetrates the Viennese psyche more assuredly. His melancholy is never overwhelming, and it never descends into German sentimentality. In this way, Fledermaus is an important work in the Viennese musical Parnassus, which links Schubert through Johann Strauss to Alban Berg. Indeed, to quote Harnoncourt again, “There is an uncanny resemblance between Act I of Fledermaus and Act I of Lulu. Both capture quintessential Viennese emotions, which are not always what they seem to be. Like Apfelstrudel, it tastes delicious but although we know what the ingredients are: pastry, apples and breadcrumbs, we cannot determine how precisely they have been mixed.”
Richard Bassett
Richard Bassett is an authority on Central Europe, author of several books, most notably For God and Kaiser, the first English history of the Hapsburg army and the widely acclaimed memoir, Last Days in Europe. His most recent book, Maria Theresa Empress, has just been published by Yale University Press.
Libretto Louis Fuzelier | Sung In French with English Surtitles 30 June | 1, 2 July
Conductor Leonardo García-Alarcón
Director & Choreographer Bintou Dembélé
Dramaturg Noémie N’Diaye
Lighting Designer Benjamin Nesme
Costume Designer Charlotte Coffinet
Amour, Phani, Fatime, Zima Laurène Paternò Hébé, Émilie, Zaïre Ana Quintans Valère, Don Carlos, Tacmas, Damon Alasdair Kent Bellone, Ousmane, Huascar, Ali, Don Alvar, Adario Andreas Wolf
Choir master Thibaut Lenaerts
A production by Cappella Mediterranea / Structure Rualité / CAV&MA
In co-production with Insula Guest in La Seine Musicale with the support of the Maison de la musique de Nanterre, CN D Centre national de la danse and Taiwan’s National Theatre & Concert Hall.
This production is supported by Anne Geisendorf Heegaard, Christian and Margaret Hureau, Brigitte Lescure, Hugues & Emma Lavandier, Caroline Rilliet, the Centre National de la Musique, Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpels, Fonds de Dotation Francis Kurkdjian and Compagnie de Phalsbourg.
Inspired by Les Indes Galantes, staged at the Opéra national de Paris in 2019.
This production is supported by Rosamond Brown | Tim and Rosie Forbes | Gini Gabbertas
Hebe, the goddess of youth, urges bands of young people to enjoy the pleasures of Love. But Bellona, the goddess of war, appears and enlists them, promising the glory of battle. Hebe appeals to Cupid himself to assert his rights. To make up for the departure of the youths, Cupid decides to shoot his arrows “to the farthest shores,” where the following acts will lead us. The duet of Love and Hebe is echoed by the final chorus.
To follow…
The young Émilie laments her fate: she has been abducted by Osman, who is in love with her and is trying to make her forget Valère, her beloved. A storm causes a shipwreck, and the crew falls into the same captivity as the girl. Among the new captives, she recognizes Valère, but their joy is quickly overshadowed by the grim reality of their situation. Osman appears and, to the lovers’ surprise, decides to set them free: he was once Valère’s slave and had been granted freedom by him. Osman now replicates the generous gesture of his former master. Dances and celebrations conclude the first act.
INTERVAL (90 minutes)
Carlos, a Spanish officer, is in love with Phani, a young Inca. He urges her to leave her people to be with him, but she fears their retaliation and convinces Carlos to leave, as the Incas are gathering for the Sun Festival. The ceremony is led by the high priest Huascar, who desires the young woman and tries to force her into marriage under the pretence that it is the will of the gods. While the Sun Festival is in full swing, a terrible eruption occurs, terrifying the Inca people. Huascar claims it is caused by the gods’ wrath, demanding his marriage to Phani. Carlos then appears and exposes the priest’s scheme: Huascar had rocks thrown into the volcano’s crater to deliberately cause the eruption. Phani and Carlos reunite, and Huascar, unable to bear their happiness, throws himself into the volcano’s flames.
Four characters – Tacmas, Zaïre, Fatime, and Ali – sing of Love and the beauty of a flower garden.
The Native American chief Adario has been defeated by Europeans and forced to surrender through violence. He laments not only his defeat but also the fact that his conquerors are courting the woman he loves, the young Zima. She is indeed pursued by the Spaniard Alvar and the Frenchman Damon. One preaches fidelity in love, while the other champions inconstancy, but neither wins Zima’s heart. She ultimately offers it to Adario. Europeans and Native Americans then come together in the dance of the Great Peace Pipe. Zima urges everyone to indulge in pleasure and play before the opera concludes with a grand chaconne.
The Age of the Enlightenment saw an unparalleled leap forward in human knowledge and creativity. Accelerating processes begun before, the eighteenth century was a time of pushing back boundaries of all kinds, of travel and exploration, of advances in science and medicine, of discoveries in astronomy and at an atomic level, and a move from superstition to a greater understanding of the natural world and our place in it. In France, Louis XV’s centralised political structure attracted such intellectuals as Rousseau and Voltaire and the encyclopaedists Diderot and D’Alembert to Paris to catalogue and codify human knowledge. At the musical forefront in France was Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683–1764). A contemporary of Handel, Bach, Vivaldi, Telemann, and Scarlatti, his 30 stage works rank among the most extraordinary Enlightenment products of the age.
He is a fascinating figure. Born in Dijon, Rameau’s first 40 years were spent working in provincial France as an organist and teacher. This all changed when, in 1722, he travelled to Paris to oversee the publication of his Treatise on Harmony, an astonishingly original work which asserted that it is not melody but harmony which is the root of all musical expression. Coining such terms as ‘first inversion’, ‘tonic’ and ‘dominant’, terms which young musicians still encounter today, he was hailed as the ‘Newton of Music’ and is now recognised as the most important music theorist from Mersenne to Schenker.
Having established himself as a theorist, Rameau caused a still greater succès de scandale eleven years later with his first major opera, the strikingly modern and controversial Hippolyte et Aricie. The first piece to be described as ‘baroque’ (then a rather disparaging term used to describe a flawed pearl), Hippolyte divided the public into two vociferous camps: the ‘Lullistes’, who thought it an attack on the musical and literary aspects of the French operatic tradition of Lully versus those who recognised a fresh approach in its daring fusion of Italian and French styles. This camp earned the suitable epithet of ‘Rameauneurs’, a pun on ramoneurs or ‘chimney sweeps’.
By varying his output between the more conservative genre of the tragédie en musique (such as Castor et Pollux and Dardanus) and the lighter opéra-ballets (such as Les Indes galantes), the 50-year-old enfant terrible went on to enjoy considerable success at the Paris Opéra and, from 1745, at the court of Louis XV.
Now well into his sixties, his status as the champion of French music was finally assured after a triumphant revival of Castor et Pollux during the ‘Querelle des Bouffons’ in 1754. Along with Monteverdi and Handel, Rameau is now acknowledged to be one of the trinity of Baroque operatic masters.
While Rameau’s operas are regularly performed in France and Germany, they have in many ways remained hidden in plain sight here, despite numerous champions. Lina Lalandi’s lavish English Bach Festival productions proved to be a false dawn; UK companies have staged no more than one apiece since. Incredibly, in the 40 years since John Eliot Gardiner’s recording of late masterpiece Les Boréades (featuring the great Philip Langridge), there has been just one home-grown Rameau recording: that of Anacréon by the OAE in 2014. With the public sustained on emergency rations and hungry for more, this award-winning production of Les Indes galantes – the first fully staged production in the UK! – is a significant and welcome milestone.
Given the music’s obvious attractions, why have performances been so rare here? Performing Baroque opera presents numerous challenges, and Rameau is no different. We can start with fundamental issues. First, access to reliable editions and modern literature has been difficult. (Happily, Bärenreiter’s new complete edition, the Opera Omnia Rameau, will soon be complete.) Secondly, written to be performed one tone lower than modern pitch, much of his music lies uncomfortably high for modern singers, and the complexity of the music and its performance practices (where nine different kinds of trill are employed) are not for the faint-hearted. And without the coffers of Louis XV, it is not easy to stage 2h45 of new opera (necessitating cuts, as this evening) or to amass the forces of the Paris Opéra –a dance troupe and chorus each with 40 members, and a 50-strong orchestra – on which the palette of sumptuous colours depends.
Perhaps most challenging though is Rameau’s use of dance, which is more akin to its use on the West End than the opera stage today. With a quarter of the score being dance music, and with none of the original finely syntaxed choreography surviving, a clear strategy has to be found to incorporate movement and dance in ways which not only provide spectacle, but which advance the narrative.
“Perhaps most challenging though is Rameau’s use of dance, which is more akin to its use on the West End than the opera stage today. With a quarter of the score being dance music, and with none of the original finely syntaxed choreography surviving, a clear strategy has to be found to incorporate movement and dance in ways which not only provide spectacle, but which advance the narrative”
One of Rameau’s most popular operas, Les Indes galantes enjoys the distinction of being the most recorded, being released on 75 recordings, including 10 in its complete form. In comparison, Rameau’s excellent second opéra-ballet Les Fêtes d’Hébé was, until last year, available only in William Christie’s (albeit excellent) recording of 1997. Les Indes has enjoyed many productions too, being premiered in Paul Dukas’ edition in 1925 and given again for almost 250 performances at the Palais Garnier in the 1950s. When the English Bach Festival looked to perform Rameau at the Banqueting House in 1974, it was Les Indes which was chosen. Several other productions have followed: famously at the Opéra national de Paris with William Christie, in Boston, in Nuremburg and Munich, at the Opéra de Bastille (in 2019, the production which gave inspiration to the one seen at The Grange Festival) and, most recently, in Budapest.
On hearing French opera for the first time, listeners may be surprised by how much it differs from the Italian operatic model expounded by Handel. Instead of a regular alternation of recitative and da capo aria, French opera is a multi-coloured, multi-textured tapestry. Short sections of recitative, short unaccompanied song (petits airs), virtuosic ariettes, duets, trios and choruses, orchestral battle and tempests, and numerous and varied dances – each lasting no more than a minute or two – flow with a spontaneity more akin to works by later composers as Mozart or even Puccini.
There are numerous mouthwatering moments to savour here: the Ouverture and the Prologue’s lively dances, a shipwreck (which rivals Idomeneo’s), the ‘Adoration of the Sun’ and volcanic eruption, the quartet and chorus ‘Tendre Amour’ and the ‘Ballet des Fleurs’ (omitted this evening), two hours of music which culminate in the opera’s extraordinary finale with what is probably Rameau’s most well-known single work, a beguiling harpsichord dance, remodelled as ‘Forêts paisibles’.
Les Indes galantes owes much of its attractive character to the fact that is an opéra-ballet, Rameau’s first in the subgenre. Rather than sustaining one continuous plot, an opéra-ballet consists of self-contained acts (or entrées), a kind of Baroque Il Trittico or Cavalleria Rusticana & Pagliacci. Here we are transported from the banks of the Seine to four exotic locations: a Turkish garden, a Peruvian desert, a Persian palace, and an American prairie. The arguments are simple, expounded in the first few scenes, resolved in the next, and celebrated in the ensuing divertissement. The plot is thus a pretext for spectacle, lavish sets, virtuosic singing, rousing choruses, ingenious stage machinery and, most importantly, dancing by the large dance troupe and celebrity dancers. (Such was the importance of dance that Les Indes could not be completed until Marie La Sallé had returned to Paris from London, where she famously danced in the first performance ever held at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, in 1734).
Its goal? Firstly, of course, to entertain. But there are serious objectives at play here too. While Rameau is often linked with Lully, he is very much a man of the eighteenth century, one concerned with the same agendas as the other great Enlightenment theatre composer, Mozart. While inspired by topical news events (such as the visit of six Native American chiefs to Paris in 1725), Fuzelier’s libretto is shaped to comment on Enlightenment themes. Thus, we see the authority of a religious leader being questioned (as Tamino challenges the Queen of the Night, so does Carlos challenge Huascar); and we see a benign ruler, Osman, willing to show compassion and generosity (as in Die Entführung and La Clemenza di Tito). These notions of fidelity, the notion that ‘pagans’ have moral codes, in short, offer a different vision of what it is to be civilized. Even the last act’s seemingly light pastoral setting is symbolic of Rousseau’s idea of ‘natural man’: it is only away from the corrupting influence of civilisation that can we be our best selves, faithful and constant.
Dr Jonathan Williams
Dr Jonathan Williams is a leading Rameau specialist and director of Rameau Project based at Oxford University. As a conductor, his critically acclaimed performances include the first Rameau operas given by English Touring Opera (Dardanus) and the Académie de l’Opéra national de Paris with the RCM (Les Fêtes d’Hébé). He led UK celebrations during Rameau’s anniversary year of 2014, conducting three operas with the OAE, including the British premieres of Zaïs and of his own edition of Anacréon, recorded for Signum. Most recently he gave the UK premiere of the original version of Castor et Pollux.
I would like to revisit the genesis of the project. Bintou, in 2017, Clément Cogitore extended an invitation for you to choreograph a short film based on an excerpt from Rameau’s Les Indes galantes This commission originated from the Paris Opera, and following the viral success of the video, the Opera subsequently entrusted you with the complete operaballet. The production debuted in 2019 on the Bastille stage. How did this dual commission align with your artistic trajectory?
Bintou: The proposal of Les Indes galantes aligned with my work advocating for the creative power of popular cultures, marginalised voices, and Southern perspectives. It resonated with my exploration of the relationship between cyclical and circular dance, minimalist and repetitive music, and rhythmic polyphony of the voice. The workshops I had conducted until then involved a smaller ensemble: a guitarist, a vocalist, and K.R.U.M.P dancers who accompanied me on stage. Armed with this experimentation, I was able to approach these two commissions with refined tools, ready to deploy them on a larger scale.
What was the purpose of these workshops?
Bintou: I sought to trace back to the origins of Hip-Hop, to explore its roots by considering the knowledge and ways of being from the Global South. Steeped in these ancestral understandings, reframed in today’s context, I aimed to reinvent a form of ritual. The dance, as I had experienced it until then, seemed disconnected from the source of sound, from the relationship with instrumentalists, and from the importance of voice. Thus, I wondered how to bring together these spiritual foundations into a sacred dimension. However, to achieve this, I needed time – the long-term commitment to research at the core of my approach. Therefore, when Clément proposed that I collaborate with him on Les Indes galantes, I saw it as an opportunity to continue this research on a grand scale: with around thirty dancers, eight soloists, a choir, and an orchestra. When I met Leonardo, in conversation, I remember a phrase he uttered, one that resonated with me: “For me, Les Indes galantes is above all a story of pulsation.”
Bintou Dembélé and Leonardo García-Alarcón
Leonardo, this idea of rhythm and pulsation is essential in your work. As a conductor, you are interested in the connection between today’s popular music and the emotional laboratory that was established during Monteverdi’s time. How did this unique approach intersect with Bintou’s choreographic research?
Leonardo: Analysing Western written music, trying to understand its origin through today’s popular music, one realises that humans have always lived with music and dance, from the moment parents rock their children and they feel the rhythm of their heart through their chest. It’s unknown which came first, music or dance, and undoubtedly, it may be necessary to invent a word to describe the unbreakable bond that exists between the two. It is both the pulse of life and preparation for death. It is the rite of existence that enables us to face the unknown, the elusive that surrounds our presence in the world.
Music and dance connect us to the universe; they allow us to be there, to take part in the grand concert, in the grand ballet of stars, planets, and black holes. It seems to me that the Baroque era understood this, but not only that: it also understood that there was an asymmetry of rhythm in human emotions that could facilitate dance. Extreme emotions such as love, hate, anger, fear of death, or abandonment are not linked to a measurable, stable, or symmetrical rhythm. It seems to me that opera precisely consists of this attempt to reconcile the rhythm of dance with the rhythm of human emotions that are immeasurable.
I love this world where we cannot measure things. The Baroque era has always been aware of this. I call Baroque what exists in all popular music around the world and is linked to dances, impulses, the power of words, text, oral tradition… This is what I found in Bintou and her dancers. When I felt that these dancers, who were creating, could imagine that the composer was alive, I felt that we were witnessing a miracle.
How does this artistic collaboration fit into the history of historically informed performance practice that has developed around Baroque works since the late 20th century?
Leonardo: In the 1970s and 1980s, there was an effort to study historical treatises, reconstruct period instruments, understand dynamics, lines, and all the essential parameters necessary to know a piece and bring it back to life. In my opinion, this approach is necessary but insufficient. Our scientific knowledge about a piece constitutes the tip of the iceberg. The artist’s work encompasses everything below. If I were to transpose this into the intimate realm, I would say that we must treat everything we have learned about Rameau with the same respect as we do for our grandfather: we love him, but we will never be in his place, and we will never be able to address future generations in the same way as he did.
Bintou: When I work within an institution, I am in contact with a vast production machinery aimed at conserving and preserving performances. This necessity to respect the work and its composer is essential, but sometimes it hinders movement. Having started outside the framework, I find myself now advocating for an adjusted approach. It is important not to forget that Rameau himself was an avant-garde composer in his time, and it is this avant-garde character that we must transpose for today.
Leonardo: Regarding Les Indes galantes, I have the impression that dance has naturally revealed the parameters that Rameau indicated in the score. I could cite the example of “Forêts paisibles…” Influenced by the 1940s in the United States, it became customary to play this passage with a jazz feel. When I saw Bintou’s interpretation and the dancers, I thought that the idea we had of it probably did not correspond to what Rameau would have wanted: it was earthier, more percussive, rawer… The same goes for the overture: after working on it with you, I felt that it could express something other than the king’s entrance.
Bintou, you mentioned the operatic production machine. How did you find the space and time necessary to develop this deep dialogue between music and dance?
Bintou: I made sure to allocate resources for it. This allowed the artists to benefit from a more stable situation and to fully dedicate themselves to the project, to address unforeseen circumstances, and to embrace emerging creativity. I was committed to enabling us to stay in our environment, in the suburbs, before arriving at the opera for the final stretch. Leonardo invited us to the choir auditions, which allowed us to be more precise in the overall distribution and to strive for equity. We could start to communicate without really knowing each other, to understand each other without words, to move towards each other, and to evolve our habits and respective viewpoints.
The libretto of Les Indes galantes carries a certain worldview, an imperialistic vision that sees Europeans launching themselves into the conquest of the globe. It seems to me that the originality of the work you have accomplished is that the music, the voice, the dance, and the staging come to collide with, and contest, this vision expressed through the words of the libretto.
Leonardo: To address this matter, it’s pertinent to revisit the relationship between music and text in Rameau’s time. While composers like Lully or Campra emphasised a stronger alignment between music and text, Rameau’s approach allowed for a more independent and robust musical expression. For Rameau, the libretto served as a mere pretext. Consequently, his music possesses a resilience that transcends the confines of fiction, enabling it to foster dialogue. While fiction may hold greater significance in works like Hippolyte et Aricie, in Les Indes galantes, the introduction of dance transports it into a more abstract realm.
The performance was a great success, with 12 shows and as many standing ovations. What sparked the desire to continue the adventure?
Bintou: I wish to continue this fruitful process, to move beyond the opera’s creative process, to further explore the relationship between dance, music, and voice.
You use the term “choreographic concert” to describe the continuation you would give to the project. How would this approach allow for a deeper exploration of the relationship between dancers and voice?
Leonardo: It seems to me that smaller venues than the Opéra Bastille would allow for a direct, immediate connection between the voice and the impulse of dance we were discussing earlier: it would be a space that abolishes the distance between the soloists and the musicians, between the musicians and the dance. Furthermore, I have had the opportunity to showcase excerpts of the show in Europe as well as in Argentina, and I must say that each time the audience’s reaction has been extremely enthusiastic. I feel a sort of obligation to revive this magical moment.
Four years have passed since the creation. To what extent have you evolved?
Bintou: Time allows experience to settle, to sediment. We have stepped back, allowing the audience to take ownership of this work that no longer belonged solely to us. There is in ritual and celebration the notion of incessant movement.
Leonardo: Each time I return to Argentina, I am different, and Argentina is too, like all beloved beings. It’s the same for a performance: one can only imagine a new emotional experience. Moreover, at Cappella Mediterranea, I like to say that we are intuitive creatures. We can only be guided by this blind force that is stronger than us. And indeed, I believe I would exchange all the treatises in the world for a movement by Bintou.
Interview by Simon Hatab with Bintou Dembélé and Leonardo García-Alarcón
“I wish to continue this fruitful process, to move beyond the opera’s creative process, to further explore the relationship between dance, music, and voice”
Bintou Dembélé
Choreographer Sophie Laplane
Lighting Designer David Plater
Costume Designer Jessica Cabassa
INTERVAL (90 minutes)
Choreographer Chanel DaSilva
Lighting Designer David Plater
Costume Designer Natalie Pryce
Megan Chiu
Isabela Coracy
Acaoã de Castro
Taraja Hudson
Mikayla Isaacs
Love Kotiya
Bhungane Mehlomakhulu
Helga Paris-Morales
Elijah Peterkin
Ebony Thomas
Moon Drifting 4 (After Beethoven) (2020), composed by Olivia Belli.
Coffee Grounds (2014), written by Bert Dockx, Fred Lyenn and Steven Cassieres and recorded by Dans Dans.
The Argument (2024) specially composed and recorded for this ballet by Tom Harrold.
Prelude No. 3 (2021) composed and recorded by Dustin O’Halloran.
Mother & Son (2024) specially composed and recorded for this ballet by Tom Harrold.
Au Hasard (2013) written by Bert Dockx, Fred Lyenn and Steven Cassieres and recorded by Dans Dans.
Symphony No. 3 in E Flat Major, Op. 55 “Eroica”: I ( Allegro con brio) & II (Funeral March). Composed by Ludwig van Beethoven.
Within The Walls (2024) specially composed and recorded for this ballet by Tom Harrold.
I’ll Be Your Woman (2007) composed and recorded by Michelle Gurevich.
This production is supported by Stephen and Isobel Parkinson | Delancey 3 July
Founded in 2001, Cassa Pancho’s Ballet Black is an awardwinning, neo-classical ballet company, dedicated to diversifying the ballet industry. The Company is made up of international dancers of African, Caribbean, and Asian descent and our entirely original repertoire covers a broad spectrum of ballet, from classical work to highly contemporary pieces. Since 2001, we have built a varied repertoire from some of the best emerging and established choreographers from around the world, including, Shobana Jeyasingh, Will Tuckett, Sophie Laplane, Arthur Pita, Gregory Maqoma, Annabelle Lopez-Ochoa and Mthuthuzeli November. In 2018 we collaborated with Freed of London to create two brand new shades of brown pointe shoes and tights: Ballet Bronze and Ballet Brown. We have achieved great success and garnered numerous awards over the years, most recently Best New Dance Production
at both the Black British Theatre and the Olivier Awards in 2020, Best Mid-Scale Company at the Critics’ Circle National Dance Awards in 2022, Best Dance Production, Best Soloist Dancer and Best Use of Technology and Innovation at the 2022 Black British Theatre Awards, Best Choreographer and Best Dance Performer at the 2023 & 2024 Black British Theatre Awards and Company dancer Isabela Coracy won the Outstanding Achievement in Dance at the 2024 Olivier Awards for her performance in NINA: By Whatever Means, part of Ballet Black: Pioneers at the Barbican Theatre. In 2024, Ballet Black won two Black British Theatre Awards. One for Best Choreographer Award for The Waiting Game choreographed by Company dancer Mthuthuzeli November. And the second for Best Dance Performer Award for company dancer Ebony Thomas for The Waiting Game
After eight wonderful years, we were suddenly evicted from our Marylebone home so that they can turn it into a gym – right in the middle of creating A Shadow Work and My Sister, The Serial Killer. We’ve now found a new space in Hammersmith that offers huge potential, but with our rent rising by a third and major renovations needed, we’re facing big costs. We’ve already built a beautiful, bigger studio using our own funds, but we urgently need help to create proper office space, toilets, changing rooms, and a rehab studio; things our dancers have never had. We’re aiming to raise £50,000 of the £250,000 total through this JustGiving campaign. No donation is too small (or too big!), and if you can’t donate, please share. Every bit brings us closer to giving BB the home it truly deserves.
My initial inspiration for this piece came from viewing Jean-Michel Basquiat’s painting, Eroica, or “heroic”, one of a series of paintings in which he visually explores the concept of heroism. Beethoven’s Eroica symphony, which Basquiat references, also explores the complexities of heroism. The story of Beethoven violently crossing out the dedication to Napoleon on the symphony’s manuscript when Napoleon declared himself emperor is well-documented. But if the hero of the music was no longer Napoleon, who was it? Or what was it? What does it mean to be heroic? These were the questions that were the starting point for the creation of If At First
In this age of chaotic social media and fast, powerful superheroes, where the search for fame and the public nature of heroism dictate who we should consider heroes, If At First sets out to pay homage to the quiet heroism, the unseen bravery of those who struggle, often in silence. Perhaps the person sitting next to you in the cafe is trying to overcome their own personal battle and that in itself is heroic. A quieter heroism, human rather than superhuman. Working closely with James Bonas, creative consultant, Jessica Cabassa, costume designer and David Plater,
lighting designer, we created a world built around vignettes, which zoom in on personal struggles while celebrating the persistence and perseverance of the human spirit. However often we are pushed back, we keep going. The piece moves towards resolution: kindness, community, mutual support are what will ultimately see us through.
From Ludwig von Beethoven to Michelle Gurevich, with original sections composed by Tom Harrold, the choice of music is eclectic, reflecting the multiple and diverse ways small acts of heroism are part of our daily lives.
Thinking back to that first exhibition, Basquiat’s painting still inspires me: his iconic crown features as thread throughout the piece and the “chaos” sections, between the vignettes, are loosely inspired by his vibrant, yet carefully controlled work. Exploring and developing the piece with Ballet Black has been a moving experience, one that I will cherish. Persisting, thriving, being brave, taking care of one another… are all words that describe the dancers of Ballet Black, the heroes of this piece.
Sophie Laplane 2024
I was first introduced to the concept of “Shadow Work” while embarking on my own emotional healing journey in therapy. For those of us who have been down this road, you know like I do that it can be scary, messy, unyielding, embarrassing, and painful to be confronted with the parts of ourselves that we’ve stuffed deep down in the depths of our psyche – into a box labelled “Do Not Open”.
Because of that, when the shadow work begins, we might be tempted to retreat because the work can start to feel like it’s a liiiiiiiiittle too much to bear. However, after staying the course, we learn that the parts of ourselves that we’ve been avoiding actually need to be present to complete the beautiful tapestry that is US – wholly and fully. We learn that on the other side of this journey is the promise of healing.
I am grateful to my creative team for their collaboration in bringing this work to life. Cristina Spinei, composer and my long-time artistic soulmate, created a brilliant and evocative score for this work. By blending the sounds of acoustic piano and synthesizer she’s captured the essence of living between the conscious and subconscious worlds so beautifully. David Plater, our lighting designer, and Natalie Pryce, our costume
designer, welcomed the challenge of devising a production that portrays both the calm feeling of consciousness and the playful, yet tumultuous feeling of the subconscious. Jamal Callender, my choreographic assistant, was integral in helping me translate my ideas into a movement language and narrative that reflects the journey of shadow work. Thank you, Team!
Working with the dancers of Ballet Black on this new work was absolutely fulfilling. Each day of rehearsal I asked them to dive deep with me, beyond the physicality of dance, to uncover and investigate our collective shadows; requiring a high level of bravery, honesty, and transparency. And each day, without fail, they met me there with generosity and virtuosity. I will never forget this process with them. Thank you, Dancers!
And finally, thank you Cassa Pancho. For so many things, but mostly for creating the space and time for me to work with Ballet Black on my first international premiere!
Chanel DaSilva March 2025
The Grange Festival is about more than world-class opera - it’s about the people, the place, and the shared joy that brings lasting memories.
By leaving a gift in your will, you can help future audiences, young artists, and new opera lovers
FIND OUT MORE
Life is far too short not to treat yourself to a Kirker holiday in 2025, or even perhaps in 2026. For those with a special birthday or anniversary, there is simply no better reason to book a comfortable Kirker hotel and enjoy delicious local cuisine, as well as fascinating art, architecture, museums and opera. Our range of destinations includes more than 80 cities and 250 countryside hotels throughout Europe, the Mediterranean and North Africa, as well as luxury train journeys such as the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express – the perfect way to celebrate in style.
ITALY • FRANCE • SPAIN • PORTUGAL • HOLLAND • BELGIUM • GERMANY
HUNGARY • SWITZERLAND • POLAND • CZECH REPUBLIC • AUSTRIA • NORWAY
DENMARK • SWEDEN • ICELAND • FINLAND • ESTONIA • LATVIA • LITHUANIA
TURKEY • GREECE • CYPRUS • MALTA • CROATIA • SLOVENIA • ROMANIA MONTENEGRO • MOROCCO • EGYPT • SOUTH AFRICA • TUNISIA • JORDAN • OMAN USA • IRELAND • UNITED KINGDOM
Join The Grange Festival community and stay connected to a world of enchanting performances and exclusive events.
FIND OUT MORE
If Freddie Mercury, Leonard Bernstein and George Gershwin have anything in common, it’s a sense of musical adventure. None of them stood still, crossing disciplines and infusing a new energy into every genre they touched. That’s the definition of creativity and so they deserve the attention of an opera festival that first and foremost champions quality.
In an otherwise opera-focused festival, I’m excited that The Grange is celebrating these figures. Too often when somebody learns I’m a composer, they ask: “so, what kind of music do you write?” It’s an impossible
question when the answer is, “I write like me”. Similarly, as a radio presenter, I helped to create Scala Radio so that I could share music that doesn’t fit into neat boxes. Composers don’t think that way; music inherently doesn’t work that way.
‘Theatre’ is surely the broadest net of all, where genre and style can be dictated by character and story; where the same composer can embrace a new palette for each locale and tale told. Music is about expression and adventure, and you’ll have these in heaps this summer.
2025 marks fifty years since the release of Queen’s seminal album A Night at the Opera, including the iconic song that Freddie Mercury referred to as a “mock opera”.
The sheer operatic and symphonic colour of the whole album is astonishing: alongside wailing guitar and choral layering, there’s harp, a Japanese toy Koto and backing vocals that at one point attempt to mimic a tuba. They were the Berlioz of bands, pushing the scope of timbre and expectation.
The original Bohemian Rhapsody featured 180 vocal overdubs for its distinctive choral effects, requiring the use of seven studios over four months, there are four key changes, five wildly contrasting sections and a notable lack of any repeated chorus that might offer stability or familiarity. Its six-minute length initially led many industry bods to reject its commercial potential (what radio station would play a six-minute single?!); on its release, Melody Maker harped it “has all the demented fury of Balham Amateur Operatic Society performing The Pirates of Penzance”. A rhapsody is, after all, an episodic piece with a sense of improvisation and if opera is about heightened emotions and at times embracing the OTT, this takes it to a new level…
In the same way opera’s power comes partly from its sheer physicality and fact it is unamplified, Queen were proud that their effects were real. They were quick to include the label “No synthesisers!” on three of their albums, including A Night at the Opera
Mercury was a big classical fan. He told Kenny Everett’s radio show that one of his favourite composers was Chopin; he loved Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet (and even danced with the Royal Ballet for a 1979 charity gala); and the final piece at his funeral was a recording of Montserrat Caballé singing Verdi’s D’amor sull’ali rosee from Act Four of Il Trovatore. She had been one of his favourite singers of any genre, and one of his biggest hits was their 1987
collaboration on the song Barcelona. The pair had been clear that Mercury wouldn’t try to “sing opera” and Caballé wouldn’t “sing rock”; that mutual respect is part of its magic. If Bohemian Rhapsody was almost about parody, this was more about co-existence.
Mercury affectionately called her ‘Montsy’, while the soprano in turn was entranced by his ability to compose music of such complexity without being able to read notation. This freedom from the printed note may have proven helpful for her own classical work; she later commented that his greatest gift to her was freedom, saying: “with Freddie, I finally had the chance to create”.
Drummer Roger Taylor himself had classical singing in his DNA. From 1960, he had been a choral scholar at Truro Cathedral; you can hear this influence a decade later in his shattering falsetto for many a Queen backing vocal (including the famous “very frightening” and top B flats for Bohemian Rhapsody).
These operatic connections will be made clear in The Grange set list. Barcelona will sit next to some of Caballé’s familiar repertoire of Bellini and appropriately titled Queen songs like You’re My Best Friend.
Bizet’s Prelude from Carmen will open proceedings, that opera’s La Chanson bohème feeling not a million miles away from the hectic Flamenco central section of Innuendo.
There’s an expressive power and dramatic intensity to The Show Must Go On that feels at home in an opera house. Released as a single just six weeks before Mercury’s death, Brian May has described it as “some kind of monument to Freddie”. Delving inside the torments of being a global star, its soul-searching and pain are tonally akin to Canio in Pagliacci singing Vesti la giubba. It’s no coincidence that the aria’s melodic line is recycled by Mercury for It’s a Hard Life
The high theatricality of opera and rock go hand in hand, not to mention their revelling in the concept and power of sheer sound itself.
The day after the opening night of the musical On the Town in 1944, Serge Koussevitsky scolded his conducting protégé for three hours over “wasting” his talents on Broadway. It might have been Bernstein’s first show and the first American musical written by a celebrated symphonist, but such words from a legendary conductor dug deep. Henceforth there was a tension between the many demands on Bernstein’s time: not just his roles as conductor, broadcaster, pianist, educator and composer, but also between what he was composing. He confided that writing for theatre “is what I feel I write best, what I ought to do and what I most enjoy”. But ten years after West Side Story, he had written just two pieces – and neither of them were for theatre.
Yet much of his work was all about reconciliation. Look at West Side Story, and not just its plot but its music. There’s a bebop fugue in Cool. There’s a habanera and hemiola feeling to America, illustrating the Puerto Rican origins of these characters However, some feared its classical sensibility might work against it, with concerns raised around the singability and memorability of a song that makes a melodic signature out of angular intervals like sevenths and tritones. Bernstein’s letters underline these struggles; while developing the piece in July 1957 he wrote: “I am depressed with it. All the aspects of the score I like best – the ‘big’, poetic parts – get criticised as ‘operatic’ –and there’s a concerted effort to chuck them.”
Bernstein’s long-stated ambition was to write the great, popular American opera. He wanted it to be “moving… [one] that any American can understand”. Didn’t Mozart have the same ambition with a Singspiel like The Magic Flute, elevating the popular and the native into high art?
Bernstein’s ambition was huge, but it always had to feel right for its character and locality; just as Bizet conjured Spain in Carmen or Verdi the ugly psyche of Lady Macbeth: there’s a place for everything in theatre, if it’s right for the story.
It is the convincing synthesis of many different parts that makes Bernstein’s work so interesting. In only its second number, On the Town embraces canonic imitation (think of the overlapping lines in New York, New York). Elsewhere it broke new ground in the frequency of dance episodes and their role as a storytelling device rather than as mere diversion. Bernstein’s next musical, Wonderful Town includes a riotous conga as the Act One finale. Yet like the later West Side Story, criticisms of its perceived complexity abounded; its star Rosalind Russell complained of a key change “on each word”!
Bernstein’s level of ambition only grew. In Candide, an adaptation of Voltaire, his stated ambition was to write a love letter to European music: cue a multitude of dance forms from the waltz to the gavotte and mazurka. Done with a wink, too; the warbling harmonisations of the reunited lovers in You Were Dead, You Know gently parody the tropes of bel canto. Some critics condemned it as mere pastiche, while others praised its culturally informed ambition. In the end, its sophistication worked against it and the show closed after just 73 performances.
His Broadway fortunes wavered, as they do for all –everyone from Lloyd Webber to Oscar Hammerstein have had many a commercial flop as well as a hit – but Bernstein, alongside Kurt Weill, perhaps best represents that early aspiration of a symphonic, high art, popular musical. Maybe Koussevitsky was wrong after all.
As Bernstein himself proves, theatre represents one big stylistic melting pot. This is likewise the case with Jazz and the Great American Songbook, surely in part for historical and geographical reasons. Much iconic American music is built on the sound of émigrés; Russian-born Irving Berlin may have written God Bless America, but when he came to the US as a child, he spoke not a word of English. As they assimilated into American culture, so too they assimilated the sounds and energy of their new country into their writing, while not forgetting their roots.
Just as in opera, time and place prove key. Surely, Verdi wrote so many a famous chorus because he was composing against the backdrop of an Italy fighting for nationhood; the very question of unity – a chorus its ultimate representation – was the question of the day. Likewise, the obvious way for a young Irving Berlin to learn about and ingratiate himself with his new-found homeland was to embrace its language through song. Berlin often spoke with tremendous gratitude and affection of how America had given him a home; perhaps by embracing its vernacular through song, he was becoming the American he longed to be.
Isn’t a good opera composer, at heart, a good songwriter? Coupled with his keen dramatist’s eye, Verdi was in effect a popular songwriter, keen for each opera to have a standout ‘tune’. It was Verdi who said he composed “with one eye on art, the other on the public”, while Puccini argued “the principal rule is to please and move; all the other rules are only made to lead up to that first”. I think of the adage that people don’t come out of a theatre whistling the sets, but a melody. If one is writing something to ‘land’ and have a wide reach – and 19th century opera was increasingly a popular entertainment – then surely it is melody that best helps a piece last. What better schooling, then, than popular songwriting?
In conversation with classical composer friends, I’ve often been struck by the admiration they show to my own love of writing popular songs: some express dismay at the idea of hitting a chorus in thirty seconds, a concise hook and lyrical brevity. I’m convinced a pop song is the ultimate education for someone who wants to write a symphony or an opera; it forces you to focus your thoughts and tighten your musical argument.
It was Duke Ellington who dismissed the idea of genres, saying music was merely good or bad. Ellington loved listening to Stravinsky, famously arranged a jazzsymphonic take on Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker, and had original symphonic works premiered at Carnegie Hall.
George Gershwin stands as an obvious early example of genre-crosser, finding a fertile common ground between opera, popular song and jazz. In just 1922 he had written one of the first so-called ‘jazz operas’ in Blue Monday (complete with accompanied recitative). The 1933 musical comedy Pardon My English is seen by some experts as
Gershwin’s richest and memorably includes two waltzes that combine contrapuntally in the song Tonight (two decades before the Bernstein-Sondheim song of that name). Indeed, it was Bernstein who pointed out how the Act One finale to Of Thee I Sing echoes that of Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Mikado; both embrace a musical patter to satirise contemporary politics. Porgy and Bess reflects the peak of Gershwin’s hybrid; dubbed a ‘folk opera’, it ran in New York for 124 performances: an absolute hit by opera standards. In Gershwin, the tunefulness and immediacy of a Tin Pan Alley popular songwriter melded with the orchestral colour and harmonic invention of a classical composer.
The Great American Songbook represents the intersection of intricate craft and mass appeal, significant musical adventure on a micro-scale. Indeed, many a standard can feel like a mini drama of itself, taking us on a well-paced melodic and emotional journey. Opera was a world many a songwriter knew well; Jerome Kern had a bust of Wagner on top of his piano and when he was unhappy with a piece, he’d face it away and say: “Wagner doesn’t like it”! If Wagner expanded the world of opera both in scale and colour, so too does Show Boat in its own way. There, Kern and Hammerstein showed that story was king and that entertainment could be serious too, bringing an operatic sensibility to Broadway theatre.
With that, it’s clear why Kern was an idol to Richard Rodgers, another classical fan who brought its harmonic richness, melodic fecundity, and dramatic intent to popular song. Rodgers sat on the board of the New York Philharmonic, allegedly lifted music by Orlando di Lasso for The Sound of Music, and famously cast Met Opera star Ezio Pinza as the lead in South Pacific. But he also felt strongly about the differences between a musical and an opera, arguing: “in opera you sing the music, whereas in musicals you sing the words”. Where opera can revel in a beautiful sound for its own sake and the story play secondary to the music, Rodgers believed it was the opposite for a musical.
‘Opera’ can mean many things, just as ‘popular song’ can. The joy of American music of this period is that it represents this bridge between cultures, styles and people. As a nation really found its feet on the world stage, it found a truly global voice.
Jack Pepper is a composer, broadcaster and writer. He helped to create Scala Radio (now Magic Radio’s Magic Classical), on which he presents every weekend; he also hosts the Classical Music and Musical Theatre shows for British Airways worldwide. As a composer, he spent his teens writing for the Royal Opera House, Classic FM and Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra; he now has two stage musicals in development and has recently written a song for The King. His debut book, Raising The Roof, provides an illustrated introduction to classical music. www.jackpeppermusician.com
5, 8, 19 June
Conductor Edwin Outwater (5, 8 June)
Conductor Pete Harrison (19 June)
Jon Boydon
Pete Eldridge
Jenna Lee-James
Jordan Pitts
Nikola Printz
Ann Toomey
Rachael Wooding
Leader Nathaniel Anderson Frank
Prelude Carmen Innuendo Innuendo
Les tringles des sistres tintaient Carmen (Chanson bohème)
Ernani, Ernani involami Ernani
Who Wants to Live Forever A Kind of Magic
I Want to Break Free The Works
Vissi d’arte Tosca
E lucevan le stelle Tosca
Love of My Life A Night at the Opera
Che v’agita così Un ballo in Maschera
Don’t Stop Me Now Jazz
INTERVAL (90 minutes)
Overture Nabucco
Another One Bites the Dust The Game
The Show Must Go On Innuendo
Vesti la giubba I Pagliacci
It’s a Hard Life The Works
Barcelona Barcelona
You’re My Best Friend A Night at the Opera
Casta Diva Norma
Under Pressure Hot Space
Somebody to Love A Day At The Races
Bohemian Rhapsody A Night at the Opera
This concert is supported by Belinda and Jean-Paul Luksic
Queen performers & arrangements by kind permission of Queen Symphonic.
12, 13 June
Conductor Johan Plomp
Fay Claassen
Composer
Stolen Moments Oliver Nelson
Just In Time Jule Styne
Satin Doll Duke Ellington & Billy Strayhorn
Too Darn Hot Cole Porter
What Is This Thing
In A Sentimental Mood
In A Mellow Tone
Cole Porter
Duke Ellington
Duke Ellington
From This Moment On Cole Porter
I’ve Got You Under My Skin
Arranger
Johan Plomp
Henk Meutgeert
Oliver Nelson
Johan Plomp
Paul Heller
Mike Abene
Rob Horsting
John Clayton
Cole Porter
Rob Horsting You Make Me Feel So Young Josef Myrow & Mack Gordon
INTERVAL (90 minutes)
Composer
Old School Jim McNeely
It Could Happen To You Jimmy van Heusen
My Favorite Things Richard Rodgers & Oscar Hammerstein
The Shadow Johnny Mandel
Rob Horsting
Arranger
Jim McNeely
Jan Wessels
Rob Horsting
Rob Horsting
Lady is a Tramp Richard Rodgers & Lorenz Hart Ilja Reijngoud
After You’ve Gone Turner Layton & Henry Creamer
In A Sentimental Mood Duke Ellington
Summertime
It Don’t Mean A Thing
George & Ira Gershwin
Duke Ellington
Henk Meutgeert
Mike Abene
Henk Meutgeert
Henk Huizinga
This concert is supported by The Consuelo and Anthony Brooke Charitable Trust
26, 29 June
Conductor Karen Kamensek
Claudia Boyle
Lewis Francis
Gabriela Garcia
Trystan Llŷr Griffiths
Elèna Gyasi
Julian Ovenden
Leader David Adams
Chorus Master William Vann
Overture Candide
New York, New York On the Town
Lonely Town On the Town
Ya Got Me On the Town
Three Dance Episodes On the Town
Glitter and Be Gay Candide
Nothing More Than This Candide
Overture Wonderful Town
One Hundred Easy Ways Wonderful Town
What a Waste Wonderful Town
Conga! Wonderful Town
INTERVAL (90 minutes)
Symphonic Dances West Side Story
Maria West Side Story
Tonight Quintet West Side Story
A Boy Like That / I Have A Love West Side Story
Universal Good Candide
Make Our Garden Grow Candide
This concert is supported by An anonymous donor
15 June
International bass opera singer Brindley Sherratt and his family are staging a very special concert in aid of The Meath Epilepsy Charity, featuring a host of world-renowned singers.
This Opera Gala Concert provides a rare opportunity to enjoy a stellar line up of opera stars.
Joining Brindley Sherratt on stage are:
Louise Alder, Gerald Finley OC CBE, David Junghoon Kim, Alexandra Oomens, Huw Montague Rendall, Christine Rice MBE, Natalya Romaniw, Nicky Spence OBE, Catherine Wyn-Rogers
Accompanist Julius Drake
Accompanist Matthew Fletcher
Compère Chris Addison
With renowned accompanists Julius Drake and Matthew Fletcher and the inimitable comedian and opera lover, Chris Addison as compère. Also taking to the stage will be Amy, Brindley’s daughter and her peers from The Meath Choir, who live with her at The Meath Epilepsy Charity in Surrey.
While the concert promises to be joyous featuring arias and ensembles from opera and musicals, Brindley is thrilled
that it will also help raise awareness of epilepsy and bring in vital funds to The Meath. Despite 24/7 support and careful epilepsy management, residents, like Amy, can experience ten or more seizures a day. Due to the risks posed by complex epilepsy many can’t safely be left alone. Living at The Meath has enabled the residents to have the independence and creative fulfillment they need, while ensuring that they are always safe.
“I am so grateful to all my friends who are yet again joining me. Our previous concert for The Meath at Glyndebourne was a huge success raising substantial funds for The Meath and we are aiming to emulate this success. I am also grateful to the trustees of The Grange Festival for hosting us in this wonderful venue”
Brindley Sherratt
2017
IL RITORNO D’ULISSE IN PATRIA
Claudio Monteverdi
Musical Direction
Michael Chance
Director Tim Supple
CARMEN
Georges Bizet
Conductor
Jean-Luc Tingaud
Director
Annabel Arden
ALBERT HERRING
Benjamin Britten
Conductor
Steuart Bedford
Director John Copley
A CELEBRATION OF ROGERS, HAMMERSTEIN & HART
The John Wilson Orchestra
Conductor John Wilson
REQUIEM
Giuseppe Verdi
Conductor
Francesco Cilluffo
AUTUMN
2017
MANSFIELD PARK
Jonathan Dove
Conductor
David Parry
Director
Martin Lloyd-Evans
THE GRANGE FESTIVAL INTERNATIONAL SINGING COMPETITION
2018
DANCE AT THE GRANGE
Studio Wayne McGregor Director
Wayne McGregor
Curator Ed Watson
AGRIPPINA
Georg Frideric Handel
Conductor
Robert Howarth
Director
Walter Sutcliffe
IL BARBIERE DI SIVIGLIA
Gioachino Rossini
Conductor
David Parry
Director
Stephen Barlow
THE ABDUCTION FROM THE SERAGLIO
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Conductor
Jean-Luc Tingaud
Director
John Copley
CANDIDE
Leonard Bernstein
Conductor
Alfonso Casado Trigo
Director
Christopher Luscombe
TIME CAPSULE
The Grange Festival Learning Youth Opera
GOYESCAS
The Grange Festival at The Wallace Collection
2019
LE NOZZE DI FIGARO
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Conductor
Richard Egarr
Director
Martin Lloyd-Evans
FALSTAFF
Giuseppe Verdi
Conductor
Francesco Cilluffo
Director
Christopher Luscombe
BELSHAZZAR
Georg Frideric Handel
Conductor
Harry Christophers
Director
Daniel Slater
DANCE AT THE GRANGE
Studio Wayne McGregor
Director
Wayne McGregor
INIMITABLE, IRRESISTIBLE HOLLYWOOD AND BROADWAY
The John Wilson Orchestra
Conductor John Wilson
#LITONLINE
The Grange Festival Learning Youth Opera
THE GRANGE FESTIVAL INTERNATIONAL SINGING COMPETITION
2020
PRECIPICE
Sinéad O’Neill
Conductor
John Andrews
Director
Sinéad O’Neill
PAGLIACCI
Ruggero Leoncavallo
Conductor
John Andrews
Director
Christopher Luscombe
2021
LA CENERENTOLA
Gioachino Rossini
Conductor
David Parry
Director
Stephen Barlow
A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM
Benjamin Britten
Conductor
Anthony Kraus
Director Paul Curran
MANON LESCAUT
Giacomo Puccini
Conductor
Francesco Cilluffo
Director
Stephen Lawless
MY FAIR LADY
Lerner & Loewe
Conductor
Alfonso Casado-Trigo
Director Guy Unsworth
KING LEAR
William Shakespeare
Director
Keith Warner
MACBETH
Giuseppe Verdi
Conductor
Francesco Cilluffo
Director
Maxine Braham
TAMERLANO
Georg Frideric Handel
Conductor
Robert Howarth Director
Daniel Slater
THE YEOMEN OF THE GUARD
Gilbert & Sullivan
Conductor
John Andrews Director
Christopher Luscombe
FROM BLUES TO RHAPSODY
Jazz at The Grange
Conductor
Gavin Sutherland Director 23 Arts
DANCE AT THE GRANGE
Shobana Jeyasingh Dance
New English Ballet Theatre
OUR WORLD
The Grange Festival Learning Youth Opera
COSÌ FAN TUTTE
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Conductor
Kirill Karabits
Director
Martin Lloyd-Evans
ORFEO ED EURIDICE
Christoph Willibald Gluck
Conductor
Harry Christophers Director
Daniel Slater
DIDO AND AENEAS
Henry Purcell
Conductor
Harry Christophers Director
Daniel Slater
THE QUEEN OF SPADES
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Conductor
Paul Daniel Director
Paul Curran
ELLINGTON: FROM STRIDE TO STRINGS
Jazz at The Grange
Conductor
Ethan Iverson Director 23 Arts
DAWN TO DUSK: THE MOON IS LISTENING
The Grange Festival Learning Youth Opera
DANCE AT THE GRANGE
Národní divadlo Brno Balet/ The National Ballet of Brno Director
Mário Radačovský
L’INCORONAZIONE DI POPPEA
Claudio Monteverdi
Conductor
David Bates Director
Walter Sutcliffe
A FRENCH SALON
Jazz at The Grange
Conductor
Gavin Sutherland Director 23 Arts
TOSCA
Giacomo Puccini
Conductor
Francesco Cilluffo Director
Christopher Luscombe
THE RAKE’S PROGRESS
Igor Stravinsky
Conductor
Tom Primrose
Director
Antony McDonald
Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra is thrilled to return to its summer residency at The Grange Festival, for what is set to be another celebration of artistic excellence. Two extraordinary productions – La traviata with conductor Richard Farnes and Die Fledermaus with conductor Paul Daniel – will see the Orchestra reunited with audiences and guest artists from around the world.
“In the small auditorium of The Grange, the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra makes a terrific impact”
Opera Today, The Grange Festival, Tosca 2024
One of the UK’s best-loved orchestras, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra is known for championing the role of culture in people’s lives. Based at Lighthouse, Poole, the Orchestra is resident in Bristol, Exeter, Portsmouth, Southampton, and Yeovil, and performs in towns and villages across the region – including, the newly refurbished Fareham Live and at The Anvil, Basingstoke. A leading arts charity, it is the largest cultural provider in the South West of England, serving one of the biggest and most diverse regions in the UK: in 2023/24, its performances reached over 144,000 people, with 63% of concerts touring beyond its base in Poole.
Mark Wigglesworth became the BSO’s Chief Conductor in 2024, making a debut that received praise from press and audiences alike. Celebrated globally for his outstanding musicianship, extraordinary interpretations, and breadth of repertoire, Wigglesworth’s appointment builds on the BSO’s reputation for the highest quality music-making. The Orchestra boasts an enviable list of named conductors, including Principal Guest Conductor Chloé Van Soeterstède, Marin Alsop, David Hill MBE, Kirill Karabits, and Andrew Litton “…the performance was a triumph”
Seen and Heard International – Bristol Beacon
The BSO leads hundreds of community-based events each year, from its award-winning work in health and care settings to partnerships with schools and music education hubs. The Orchestra’s flagship symphonic Schools’ Concerts in Bristol, Exeter, Poole and Portsmouth have introduced thousands of pupils to live music – and in 2023/24, its learning and participation events reached over 47,000 participants in 112 locations. Last year, the BSO launched a new partnership with Dorset County Hospital and Arts in Hospital, injecting music into hospital and care settings – with the programme expanding to Dorset HealthCare sites in 2025, thanks to support from the Garfield Weston Foundation.
As balmy summer evenings beckon, and world-class artists arrive in Hampshire for a series of awe-inspiring performances, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra looks forward to joining you for this wonderful season of live music.
“Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra was on blistering form”
Opera Now, The Grange Festival, Tosca 2024
The mission of the BBC Concert Orchestra is to bring inspiring musical experiences to everyone, everywhere, with the ensemble’s versatility as the key.
For BBC Radio 3, the Orchestra explores a wide selection of classical and contemporary music and is broadcast weekly on Friday Night Is Music Night. It has performed on many soundtracks, including Blue Planet, Serengeti and Wild Isles for BBC One, as well as recording new music for BBC Sounds’ Music & Meditation podcast and George the Poet’s award-winning, Have You Heard George’s Podcast? In 2022, it recorded Isobel WallerBridge’s score for Charlie Mackesy’s Oscar winning animated film, The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and The Horse. It performs in BBC Radio 2’s Piano Room Month for BBC iPlayer and BBC Sounds, which featured over 20 collaborations with pop artists, including Raye, P!nk and Petshop Boys.
The orchestra appears regularly at London’s Southbank Centre and Alexandra Palace Theatre, Nottingham’s Royal Concert Hall and venues across the UK, and makes annual appearances at the BBC Proms.
The BBC CO offers enjoyable and innovative education and community activities. It has a partnership with the universities in Nottingham, and programmes including Create Yarmouth, BBC Ten Pieces, the BBC Young Composer competition, the BBC Open Music programme.
bbc.co.uk/concertorchestra
The Jazz Orchestra of the Concertgebouw is considered one of the best big bands in Europe. The orchestra bears the name of the Royal Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the only concert hall in the world that, in addition to a classical orchestra, also has a jazz orchestra attached to its name. The orchestra aims to make more than a century of jazz accessible to new generations, while at the same time, collaborates with emerging talents and contemporary (jazz) musicians from all over the world. Among their releases are albums blessed with an Edison, the most famous and important prize in Dutch music. Their latest release, Threnody (2022), which features the musicians of the orchestra as composers, was nominated for an Edison and praised as “a particularly beautiful big band album” by the Dutch press.
At The Grange Festival they join forces with Dutch jazz diva Fay Claassen, to bring the absolute classics of the American Songbook. Expect to hear Irving Berlin, Cole Porter and George Gershwin in brand new arrangements, with plenty of space for the great soloists of the orchestra. World-class jazz by top-notch jazz musicians from the Netherlands! The orchestra is conducted by the versatile bassist, composer and arranger Johan Plomp.
jazzorchestra.nl/en
Welsh National Opera Orchestra was formed in 1970. Since then, it has established itself as one of the finest orchestras in the UK, highly praised for its distinction in wide ranging operatic repertoire, as well as for its extremely varied concert work and portfolio of recordings.
WNO Orchestra is one of two permanent, full-time ensembles at the heart of the Company, alongside WNO Chorus. Former Music Directors include Carlo Rizzi (now WNO Conductor Laureate) and the late Sir Charles Mackerras. Tomáš Hanus joined the Company in August 2016. WNO Orchestra and Company has enjoyed critical acclaim on the operatic stage for Britten’s Death in Venice, Puccini’s Il trittico, Janáček’s The Makropulos Affair, Golijov’s Ainadamar, Bernstein’s Candide and Verdi’s Rigoletto
In addition to its substantial operatic remit, the Orchestra’s stature and reputation as a world-class ensemble is demonstrated by its distinguished involvement over the years in the St Davids’s Hall Cardiff Classical Concerts, performances at the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama, the Welsh Proms and the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World. WNO Orchestra is regularly active at many high profile and festival engagements in the UK and abroad, including the Janáček Festival and Prague International Spring Festival. WNO Orchestra covers a wide range of styles from large symphonic works through to lighter chamber and popular music, together with a regular portfolio of WNO community work, family and school concerts.
wno.org.uk/orchestra
Cappella Mediterranea was founded in 2005 by the SwissArgentinian conductor Leonardo García-Alarcón, originally to serve Latin Baroque music. Ten years on, its repertoire has diversified: with over fifty concerts a year, the ensemble explores madrigal, polyphonic motet and opera. In just a few years, the ensemble has made a name for itself with the rediscovery of previously unpublished works such as Michelangelo Falvetti’s Il Diluvio universale and Nabucco, as well as with new versions of works from the repertoire such as Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo and Bach’s Mass in B minor In residence at the Opéra de Dijon between 2018 and 2020, the ensemble has produced a series of rediscoveries of works such as Draghi’s El Prometeo, Sacrati’s La Finta pazza in 2019 and Rossi’s Il Palazzo incantato in 2020. The ensemble takes part in the triumph of Rameau’s Indes Galantes at the Opéra Bastille, recognised as the best production of 2019 by Forumopéra and the New York Times. In 2022, Cappella Mediterranea makes a name for itself with two successful opera productions: Lully’s Atys in Geneva and Versailles, staged by Angelin Preljocaj, and Monteverdi’s Die Fledermaus staged by Ted Huffman at the Aix-enProvence Festival, and subsequently revived in Versailles, Valencia and Toulon. In 2025, the ensemble takes part in its first Mozart opera, Idomeneo, at Grand Théâtre de Genève, before an audacious rereading of Bach’s St John Passion, choreographed by Sasha Waltz, in Salzburg, Dijon and in the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris.
Cappella Mediterranea’s discography includes over thirty critically acclaimed recordings. Recent releases include Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo (Alpha classic, 2021) and Sacrati’s La Finta pazza (Château de Versailles Spectacles, 2022).
In Valencia is published Amore Siciliano (Alpha) and in 2025 Philippe d’Orléans’ La Jérusalem délivrée before Lully’s Atys (Château de Versailles Spectacles).
Cappella Mediterranea is supported by the Ministry of Culture –DRAC Auvergne Rhône Alpes, the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Region, the City of Geneva, a Swiss family foundation, a Geneva private foundation, Brigitte Lescure, Hugues & Emma Lavandier, Christian & Margaret Hureau and by its Circle of Friends and its Circle of Entrepreneurs with Diot-Siaci, Chatillon Architects, Synapsys and 400 Partners.
Since its creation in 1987, the Chamber Choir of Namur has promoted the musical heritage of its region of origin (Lassus, Arcadelt, Rogier, Du Mont, Gossec, Grétry…) while also taking on great works from the choral repertoire. The Choir has made a number of critically acclaimed recording. It was awarded the Grand Prix of the Académie Charles Cros in 2003 and the Prix de l’Académie Française in 2006. In 2010, the artistic direction of the Chamber Choir of Namur was entrusted to Argentine conductor Leonardo García-Alarcón.
The 2017–2018 season marked the choir’s 30th anniversary. Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo in 2017 was the first milestone of this celebration, performed across Europe and South America. In 2019, the Chamber Choir of Namur added Handel’s Saul to its repertoire (performed in Namur and Beaune) and Rameau’s Les Indes Galantes at the Paris Opera. From 2020 to 2025, the Chamber Choir of Namur continues its journey through Handel’s great choral works (The Messiah, Jephtha, Semele, Solomon, Theodora), explores a diverse repertoire with its artistic director (St. Matthew Passion, St. John Passion in collaboration with choreographer Sasha Waltz, secular Bach cantatas, Monteverdi’s Vespro and Orfeo…), and broadens its scope to include, among other things, operetta (La Vie Parisienne by Jacques Offenbach). It also continues key collaborations with Christophe Rousset and Les Talens Lyriques (Thésée, Atys, and Proserpine by Lully), Julien Chauvin and Le Concert de la Loge (Mozart’s Requiem, Haydn’s Creation), Reinoud Van Mechelen and A Nocte Temporis (Acis and Galatea by Élisabeth Jacquet de La Guerre, Pygmalion by Rameau), and begins new ones with Les Ambassadeurs (Zoroastre and Dardanus by Rameau), as well as with René Jacobs and B’Rock Orchestra (Carmen by Bizet).
The repertoire covered by the choir is very broad, ranging from the Middle Ages to contemporary music.
The Chamber Choir of Namur is supported by the Wallonia-Brussels Federation (music and dance department), the National Lottery and the City of Namur.
Rualité, a structure whose name is formed from the words “rue” (street) and “réalité” (reality), has been directed by Bintou Dembélé since founding in 2002. Based in SeineSaint-Denis, Rualité develops artistic and cultural projects that intertwine research, creation, dissemination, and transmission in a continuous spiral.
Bintou Dembélé’s creations (performances, shows, films) blend street dance and Marronne dance with repetitive music and rhythmic polyphonies. They explowre ritual and embodied memory, question gender, and address the wounds of the past – whether individual or collective –while also considering the possibility of transcending them through strategies of reappropriation and marronage. This reflects the ongoing evolution of her thinking, her dance, and her artistic commitment. Moving constantly between the street and the stage, her artistic projects unfold in museum spaces, opera houses, social media, and the street.
Structure Rualité is supported by the Direction régionale des affaires culturelles d’Ile de France, the Région Ile de France, the Conseil départemental d’Ile de France, and the Francis Kurkdjian endowment fund.
ANNINA LA TRAVIATA
Previous Appearances:
Chorus 2022; Chorus (and Masha The Queen of Spades/ cover Euridice and Belinda Orfeo/Dido) 2023; Chorus and cover Tosca, The Rake’s Progress (2024).
Recent Engagements: Donna Anna Don Giovanni (Brunswick Vocal Arts); Doria Manfredi Puccini Man of the Theatre (WFO)
Future Engagements: Title role Tosca (Clonter Opera 2025).
Biography: Isabel Garcia Araujo is a Portuguese soprano. She won the 2022 Grange Festival Prize. Some of her operatic roles include: Donna Anna Don Giovanni; Title role Tosca; Marie La Fille du Régiment; Masha/ Prilepa The Queen of Spades; Alice James The Master; 2nd Apparition Macbeth; Vitellia La Clemenza di Tito; Lauretta La Donna di Genio Volubile; Fiordiligi Così fan tutte. In 2020, she finished her Masters at RCS under the tutelage of Elizabeth McCormack. Isabel had the pleasure to have the support of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland Trust and the GDA Foundation.
DIE FLEDERMAUS
Supported by Richard and Judy Haes
Previous Appearances: Chorus 2022, 2023 (cover Despina Cosi fan tutte), 2024 (cover Anne Trulove The Rake’s Progress).
Recent Engagements: Anne Trulove (Cover) The Rake’s Progress (The Grange Festival); Musetta La bohème (Hurn Court Opera); Ariadne Ciphers (Tête-à-tête); Berta The Barber of Seville (Cardiff Opera).
Future Engagements: Adina (Cover) L’elisir d’amore (ETO).
Biography: Soprano Isabelle Atkinson is a Royal College of Music and Royal Academy of Music scholar, earning a Distinction in her MA and a DipRAM for her outstanding final recital. Recent highlights include Berta for Cardiff Opera and Ariadne in the world premiere of Ciphers by Greg Arrowsmith. She has also performed with GPO, Winterbourne Opera, and Hurn Court Opera – debuting as Musetta La bohème – and is shortly covering Adina for ETO. Her concert repertoire spans from Bach to Orff, with performances at venues like the Wigmore Hall and Cadogan Hall. Beyond music, Isabelle is also a passionate knitter and dancer.
QUEEN AT THE OPERA
Festival Debut
Recent Engagements: Principal Gowan in Heathers (UK premiere), Sam Carmichael in Mamma Mia! (UK Tour), understudy Newton and Michael in David Bowie and Enda Walsh’s Lazarus (London), Alternate Galileo and understudy Kashoggi and Britney Spears in We Will Rock You (London), Zak Love in The Next Big Thing (London), Principal Vocalist in What a Feeling! (UK Tour), Judas in Jesus Christ Superstar (Europe and UK), Kenickie in Grease (Europe), Brad Majors (UK) and Frank-N-Furter (Europe) in The Rocky Horror Show, Principal Vocalist in All You Need is Love! (London), Earl Blues in The Blues Brothers Meet the Soul Sisters (UK Tour), Rock in Mike Leigh’s Smelling a Rat, The Doctor and Murderer in Macbeth and Eduardo in Ben Elton’s Silly Cow (all Fringe).
Biography: Jon is best known for his six years with the production of Jersey Boys on London’s West End where he played the role of Tommy Devito for over 2000 performances and appeared on numerous television shows and concert stages. Jon continues to be a popular choice for many live concerts, session recordings and show bands; most notably Queen Rock Symphonic which enjoys continued success after more than 100 performances with some of the finest orchestras around the world.
BERNSTEIN ON BROADWAY
Festival Debut
Recent Engagements: Adina, L’Elisir d’Amore, INO; Silvia, The Exterminating Angel, Paris Opera; Cunegonde, Candide, WNO; Dede, A Quiet Place, Paris Opera; Zoraida, Zoraida Di Granata, Wexford Festival Opera; Alice, Alice’s Adventures Under Ground, ROH.
Future Engagements: Zemlinsky Lyric Symphony, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra. Donna, Orgia, Ensemble intercontemporain. Silvia, The Exterminating Angel, Gran Teatre del Liceu.
Biography: Irish Soprano and RTÉ Lyric FM presenter Claudia Boyle has secured her stellar international profile in recent seasons through highly-acclaimed performances in Paris, Zurich, Rome and New York.
Claudia has won both the First Prize and the Critics Award at ‘The Maria Calla Competition’ in Verona.
Recent career highlights have included singing the role of Dede in Bernstein’s A Quiet Place for Paris Opera conducted by Kent Nagano.
She has appeared at the Salzburger Festspiele in Cherubini’s Chant sur la mort
de Joseph Haydn under Riccardo Muti and with NHK Symphony Orchestra in Mahler’s Symphony No.8 under Paavo Järvi.
Previous Appearances: Macbeth (2022).
Recent Engagements: Madama Butterfly (Teatro Nacional São Carlos); Eye for an Eye ( St. Magnus Int. Festival); Don Juan (Citizens’ Theatre); Le docteur Miracle (Wexford); La Belle et la Bête (NTStudio); The Strangler (Martinu Festival, Barbican); San Francisco Xavier (International Baroque Opera Festival, Nottingham); Three Women (Cyprus Int. Festival).
Future Engagements: Ada or Ardor (Aldbeburgh Festival); La Inocencia de la Destrucción (S.E Asian Tour); Dialogues des Carmélites (Teatro Colón, Buenos Aires)
Biography: Following a successful international performance career with opera, theatre and dance companies including DV8, RBO, Gloria Theatre Co, The English Bach Festival and ENO, Maxine now directs opera, spoken theatre and dance. Her work features in many Award winning and Olivier nominated opera productions including The Golden Mask Award, The South Bank Award and The International Opera Award. She’s had the privilege of working at The Maryinski, ENO, Hamburg’s Staatsoper, The Bolshoi, Teatro Regio di Parma & Turino, Opéra de Lyon, Wexford, ON, Garsington, The MET, RBO, The Kennedy Center, Santa Fe and Sydney Opera House.
BALLET BLACK: DOUBLE BILL
Festival Debut
Biography: Charlotte trained at The Royal Ballet School and Elmhurst Ballet School. She joined Northern Ballet Theatre and later became a Principal Artist, dancing title roles in Carmen Giselle, Cinderella and Romeo and Juliet, as well as Odette/Odile Swan Lake and Kitri Don Quixote. Charlotte then joined Cullberg Ballet in Stockholm. She danced the role of Aurora in Mats Ek’s Sleeping Beauty and She Was Black, A Sort Of and Swan Lake. She also worked with choreographers Ohad Naharin, Stijn Celis, Jiř. Kyli.n, Johan Inger and Didy Veldman. Charlotte became a freelance artist, working with choreographers such as Cathy Marston, Will Tuckett, Javier De Frutos, Luca Silvestrini and Mark Bruce. She also performed The Queen in Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake. In 2012 Charlotte co-founded HeadSpaceDance with Christopher Akrill. They coproduced Three & Four Quarters and If Play is Play with the RBO. HeadSpaceDance also
collaborated with Arthur Pita for Stepmother/ Stepfather. In 2018, HeadSpaceDance won the Critics’ Circle National Dance Award for Best Independent Company. Charlotte has worked as a Movement Director and choreographer for the RoyalShakespeare Company, Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre, the National Theatre, Shakespeare’s Globe, Bunkamura (Tokyo) and in the West End.
DESIGNER – IF AT FIRST
BALLET BLACK: DOUBLE BILL
SUMMERTIME SWING
Festival Debut
Biography: Jessica, born in the Dominican Republic, developed a passion for the arts early on, studying theatre and cinema in Italy. In 2011, she moved to London, where she earned a Pattern Maker certification from Kensington and Chelsea College in 2013. Her career spans fashion, costume design, and performing arts, blending her Caribbean heritage with Mediterranean influences. As a freelance artist, projects include Rumble in the Jungle by Rematch live production, an immersive experience reimagining the famous Ali vs. Foreman fight. Jessica has collaborated with renowned dance companies, West End theatres, and immersive projects. She’s worked with celebrated choreographers like Sophie Laplane, Ashley Page, Joseph Tonga, and Mthuthuzeli November, contributing to the acclaimed Ballet Black production, Nina: By Whatever Means. Her designs have graced prestigious stages, including the Barbican, Sadler’s Wells, and The Linbury Theatre. In 2022, she won the Black British Theatre Award for Costume Design Recognition for her design work on Say It Loud by Cassa Pancho and the Ballet Black Company, and in 2024, she won the Theatre Design Award at the Black British Theatre Awards.
BALLET BLACK: DOUBLE BILL
Festival Debut
Biography: Originally from Chicago, Chiu trained at Chicago MultiCultural Dance Centre under Homer Hans Bryant and attended Chicago High School for the Arts, before graduating from Point Park University where she received her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance and a minor in Business Management. At Point Park, she performed works by choreographers such as Christopher Wheeldon, Jessica Lang, Jae Man Joo, among others, and performed principal roles in Swan Lake, Raymonda, and Cinderella In 2021, she joined Madison Ballet; there, her repertory included Birthday Variations, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Paquita, and The Nutcracker. Chiu joined Ballet Black for their 2023/24 season.
Festival Debut
Biography: The Dutch power woman of jazz, Fay Claassen, is one of the best-known and most diverse singers in The Netherlands and belongs to the European top. Fay is a musical phenomenon, known for her elegance and delicacy; a sophisticated singer who does not shy away from crossovers and other genres. She knows how to move her audiences with ease with her endearing voice. She won her fourth Edison Jazz Award (the Dutch Grammy), making her the only Dutch contemporary vocalist to have this to her name. She also received a Golden Record and the Chet Baker Award. Fay is a regular guest with the most renowned big bands and orchestras, from the Metropole Orkest, Residentie Orkest and Brussels Jazz Orchestra to Danish Radio Big Band, Jazz Orchestra of the Concertgebouw and WDR Big Band.
LA TRAVIATA
Supported by Herman and Claire Hintzen
Previous Appearances: Tytania A Midsummer Night’s Dream (2021); Fiordiligi Così fan tutte (2023)
Recent Engagements: Violetta La traviata (Sydney Opera House, Queensland Ballet); Cleopatra Guilio Cesare (Pinchgut Opera); Countess Le nozze di Figaro (Garsington); Fiordiligi Così fan tutte (Seiji Ozawa Music Academy); Title role Theodora (Pinchgut Opera); Woglinde Das Rheingold (Sydney Symphony Orchestra)
Future Engagements: Soprano Soloist Les Illuminations (Western Australia Symphony Orchestra/Edward Gardner); Eurydice/Amor Orpheus ed Eurydice (Edinburgh International Festival and Opera Australia); Soprano Soloist Mozart’s Mass in C minor (Melbourne Symphony Orchestra); Waldvogel Siegfried (Sydney Symphony Orchestra).
Biography: Australian/British soprano Samantha Clarke studied at the RNCM and the Guildhall School of Music & Drama. Samantha was a prize winner in the 2019 Grange Festival International Singing Competition, with other awards including the 2019 Guildhall Gold Medal. She has recently performed Countess Le nozze di Figaro (Garsington); Fiordiligi Così fan tutte (Seiji Ozawa Music Academy in Japan and The Grange Festival); Cleopatra Giulio Cesare and Title role Theodora (Pinchgut Opera); Mahler’s Symphony No.8 (with Asher Fisch and WASO); and Violetta La traviata (Opera Australia and West Australian Opera). Future projects include Euridyce/Amor for Edinburgh International Festival.
LES INDES GALANTES
Festival Debut
Biography: After studying costume design in 2009, Charlotte Coffinet trained in the Advanced Diploma of Costume Making (DMA Costumier Réalisateur). Since 2013, she has worked in various fields of performing arts – from theatre and dance to opera – primarily as a costume maker for cultural institutions such as the Théâtre National de Strasbourg and the Paris Opera, as well as on film sets (Jeanne du Barry, The Serpent Queen).
Since 2019, she has been working as head costume designer at the Opéra Bastille for several productions: Moses und Aron (directed by Romeo Castellucci), Les Indes Galantes (directed by Clément Cogitore with choreography by Bintou Dembélé), and Castor et Pollux (directed by Peter Sellars). She is currently assisting the head of the tailoring workshop for the upcoming production of Eugene Onegin, directed by Ralph Fiennes.
In parallel, she contributes to costume design for various companies – as assistant costume designer for the DCA-Philippe Decouflé company (Nouvelles Pièces Courtes), and as lead costume designer for La Jeunesse Aimable – Lazare HersonMacarel (Galileo, Les Misérables). She has also collaborated with Laëtitia Guédon on the creation of Penthesilé-e-s, presented at La Chartreuse during the Avignon Festival in 2021, and in 2024, for her production Trois Fois Ulysse at the Théâtre du VieuxColombier of the Comédie-Française.
BALLET BLACK: DOUBLE BILL
Biography: Born in Brazil, Coracy began training at the Centro de Dança Rio. She has danced with Project Deborah Colker, São Paulo Companhia de Dança, Companhia Jovem de Ballet do Rio de Janeiro, Companhia Brasileira de Ballet and has toured Russia extensively. In 2009, Isabela was featured in Beadie Finzi’s documentary, Only When I Dance. She joined Ballet Black as a Junior Artist in 2013, promoted to Senior Artist, 2015. Her repertory includes works by Marney, de Frutos, Lawrence, Pita, Lopez-Ochoa, Marston and she created a role in Maqoma’s Black Sun. In 2022, she received the Black Cultural 40x40 Black Future Young Leaders award for 2023. In 2024, she won the Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in Dance for her performance in NINA: By Whatever Means
DIE FLEDERMAUS
Previous Appearances: A Midsummer Night’s Dream (2021); The Queen of Spades (2023).
Recent Engagements: Tristan und Isolde (San Francisco Opera); Ariadne auf Naxos (La Fenice Venice); Fedra (Teatro Greco Siracusa); Fanciulla del West (Comunale Bologna); Carmen (Opera Philadelphia, Irish National Opera).
Future Engagements: La Clemenza di Tito (La Fenice Venice); Armida (ROF Pesaro); Carmen (Seattle); Ariadne auf Naxos (Canadian Opera); productions at La Scala, Santa Fe Opera and Comunale Bologna.
Biography: Award winning director, graduate of the National Institute of Dramatic Art, Sydney, former Artistic Director Norwegian National Opera, has directed productions in many of the world’s leading opera houses: ROH, The Met, La Scala, San Francisco Opera, WNO, New National Tokyo, Rome Opera, Lyric Opera Chicago.
DIE FLEDERMAUS
Previous Appearances: The Queen of Spades (2023).
Recent Engagements: La Princesse de Trebizonde (LPO/Opera Rara); Le nozze di Figaro (Philharmonie Paris).
Future Engagements: Lohengrin (Tenerife).
Biography: Paul Daniel was Music Director of the Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine from 2013–2021, of English National Opera from 1997–2005, of Opera North from 1990–1997 and of Opera Factory from 1987–1990. He has worked with leading opera houses throughout Europe including Covent Garden, Paris, Munich, Madrid, Dresden and Berlin. He has made many award-winning recordings in repertoire ranging from Berg to Offenbach. In 1998 he received an Olivier Award for outstanding achievement in opera, and was awarded the CBE in the 2000 New Year’s Honours.
Previous Appearances: Don Ramiro La Cenerentola (2021).
Recent Engagements: Ernesto Don Pasquale (Tallinn); Almaviva Il barbiere di Siviglia (Oviedo, Fenice, WGH Opera); Alfredo La traviata (Estonian National Opera), Don Ottavio Don Giovanni (Glyndebourne), Carlo Giovanna d’Arco (ENO), Tonio La fille du Régiment (GPO).
Future Engagements: Il Pescatore Guillaume Tell (Opéra Royal de Wallonie), Title role Roméo et Juliette (Estonian National Opera).
Biography: Maltese tenor Nico Darmanin first studied law before earning a scholarship to the RCM London and training at the National Opera Studio. He made his debut at the Royal Ballet and Opera and has performed at prestigious venues such as Opéra de Bordeaux, Glyndebourne, Teatro Regio Torino, and La Fenice. A specialist in bel canto, he is particularly acclaimed for his interpretations of Rossini and Donizetti. He has also recorded several works and will soon perform in Il barbiere di Siviglia and Guillaume Tell.
CHOREOGRAPHER –A SHADOW WORK
BALLET BLACK: DOUBLE BILL
Festival Debut
Biography: A native of Brooklyn, NY, Chanel is the Co-Founder of MOVE|NYC| as well as a choreographer and director based in New York City. After being named a Presidential Scholar in the Arts and graduating with her BFA from The Juilliard School, Chanel became a member of the highly celebrated Trey McIntyre Project. Chanel was featured on the cover of Dance Magazine with TMP in 2011 and upon returning to New York City, became a member of the Lar Lubovitch Dance Company. Chanel has been commissioned to choreograph works for The Joffrey Ballet, The Washington Ballet, The Juilliard School, Parsons Dance Company, Ballet Memphis, Dallas Black Dance Theater, Ballet RI, and Barnard Columbia College. Over the years, Chanel has received recognition from numerous institutions including The Joffrey Ballet Winning Works Choreographic Competition, the Martha Hill Dance Fund Mid- Career Award, a 2011 Princess Martha Hill Prize awarded by The Juilliard School. She is a National Young Arts Winner, was named a Presidential Scholar in the Arts, and was featured on the 2004 PBS Documentary American Talent. Chanel
attributes her success and longevity in the dance field to the tribe of artists, educators, and mentors who opened the doors to the dance industry for her at an early age, including the Bernice Johnson Cultural Arts Center, Creative Outlet Dance Theater of Brooklyn, LaGuardia High School for the Performing Arts, The Ailey School, Springboard Danse Montreal, and The Juilliard School.
BALLET BLACK: DOUBLE BILL
Festival Debut
Biography: Born in Brazil, Acaoã began dancing aged six and graduated from Hellô Ballet under the direction of Heloísa Randis and Especial Academia under the direction of Guivalde de Almeida and Jorge Peña. He was part of the São Paulo Companhia de Dança between 2011 and 2013, directed by Iracity Cardoso and Inês Bogéa. In 2014, he entered the Ballet Nacional del SODRE under the direction of Julio Bocca. He has performed in works by Kenneth MacMillan, Ohad Naharin, Nacho Duato, AnneMarie Holmes, John Cranko, Natalia Makarova, Mario Galizzi, Jiří Kylián, Ronald Hynd, William Forsythe, among many others. He joined Ballet Black for their 2023/24 season.
LES INDES GALANTES
Festival Debut
Recent Engagements: Rite of passage (Festival RomaEuropa, Villa Médicis; Festival d’Automne); Guest artist (Venice Biennale 2024); G.R.O.O.V.E. (TIFA 2025, NTCH Taïpei).
Future Engagements: G.R.O.O.V.E. (Musée Picasso, Paris; Serendipity Arts Festival, Goa); USC Kaufman (Los Angeles); en mode marron (Opéra Helsinki).
Biography: A major figure in French hip-hop, Bintou Dembélé embodies a singular history of this protest culture. She began dancing in 1985, between street culture and clubbing. In 2002, she founded Sructure Rualité, where she developed a Marronne way of thinking and dancing, with creations that celebrate the peripheries and ritual memories. In 2017, Clément Cogitore invited her to choreograph the opera-ballet Les Indes galantes for the Opéra de Paris. She is honored at the Centre Pompidou and the Musée du Quai Branly. She is in residence for a forthcoming book at Villa Médicis and Villa Albertine (Chicago) in 2021. In 2022, she received the SACD Choreography Prize.
DIE FLEDERMAUS
Festival Debut
Recent Engagements: Self Sunday Cabaret (Royal Vauxhall Tavern); Baroness Fortuna Cinderella (Manchester Opera House); Self Be Well (UK & Australian Tour, West End and Edinburgh Fringe); Self La Clique (Mayfield Depot); Lady von Fistenberg Death Drop (Garrick Theatre, London); Self Dead Funny (UK Tour, Edinburgh Fringe and Sydney Opera House).
Future Engagements: Queen Myra Snow White (Bradford Alhambra); Self Cosmic Empath (UK & Ireland Tour).
Biography: Myra DuBois is an actress, singer, wellness guru, energy worker, muse and empath from Rotherham, South Yorkshire. Self-taught in each discipline she has mastered, Myra emerged from the clubs of her native South Yorkshire and took the cabaret underbelly of Soho by storm. She has since achieved national, international, global, and possibly even universal fame. Myra has appeared on some of the most revered stages around the world and can be found most Sundays at London’s Royal Vauxhall Tavern. Myra remains modest and hopes to put Opera back on the map with her performance of Mme Frosch in Die Fledermaus.
BARON DOUPHOL
LA TRAVIATA
Previous Appearances: Chorus 2024.
Recent Engagements: Aida, Trouble in Tahiti, A Quiet Place (RBO); Tosca, The Rake’s Progress (The Grange Festival) The Marriage of Figaro (ON); La bohème (ETO & HGO); Golden Cockerel, Lucrezia Borgia, Il Viaggio a Reims (ETO); The Choice of Hercules (London Handel Festival).
Future Engagements: Die Erste Walpurgisnacht (Constellation choirs and orchestras).
Biography: Shropshire-born baritone Peter Edge studied at the RCM with Peter Savidge and Andrew Robinson. A finalist in the 2025 London Handel Competition, he has also been a principal artist with ETO, Longborough Festival Opera, Hampstead Garden Opera and ON. Elsewhere he has performed with Garsington Opera, The Grange Festival and the Monteverdi Choir. Roles include Count Almaviva Le nozze di Figaro; Curio Giulio Cesare; Le Dancaïre Carmen; Leporello Don Giovanni; Marcello and Schaunard La bohème and Ned Keene Peter Grimes. He made his debut with The RBO in the 2024/25 Season in Trouble in Tahiti and A Quiet Place
QUEEN AT THE OPERA
Festival Debut
Biography: Peter’s first break came understudying the lead role of Roger in the original West End production of Rent until taking over after eight months. Other West End and touring theatre credits including: The Threepenny Opera, All You Need Is Love, We Will Rock You, Fame and Thriller Live
He has worked as lead vocalist with The Phil Hilborne Band, featuring Iron Maiden’s Nicko McBrain on drums and a number of guest Rock Legends, such as, Neil Murray and Bernie Marsden (Whitesnake), Jeff Whitehorn (Procol Harem), Steve Vai, and Bruce Dickinson (Iron Maiden).
He was the original lead singer for Hats Off To Led Zeppelin and other projects include recording and performing with Mick Abrahams of Jethro Tull and Blod Wyn Pig fame, and being a lead vocalist for Queen Symphonic and Led Zeppelin Symphonic Peter dedicates this performance to the memory of his dad and his nephew Darius.
LA TRAVIATA
Festival Debut
Recent Engagements: Rigoletto, La traviata (ENO); Falstaff (MET); Death in Venice, Simon Boccanegra, Il trovatore (RBO); The Ring Cycle, Parsifal (ON).
Future Engagements: Malmö Opera. Biography: Richard Farnes has a distinguished career that spans both symphonic music and opera. His contributions to music have been recognised with prestigious awards, including the 2017 Royal Philharmonic Society Conductor of the Year Award, the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Critics’ Circle Music Awards, and the Achievement in Opera Award at the UK Theatre Awards in 2014. Farnes was Music Director of Opera North in Leeds from 2004 to 2016, and has conducted at Scottish Opera, Birmingham Opera Company, ENO, Glyndebourne, the RBO the MET, and the Royal Danish Opera. In addition to his musical pursuits, Farnes is an accomplished portrait and landscape photographer.
BERNSTEIN ON BROADWAY
Festival Debut
Biography: Lewis is graduate of The University of Auckland where he completed a Bachelor of Commerce majoring in Marketing and Commercial Law. In addition to studying business, he trained extensively with Frances Wilson Fitzgerald at the Auckland Opera Studio. He was then successful in becoming a member of the NZ Opera freemasons chorus from 2015–2017 also winning the John Bond award at The NZ Aria Competition for the most promising vocal artist in 2016.
Some of his recent theatre credits include: John in Miss Saigon (Cameron Mackintosh & GWB) Sky in Mamma Mia (Louise Withers) Ensemble/ Raoul understudy in The Phantom of the Opera (Cameron Mackintosh & Opera Australia), Ted in Bonnie & Clyde (Joshua Robson Productions) Ensemble/Raoul understudy in The Phantom of the Opera on the Harbour (Opera Australia), Barry Belson in Jersey Boys (G&T productions), Mutombo/ Mafala understudy in The Book of Mormon (Gordon Frost), Turandot, (NZ Opera), Carmen (NZ Opera).
His other screen credits include Frozen moments, The Pact and The Bridge to Terabithia.
BERNSTEIN ON BROADWAY
Festival Debut
Recent Engagements: Flower Seller/Singer/ Understudy Stella, A Streetcar Named Desire (Almeida, Phoenix, NoelCoward, BAM–N.Y.C), Nicole, In Dreams, (Leeds Playhouse), Mimi, Rent (HopeMill), Gracie, Lunatic 19’s: A Deportational Road Trip (Finborough), Maria, WSS, (Royal Exchange), Vanessa/ u/s Fran, Strictly Ballroom (Picadilly), Nina, In the Heights, (Southwark, KingsX).
Biography: Gabriela is originally from Mexico, making her the first Mexican leading lady in the West End. She was nominated for Best Actress in a Musical for her portrayal of Nina in In the Heights by Broadway World and nominated for an Offie for Best Female performance in a Play for her portrayal of Gracie in Lunatic 19’s at the Finborough Theatre.
Gabriela has done various solo concerts and was an invited Soprano with the OSUG in Mexico at the Bicentenario and Teatro Juarez were she did Highlights from WSS, she played Frida in Well Behaved Women at the Cadogan Hall and most recently was a Guest Soloist and played Evita with the Palermo Orchestra.
LES INDES GALANTES
Festival Debut
Recent Engagements: I Grotteschi (La Monnaie, Bruxelles); L’Incoronazione di Poppea (Kölner Philharmonie / La Cité Bleue Genève); Les Indes galantes (LSM, Paris; Teatro Real, Madrid; Auditorium de Lyon; Festival Pulsations, Bordeaux); Cantatas 46, 101, 102, J. S. Bach (Grand Manège Namur, BachFest, Leipzig).
Future Engagements: Mass in B minor (Festival de Verbier); Pompeo Magno (Bayreuth Baroque Festival); Acis & Galatea (Coups de Cœur à Chantilly, Festival d’Ambronay); Les Indes galantes (La Scala, Milano; Theatro Municipal, São Paul).
Biography: After studying piano in Argentina, Leonardo García-Alarcón moved to Geneva in 1997, where he joined the class of harpsichordist Christiane Jaccottet. In 2005, he founded his own ensemble, Cappella Mediterranea, before taking over the direction of the Chœur de chambre de Namur in 2010. He is fast becoming a highly acclaimed conductor, thanks to his concert creations at Ambronay and his rediscoveries of littleknown works by Sacrati, Cavalli, Draghi and Falvetti. In 2025, he was named “Artist of the Year” by the ICMA. Leonardo García-Alarcón is director of La Cité Bleue, a 300-seat concert hall in Geneva. Leonardo García-Alarcón is a Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres.
DIE FLEDERMAUS
Previous Appearances: Sellem The Rake’s Progress (2024).
Recent Engagements: Bob Boles Peter Grimes (Rome, Paris, RBO, Madrid), Porter/Hécat Macbeth Underworld (Opéra Comique), Tanzmeister Ariadne aux Naxos (Garsington).
Future Engagements: Dr Caius Falstaff (La Monnaie), Snout A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Madrid), Bob Boles Peter Grimes (ROH). Biography: John Graham-Hall studied at King’s College‚ Cambridge and the Royal College of Music. Highlights include Witch of Endor Saul (Glyndebourne Festival and Châtelet); Aron Moses und Aron (Opéra National de Paris and Teatro Real‚ Madrid); Aschenbach Death in Venice (for which he won the Franco Abbiati prize for best male singer) and Title role Peter Grimes (both La Scala); Basilio/Valzacchi Der Rosenkavalier and Triquet Eugene Onegin (The MET); Title role Peter Grimes (Opéra de Nice and Säo Carlos); Ashenbach (ENO and on DVD) and Kedril From The House of The Dead (RBO‚ La Monnaie and Lyon).
BERNSTEIN ON BROADWAY
Festival Debut
Recent Engagements: Theatre credits include: Gretchen Wieners, Mean Girls (Savoy Theatre); Catherine Parr, Six (UK Tour); Treason the Musical (UK Tour). Television credits include: Melissa Hart, The Mallorca Files (BBC); Stephanie Greenford, Hollington Drive (BBC); PC Debbie, The Hunt for Raoul Moat (ITV); Iris, The A List (Netflix); Tiegan, Flatmates (BBC).
Biography: Elèna trained at Urdang Academy, graduating in 2020. She won Best Supporting Female Actor in a Musical at the Black British Theatre Awards 2024 for her performance as Gretchen Wieners in the original London cast of Mean Girls in the West End.
DIE FLEDERMAUS
Festival Debut
Recent Engagements: Dandini La cenerentola; Schaunard La bohème; Ned Keene Peter Grimes (Bayerische Staatsoper); Valentin Faust (Teatro Massimo, Palermo); Gregorio Roméo et Juliette (Theater an der Wien).
Future Engagements: Guglielmo Così fan tutte; Papageno Die Zauberflöte; Ottokar Der Freischutz; Aeneas Dido and Aeneas (Staatsoper Hamburg); Rizzio Of One Blood (Bayerische Staatsoper) and he will make his debut at the Tiroler Festspiele Erl in concert performances of Rigoletto and La traviata
Biography: Baritone Andrew Hamilton is currently a member of the ensemble at the Bayerische Staatsoper (2022–2025), he is also former member of the Opera Studio at the Bayerische Staatsoper. Beginning in the 2025/26 Season, Andrew will be a member of the Ensemble at the Staatsoper Hamburg.
QUEEN AT THE OPERA
19 June
Recent Engagements: Video Games Music Concert – RPCO (Roundhouse); Heroes & Superheroes – BSO (various venues); Star Wars – BSO (Mayflower Theatre); Prokofiev recording – RPO (Blackheath Halls); Christmas Concert – BBC NOW (Hoddinott Hall, Cardiff); Klassik Radio Live in Concert tour – 12 concerts in Germany & Austria; Star Wars – Ulster Orchestra (Waterfront Hall).
Future Engagements: Star Wars – BSO (Bristol Beacon); Best of Zimmer & Williams – Ulster Orch (Waterfront Hall); Abba – BSO
& BSO Voices (Guildhall, So’ton); Queen – BSO (Mayflower Theatre); 80s Concert – BSO (Meyrick Park); Symphonic Disco – RPCO (Battersea Park); Ravel recording –RPO (Watford).
Biography: Pete studied at the Royal College of Music, London before his conducting career started in London’s West End.
He is the Principal Conductor for the Klassik Radio Pops Orchestra and Brent Youth Concert Pops Orchestra. He is also the Musical Director of BSO Voices in Southampton. Pete is a regular conductor with the BSO, RPO, BBC NOW, Ulster Orchestra, City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra and the RPCO. Regular studio work includes Bleeding Fingers (BBC NOW) and all the London studios and Prague.
PRINCE ORLOFSKY DIE FLEDERMAUS
Festival Debut
Recent Engagements: Alto Soloist Messiah (NAC Ottawa); Contralto Soloist Das Lied von der Erde (Stuttgart Ballet); Dritte Dame Die Zauberflöte (Opera de Paris); First Norn Gotterdammerung (LPO); Galatea Aci, Galatea e Polifemo (London Handel Festival); The Innkeeper Boris Godunov (Bayerische Staatsoper).
Future Engagements: Alto Soloist Mass of Life (BBC Proms); Schwertleite Die Walküre (Santa Cecilia).
Biography: Anglo-German contralto Claudia Huckle, praised as a ‘marvel in Mahler with perfect technique’ (BBC Music Magazine), was a Grand Final Winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and the first female recipient of Operalia’s Birgit Nilsson Prize for singing Wagner. She has appeared with opera companies and orchestras across Europe and the USA. Claudia studied at the Royal College of Music in London, the New England Conservatory in Boston, and the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. She is a graduate of the Domingo-Cafritz Young Artist Program at Washington National Opera and was in the ensemble at Oper Leipzig for four seasons.
JUNIOR ARTIST
BALLET BLACK: DOUBLE BILL
Festival Debut
Biography: Hudson began her training aged three in Texas under the direction of Susan and Karin Connally at San Antonio Metropolitan Ballet. She graduated Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance from The Boston Conservatory at Berklee, class of 2020, where she studied under the likes of Ronald K. Brown, Darrell Grand Moultrie, and Dam Van Huynh. She has worked choreographers such as Tiler Peck, Jennifer Archibald, Jamar Roberts, and Annabelle Lopez Ochoa as a 2021–2022
Fellowship dancer with BalletX. She joined Ballet Black for their 2022/23 season.
ASSOCIATE COSTUME DESIGNER
DIE FLEDERMAUS
Previous Appearances: A Midsummer Night’s Dream (2021); The Queen of Spades (2023).
Recent Engagements: Great Gatsby (Det KGL Teater, Copenhagen; Die Liebe der Danae Opera; Carlo Felice, Genova); La fanciulla del West (Teatro Comunale di Bologna; Zoriada Teatro Sociale, Bergamo); Fedra (Teatro Greco, Siracusa); Ariadne auf Naxos, Peter Grimes (La Fenice, Venice); A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Royal Opera House, Muscat).
Future Engagements: La Cambiale di Matrimonio, Armida (Rossini Opera Festival, Pesaro); La Clemenza di Tito (La Fenice, Venice); Nabucco (La Scala, Milan).
Gabriella Ingram trained as a theatre designer at Wimbledon School of Art, London She has designed costumes for baroque and Indian dance, musicals, circus, fashion shoots, plays and TV commercials but she now primarily works for opera. For many years she has worked as the costume associate/ assistant for Gary McCann.
SECOND YEAR APPRENTICE
BALLET BLACK: DOUBLE BILL
Festival Debut
Biography: Born in Cape Town, Isaacs is RAD and Cecchetti-trained, and trained with Nicolette Loxton under Cape Junior Ballet, and Martin Schonberg. In 2017, she joined Cape Town City Ballet and performed leading roles in such ballets as The Nutcracker, Carmen, Concerto Barocco, Giselle and Les Sylphides. Career highlights include Kenneth Tindall’s Polarity, Elke Scheepers’ Falling Angels and Mthuthuzeli November’s Ingoma; she was awarded for outstanding performances in the latter two works. During lockdown, she took part in BBC’s Swan Lake Bath Ballet. She joined Ballet Black for their 2023/24 season.
FRANK
DIE FLEDERMAUS
Biography: Darren Jeffery has made over two hundred appearances at the ROH and has become well known for his performances at ENO which include Leporello Don Giovanni; Donner The Rheingold; Speaker The Magic Flute; Mr. Flint Billy Budd; Stǎrek Jenufa and Hobson Peter Grimes
He has appeared at the Salzburg and Aix-en-Provence festivals and with most of the UK’s festival opera companies. He has sung the title role in Der Fliegende Holländer, Wotan/Fasolt/Donner Der Ring des Nibelungen and Kothner Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg for (Glyndebourne, Chicago Lyric Opera, Melbourne Opera and Nederlandse Reisopera).
BERNSTEIN ON BROADWAY
Festival Debut
Recent Engagements: Moby-Dick (Heggie), Metropolitan Opera; La bohème, Houston Grand Opera; The Handmaid’s Tale (Ruders), San Francisco Opera; Israel Philharmonic; Seattle Symphony Los Angeles Philharmonic; Sydney Symphony. Future Engagements: Ibert, Britten, Golijov, Bizet – Lincoln Center Festival; Glass/Händel –Ópera National de Paris; Palais Garnier, Figaro Gets a Divorce (Langer); Royal Swedish Opera; La Voix Humaine (Poulenc) / world premiere of Bartelby (Benoît Mernier); L’Opéra Royal de Wallonie – National Symphony Orchestra. Biography: Grammy Award-winning conductor Karen Kamensek is acclaimed for her bold artistry and commitment to contemporary composers. She won the Grammy for her performances of Philip Glass’s Akhnaten at the Metropolitan Opera, where she recently returned for Moby Dick. Her work on The Handmaid’s Tale at San Francisco Opera further cemented her reputation for compelling, modern storytelling. Recent conducting engagements include the Royal Opera House Covent Garden (Tosca), Welsh National Opera (Candide), and orchestras in Berlin, Los Angeles, and London. A frequent guest worldwide, Kamensek has collaborated with top artists in both in both opera and symphonic repertoire.
TENOR
LES INDES GALANTES
Previous Appearances: Sacristan Tosca; Father Trulove The Rake’s Progress (2024).
Recent Engagements: Peter Hansel & Gretel (RBO); Don Alfonso Così fan tutte (Malmö); Cardinal Beaton Mary, Queen of Scots (ENO).
Future Engagements: Benoît / Alcindoro La bohème (Glyndebourne).
technique and intense expressiveness,” (Opera News) a voice “of great clarity, and of beautiful projection,” (Opera Online) and for marrying “striking good looks with delicious sound.” (San Francisco Classical Voice) An internationally-acclaimed interpreter of Rossini and Mozart, his high tenor repertoire also encompasses the Romantic music of Bellini, Donizetti and Bizet, as well as the Baroque and early-Classical music of Rameau and Gluck. Recent engagements include performances with Teatro Real Madrid, Opernhaus Zürich, the Rossini Opera Festival and Festival d’Aix-en-Provence.
GIUSEPPE LA TRAVIATA
Festival Debut
Recent Engagements: Ramiro (cover) La Cenerentola (Hurn Court Opera); Frederic (covered and performed) The Pirates of Penzance (Tarantara UK Tour); 2nd Attendant (cover) A Full Moon in March (RBO); Almaviva Il barbiere di Siviglia (Cardiff Opera & Bradford Opera Festival).
Biography: Samuel Kibble is a British tenor based in London. He graduated from Royal Academy Opera in 2023 and has subsequently enjoyed a busy solo career both as an opera and concert performer, with a particular interest in the music of JS Bach. Before he came to singing, Samuel graduated from Durham University with a degree in Politics, Philosophy and Economics. He lives next to a forest with his wife and cat.
SECOND YEAR APPRENTICE
BALLET BLACK: DOUBLE BILL
Festival Debut
Festival Debut
Recent Engagements: Il Conte d’Almaviva Il barbiere di Siviglia (Wiener Staatsoper, Bayerische Staatsoper); Marzio Mitridate (Teatro alla Scala); Ferrando Così fan tutte (Théâtre des Champs-Elysées); Don Ramiro La Cenerentola (Bayerische Staatsoper).
Future Engagements: Iphigénie en Tauride (Innsbruck Festwochen der Alpen Musik).
Biography: Australian tenor Alasdair Kent is known for “his evenly produced tenor, refined
Biography: Born in India, Kotiya started his ballet training aged 15 with Fernando Aguilera, under a full scholarship at the school of the Imperial Fernando Ballet Company (IFBC). There, he learned lead roles from Swan Lake and Don Quixote, which he performed at gala performances in India. In 2022, he joined the Third Year Men’s programme at the English National Ballet School where he trained under Juan Eymar and was selected to perform a lead role in the graduation performance of Balanchine’s Who Cares?. He joined Ballet Black for their 2023/24 season.
CHOREOGRAPHER
– IF AT FIRST
BALLET BLACK: DOUBLE BILL
Festival Debut
Biography: Sophie Laplane is a Franco-British choreographer and the current Choreographer in Residence at Scottish Ballet. Her works for the company include Oxymore and Maze, the latter winning Best Screen Dance Short at the San Francisco Dance Film Festival. Internationally, her work includes collaborations with Paris Opéra and New York City Ballet. Laplane has also created pieces for Ballet West and worked on Les Noces de Figaro at the Paris Opéra. Her film Indoors was nominated for the UK National Dance Awards, and her short film Dive was selected for the Biennale di Venezia in 2021. Her works for Ballet Black include the fast-paced piece CLICK!, which premiered at the Barbican in 2019, and Joy, part of the company’s film Eightfold
ADELE
DIE FLEDERMAUS
Supported by Club Figaro
Previous Appearances: Suzanna Le nozze di Figaro (2019); Eliza Doolittle My Fair Lady (2021); Elsie Maynard The Yeomen of the Guard (2022).
Recent Engagements: Mabel The Pirates of Penzance (Tarantara Productions); Suzanna Il nozze di Figaro (The Mozartists – Cadogan & Sicily & Dorset Opera); Mozart concert (Vienna/The Mozartists); Phyllis Iolanthe (ENO); Mozart Requiem (staged/choreographed ON); Polissena Radamisto (Philharmonia Baroque SF).
Biography: British soprano Ellie Laugharne is a graduate of the Guildhall School of Music & Drama and Birmingham University. She began her career as a Jerwood Young Artist at Glyndebourne Festival and more recently was an Associate Artist for Opera North. She is a Samling artist and Company Artist for The Mozartists. Opera Highlights: Frasquita Carmen; Cupid Orpheus in the Underworld; Barbarina The Marriage of Figaro (ENO); Servilia La clemenza di Tito (Chelsea Opera Group); Eliza Doolittle My Fair Lady (Gran Teatro del Liceu, Barcelona); Gianetta The Gondoliers; Princess Zara Utopia Ltd.; Adina L’elisir d’amore; Frasquita Carmen; Mabel The Pirates of Penzance (Scottish Opera); Pamina The Magic Flute; Despina Cosí fan tutte; Gretel Hänsel und Gretel; Suzanna Le nozze di Figaro (Opera North); Asteria Tamerlano; Polissena Radamisto (ETO); Suzanna Le nozze di Figaro; Lucia The Rape of Lucretia (Glyndebourne on Tour); Governess The Turn of the Screw; Tina Flight; Zerlina Don Giovanni (OHP); Bastienne Bastien und Bastienne; Zerlina Don Giovanni; Temperantia Applausus; Emirena Adriano
in Siria (The Mozartists); Hélène La belle Hélène (Blackheath Halls); Sandrina La Finta Giardiniera (Buxton Opera Festival).
QUEEN AT THE OPERA
Festival Debut
Recent Engagements: Jenna recently played Elsa in Disney’s Frozen at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane. She also toured the world with Hugh Jackman as his leading featured artist on The Man The Music The Show Arena tour. Recently released her debut album On the Edge recorded at Abbey Road Studio 2.
Biography: Jenna has just finished playing Elsa in Disney’s Frozen at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane London.
Leading featured vocalist with Hugh Jackman on his World Arena Tour. She has worked extensively as a leading artist in the West End, on tour in the UK and internationally on many concert productions and arena tours including performing in Concert with Take That at London’s O2 Arena. Theatre credits; Grizabella Cats; Alternate Donna Mamma Mia; Mary Tonights the Night; Only person in the world to have played all 3 lead roles in We Will Rock You including Meatloaf, Scaramouche, KillerQueen; June Child 20th Century Boy; Narrator Joseph; Lorraine Boogie Nights
LES INDES GALANTES
Festival Debut
Biography: Thibaut Lenaerts, a graduate of the Royal Conservatories of Liège and Mons, has performed with leading European Baroque ensembles such as La Chapelle Royale, Le Concert Spirituel, Les Arts Florissants, and Les Musiciens du Louvre, under renowned conductors like Philippe Herreweghe and William Christie. He is an active member of the Chœur de Chambre de Namur and has been assistant to Leonardo García-Alarcón since 2014.
In 2019, he was appointed chorus master at the Paris National Opera for Les Indes Galantes. He also assisted Christophe Rousset for Lully’s complete opera recordings and worked with Les Arts Florissants on productions like Handel’s L’Allegro and Bach’s St. John Passion. In June 2024, he conducted Mitridate in Brussels for Les Mozartiades.
Lenaerts teaches at the Royal Conservatories of Brussels and Liège and has contributed to around sixty recordings. His albums include Fauré’s mélodies (with pianist Philippe Riga) and César Franck’s choral works (Musique en Wallonie). In 2024, he conducted and recorded a new version of Fauré’s Requiem for the Ricercar label.
In 2026, he will serve as chorus master at the Paris National Opera for Antonia Bembo’s L’Ercole Amante, with the Chœur de Chambre de Namur.
DOCTOR GRENVIL
LA TRAVIATA
Festival Debut
Recent Engagements: Sarastro The Magic Flute (Charles Court Opera); The Producer Buster’s Trip (Tête à Tête); Marchese La traviata (Musique Cordiale); Bartolo Le nozze di Figaro (Garsington); Haly L’italiana in Algeri; Simone Gianni Schicchi (Wexford Festival Opera); Kecal (Cover) The Bartered Bride (Garsington).
Future Engagements: Pelléas et Mélisande (Bergen Nasjionale Opera).
Biography: Peter Lidbetter is an international British Irish bass from London. Peter performs with the major Festival Opera companies in the UK and Ireland, and Bergen Nasjionale Opera, and is a Principal Guest Artist with the Edvard Grieg Vokalensemble in Norway, making his Royal Albert Hall solo debut with them in the 2023 BBC Proms. He holds a MMus and PGDip, both with distinction, from the Royal Northern College of Music where he was a Gold Medal finalist. He also studied music at the University of Cambridge where he was a lay-clerk in the choir of St John’s College.
DIE FLEDERMAUS, BERNSTEIN ON BROADWAY
Supported by Clive and Virginia Lloyd
Festival Debut
Recent Engagements: Tamino The Magic Flute (Opera North); Rinuccio Gianni Schicchi and Young Lover Il Tabarro (WNO); Fenton Falstaff (West Green House Opera).
Future Engagements: Steuermann Der Fliegende Holländer (WNO & Opéra de MonteCarlo), Spoletta Tosca (La Monnaie).
Biography: Welsh tenor Trystan Llŷr Griffiths was a member of the International Opera Studio in Zürich. Operatic highlights include Tamino Die Zauberflöte (Opéra National du Rhin and WNO); Don Ottavio Don Giovanni (Garsington Opera and WNO); Oronte Alcina (Opéra National de Lorraine); Kudrjaš Káťa Kabanová (Scottish Opera and Opéra National de Lorraine). Concert highlights include a concert of music by Leonard Bernstein with the Nederlands Philharmonisch Orkest at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Handel’s Messiah at the Royal Albert Hall, and Mendelssohn’s Elijah with the Oxford Philharmonic.
LA TRAVIATA
Supported by Joan Clark, in memory of Graham
Previous Appearances: Chorus (cover Tom The Rake’s Progress) 2024
Recent Engagements: Beppe Pagliacci (MWO); Ralph Rackstraw HMS Pinafore (NGSOC); Luiz The Gondoliers (NGSOC).
Future Engagements: Mercury Orpheus in the Underworld; Nauta/Historicus Historia Joane (If Opera); 2nd Trio Member Trouble in Tahiti (MWO).
Biography: Sam is a tenor who graduated from the MMus Opera course at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. Previous engagements include Henrik Egerman A Little Night Music (ON) Lost & Found (a pop-up Opera project RBO). Other roles include Frederic The Pirates of Penzance; Ralph Rackstraw HMS Pinafore (National G & S Opera Company –Buxton Opera House), Beppe Pagliacci (Mid Wales Opera) and as a tenor soloist in a semistaged tour of Handel’s Messiah (Wild Arts). Last year, he covered Tom Rakewell The Rake’s Progress (The Grange Festival) and was a recipient of The Grange Festival Prize.
DIE FLEDERMAUS
Festival Debut
Recent Engagements: Falke Die Fledermaus (Irish National Opera); Pangloss Candide (Theater an der Wien); Sir Walter Raleigh The Critic (Wexford Festival); Mountararat Iolanthe (ENO); Malatesta Don Pasquale (INO); Carmina Burana (Diakun/ RSNO); Elijah (Ulster Orchestra); Szymanowski Stabat Mater (Alsop/NOSPR).
Future Engagements: Mad Hatter Alice in Wonderland (Theater an der Wien). Biography: Born and raised in Northern Ireland, Ben studied Chemistry at the University of St Andrews before embarking on his musical studies at GSMD. He made his European debut at Theater an der Wien last year in their critically acclaimed production of Candide, conducted by Marin Alsop. He recently joined Alsop for concerts in Brussels and Katowice with the NOSPR. Other recent concert performances include Candide and Schumann’s Das Paradies und die Peri (Hamburg Symphoniker); Haydn’s Creation (Daniele Rustioni and the Ulster Orchestra); Die Tote Stadt (National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland).
DIE FLEDERMAUS
Previous Appearances: The Queen of Spades (2023) Recent Engagements: The Merry Widow (Glyndebourne); Phaedra (for INDA at Teatro Grecco Siracusa, Teatro Grande Pompeii); A Midsummer’s Night’s Dream (a co production by Opera Carlo Felice, Genoa and Royal Opera House, Muscat, Oman); Der Rosenkavalier (Santa Fe Opera); and Peter Grimes (Teatro La Fenice, Venice).
Future Engagements: The Great Gatsby (Royal Danish Ballet, Copenhagen which marks his first ever ballet design); Die Liebe der Danae (Teatro Carlo Felice, Genova); Hamlet (Teatro Regio, Turin); La Clemenza Di Tito (Teatro La Fenice, Venice); End (NT, London).
Biography: Born in Ireland and now based in Brighton, England, Gary works internationally as both a set and costume designer for opera, theatre and musicals. Having graduated with first class honours in Theatre Design, he has gone on to collaborate with the some of the world’s most significant companies. He is renowned for his wide variety of stylistic approaches that combine contemporary and historical elements, whilst harnessing the power of cutting-edge technologies.
JUNIOR ARTIST
BALLET BLACK: DOUBLE BILL
Festival Debut
Biography: Mehlomakulu began his ballet training aged 16 at Vaalpark Articon and The National School of the Arts. He then studied and graduated from the Cape Academy of Performing Arts. He has worked with Kenneth Tindall, Christopher Huggins and South African choreographers Mthuthuzeli November, Michelle Reid, Kirsten Isenburg and Mamela Nyamza through Cape Dance Company and Cape Town City Ballet. Mehlomakulu is also a fashion and costume designer who has worked with numerous South African dance companies. He has just been included on News 24’s list of Young Mandelas to Watch. He joined Ballet Black for their 2023/24 season.
LES INDES GALANTES
Festival Debut
Biography: A former student of the École Normale Supérieure and the Cours Simon, Noémie N’Diaye is Associate professor of English and French Literature at the University of Chicago. She works on early modern English, French, and Spanish theater with a critical focus on race. She is the author of the multiaward-winning text, Blackness: Early Modern Performance Culture and the Making of Race (Penn Press 2022) and the co-editor, with Lia Markey, of the award-winning Seeing Race Before Race: Visual Culture and the Racial Matrix in the Premodern World (ACMRS Press 2023, open access). She has published articles in Shakespeare Quarterly, Renaissance Quarterly, Renaissance Drama, Early Theatre, English Literary Renaissance, Literature Compass, Thaêtre, and in various edited collections. She is currently completing a book tentatively entitled The Whiteness Between Us: Early Modern Playbooks of Racial Triangulation
LES INDES GALANTES
Festival Debut
Biography: Benjamin Nesme is a lighting and video designer. A graduate of the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Arts et Techniques du Théâtre, he has designed lighting and video for prestigious venues: TNS, Le Chatelet, Philharmonie de Paris, Théâtre Nationaux, CDN, Opéra, in France and Europe… A second journey took him to a stained glass workshop, where he learned about the encounter between light and glass, the expression of colors and the power of contrasts. Synthesizing these experiences, Benjamin founded Luminariste with the conviction that light’s fields of application are multiple and complementary, while having a single leitmotiv: to tell a story in light.
QUEEN AT THE OPERA
5, 8 June
Festival Debut
Recent Engagements: Edwin Outwater has recently performed with St Louis Symphony Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, BBC Concert Orchestra, Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony (where he is Music Director Laureate), and Boston Symphony Orchestra. Additional high-profile engagements include appearances with the likes of New York Philharmonic, The Cleveland Orchestra, Chicago Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, and Royal Philharmonic.
Future Engagements: This summer’s engagements include Symphonic Pride with Oregon Symphony and long-term collaborator Peaches Christ, multiple North American dates with top orchestras alongside Beck, Lang Lang, and Cynthia Erivo, the opening of Ohrid Summer Festival, concerts with San Francisco Symphony, and three BBCCO performances including a return to the BBC Proms.
Biography: Edwin Outwater redefines the concert experience as a ground-breaking conductor, curator, and producer, known for his dynamic approach and genre-blending collaborations. Working with a wide range of artists like Metallica, Wynton Marsalis, Renée Fleming, and Yo-Yo Ma, Outwater’s creative vision and ability to seamlessly navigate between musical worlds has made him one of the most sought-after conductors. Outwater currently serves as Music Director of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and Principal Guest Conductor and Curator of the BBC Concert Orchestra. with the legendary Michael Tilson Thomas describing him as “one of the most innovative conductors on the scene today.”
Julian Ovenden
VOCALIST
BERNSTEIN ON BROADWAY
Festival Debut
Biography: Julian Ovenden is an award winning actor and singer who has built a reputation over the last twenty years as one of the most versatile performers of his generation, in constant demand across the globe on stage, screen, concert hall and recording studio. He is perhaps most well known to audiences around the world for his work on the musical stage and in hit TV shows such as Downton Abbey and Bridgerton
BALLET BLACK: DOUBLE BILL
Biography: Of Trinidadian and British parents, Cassa founded Ballet Black in 2001 to provide role models to young, aspiring Black and Asian dancers. A year later, she opened the BB Junior School in Shepherd’s Bush. Cassa is a graduate of the 2009 National Theatre cultural leadership programme, Step Change. Since starting the Company, she has commissioned work from a wide range of choreographers, including Liam Scarlett, Richard Alston, Sophie Laplane, Javier de Frutos, Annabelle LopezOchoa, Shobana Jeyasingh, Henri Oguike, Arthur Pita, Will Tuckett, Gregory Maqoma, Hope Boykin, Monique Jonas, Joseph Sissens and Mthuthuzeli November. Ballet Black has won the Critics’ Circle National Dance Award for Outstanding Company in 2009, Best Independent Company in 2012 and Best Mid-Scale Company in 2022. Cassa was awarded an MBE in the 2013 New Years’ Honours List for Services to Classical Ballet. In 2017, Cassa and former BB dancer, Cira Robinson, collaborated with renowned British ballet shoe manufacturer, Freed of London, to create two brand new pointe shoe colours to enable dancers of Black and Asian descent to buy skin-tone pointe shoes, tights and soft shoes, ready-made.
In 2018, she was awarded the Freedom of the City of London. In 2022, Cassa collaborated with the Ballet Black Company artists to create Say It Loud, a ballet to commemorate the Company’s 20th anniversary. This production won Best Dance Production at the 2022 Black British Theatre Awards and was short-listed for Best Dance Production at the 2023 South Bank Sky Arts Awards.
To date, she has commissioned over 40 choreographers, to create over 60 new ballets for the Company. Cassa was named in the Arts section of the annual list of 100 Influential Black Britons in Black Excellence: The Powerlist in 2023, 2024 and 2025. The list celebrates the achievements of the most influential people of African, African Caribbean and African American heritage in the UK. She is the Principal of the BB Junior School, teaching regularly at its Shepherd’s Bush branch. Cassa also has a degree from Durham University.
BALLET BLACK: DOUBLE BILL
Festival Debut
Biography: Born in Puerto Rico and raised in Ohio, Paris-Morales began training aged seven at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, where she studied tap, theatre and ballet. In 2016, she was scouted by Julie Kent to attend The Washington School of Ballet pre professional training program and trainee programme, and was promoted to TWB’s Studio Company in 2018, where she performed works including Allegro Brillante and Sleeping Beauty. In 2020, she was commissioned by TWB to choreograph a new work and has since created multiple works for them. She joined Ballet Black for their 2022/23 season.
SOPRANO
LES INDES GALANTES
Festival Debut
Biography: French-Italian soprano Laurène Paternò trained at the Haute École de Musique de Lausanne after beginning her vocal studies at the Conservatoire of Chambéry. Winner of the Kattenburg Competition in 2019, she has performed roles such as Adina L’Elisir d’amore, Clorinda La Cenerentola, Despina Così fan tutte, Susanna Le Nozze di Figaro, Drusilla L’Incoronazione di Poppea and Mélusine Les Chevaliers de la Table ronde. She has appeared at the Opéra de Lausanne, Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Glyndebourne, Bordeaux and Toulon, under the baton of conductors including Diego Fasolis, Leonardo GarcíaAlarcón and John Fiore. With a strong interest in a wide range of repertoire, she is also involved in contemporary creations and international projects.
BALLET BLACK: DOUBLE BILL
Festival Debut
Biography: Elijah began his dance training in North West London at age five, attending The London Junior Ballet and The Royal Academy of Dance before joining The Royal Ballet Junior Associates in 2014. At nine, he performed in the West End production of The Lion King, touring the UK and Switzerland for 18 months. He joined The Royal Ballet School in 2016, beginning an eight-year vocational journey. He also trained at Tring Park School and English National Ballet School, graduating in July 2024. His performances include roles in The Nutcracker with The Royal Ballet and English National Ballet, as well as repertoire from August
Bournonville, George Balanchine, and Andrew McNicol. Elijah earned a commendation for his Diana and Acteon solo at the Cecchetti Society Trust competition in 2023. In 2024, while still in training, he joined Ballet Black as a Trainee Artist, and now joins as a First Year Apprentice Artist for the 2024/25 season.
QUEEN AT THE OPERA
Festival Debut
Recent Engagements: Top 5 finalist, France’s Got Talent 2024; Romeo, Romeo et Juliette (HOT); Tamino, Die Zauberflote (BPO); Renata, Stonewall (NYCO).
Future Engagements: Die Fledermaus, Royal Opera Liege (ROL).
Biography: Jordan Weatherston Pitts (AKA Creatine Price) is an interdisciplinary artist with an international performing resume both in, and out, of drag. He has been reviewed in The New York Times, New Yorker Magazine, Oper! magazine, Opera Wire, The Wall Street Journal, Town and Country, and NY Classical Review. He has also been featured in interview on ABC news, BBC One, New York 1, and the Gay Times. A grand finalist on France’s Got Talent, he has been a featured soloist at Salle Pleyel, The Hartford symphony, The Met Opera Guild, Hawaii Opera Theatre, The Buffalo Philharmonic and Royal Opera Liege. He continues an extensive performance schedule of romantic operatic repertoire.
LIGHTING
BALLET BLACK: DOUBLE BILL
Biography: David’s awards and nominations include Olivier, Tony, Drama Desk nominee for Bring Up The Bodies (Broadway and London); Knight of Illumination Award winner for Best Dance Lighting for The Suit (Cathy Marston for Ballet Black, Barbican 2018); Knight of Illumination Award nominee for Richard II (2012 Donmar); This Is My Family (2013 Sheffield Lyceum); and was an Off West End Winner for Deathwatch (Coronet Notting Hill 2017). David trained at RADA and was previously Head of Lighting at the Donmar Warehouse. Theatre: My Cousin Rachel (Bath Theatre Royal); This Is My Family (Chichester Minerva); The Divide (King’s Theatre Edinburgh and Old Vic); The Outsider, Out of Blixen, A Lovely Sunday for Creve Coeur, Death Watch, The Cocktail Party (Print Room); Approaching Empty (Kiln Theatre); Misalliance (Orange Tree Theatre); Room, Sinbad the Sailor, Robin Hood, Beauty and the Beast, Dick Whittington (Theatre Royal Stratford East); Murder Ballad (Arts Theatre); Brass (Hackney Empire); The Mentalists (Wyndham’s Theatre); The Effect, Macbeth, This Is My Family (Sheffield Theatres); Outside Mullingar (Theatre Royal Bath); Bring Up The Bodies (Royal Shakespeare Company/ Stratford, London and New York); Billy Liar
(Royal Exchange Manchester); The Dishwashers (Birmingham Rep); Mrs Lowry and Son (Trafalgar Studios); Beautiful Thing (Arts Theatre and UK tour); Quiz Show (Traverse); The Silence of the Sea (Donmar Warehouse at Trafalgar Studios); Richard III, Twelfth Night (Shakespeare’s Globe at the Apollo Theatre); The Chair Plays (Lyric Hammersmith); Richard II (Donmar Warehouse); and Arab Israeli Cookbook (Tricycle Theatre). Opera and Dance: Un Ballo in Maschera, Roméo et Juliette, Porgy and Bess, Tosca, Die Walküre, La fanciulla del West and Oliver! (GPO); over 57 commissions for Ballet Black (Linbury Theatre, Barbican, Sadler’s Wells), Terra (Print Room) and The Mother with Natalia Osipova (by Arthur Pita at the Queen Elizabeth Hall). He has lit dance all over the UK, in the Netherlands, Germany, Bermuda and Italy.
CONDUCTOR
SUMMERTIME SWING
Festival Debut
Biography: Johan Plomp, bassist, composer, conductor and arranger, completed two bachelors at the Hilversum Conservatory. As bass player, (co) bandleader or sideman he appears on more than 25 CD’s with Johan Plomp’s Optophobia, Fleurine (feat. Brad Mehldau), Mete Erker Trio and many others. Working as conductor, arranger and/or composer he appears on more than 25 albums from artists like Laura Fygi, the Rotterdam Jazz Orchestra, The Jazz Orchestra of the Concertgebouw and The Metropole Orchestra & DeWolff. For over 25 years Johan is also faculty member of the Conservatory of Amsterdam, where he is a teaching composing, arranging and big band. Johan is also an internationally renowned jazz pedagogue, working with student bands all over Europe.
VOCALIST
QUEEN AT THE OPERA
5, 8 June
Festival Debut
Recent Engagements: Lola, Cavalleria Rusticana Sacramento Opera; Carmen, Carmen (Encounter) San Francisco Opera; Brangäne (Cover) Tristan und Isolde, SFO; Rosina, Barber of Seville, Opera San Jose. Future Engagements: Jade Boucher, Dead Man Walking, SFO; Kundry (Cover) Parsifal, SFO; Billie Jean King, Balls, TBA.
Biography: Known for their “sheer stylistic range” full-throated vocalism and raw emotional honesty, Nikola Printz is a versatile artist making waves in opera, classical music and cabaret stages alike. Recently a graduate of the prestigious Adler program, they have been seen many times at San Francisco Opera, Singing the titular role in the Carmen Encounter, as well as covering other lead roles
and singing featured roles in seasons 2023–2025. Nikola returned to the war memorial to singing as a soloist in SF operas inaugural Pride concert, and also opened a recital to great acclaim at the Chan center as part of SF Gay Men’s chorus Q-Lab series. Nikola is also an accomplished aerialist.
BALLET BLACK: DOUBLE BILL
Festival Debut
Biography: Natalie’s set and costume design theatre credits include Romeo & Juliet (The Globe Theatre); Othello (Riverside Studios); The Architect, 846 Live (Greenwich+Docklands International Festival); August in England (Bush Theatre); Sunny Side Up (Theatre Peckham); Of The Cut, Me for the World (Young Vic); The Gift, Red Velvet (RADA), Ducklings (Royal Exchange Theatre); Co-Set and Costume Designer For All the Women Who Thought They Were Mad (Stoke Newington Town Hall); Not Now, Bernard (Unicorn Theatre). As a costume designer, her work includes Kyoto (The RSC and Soho Place West End); Vanya (Richmond and Duke of Yorks Theatre); Newsies (Troubadour Wembley Park Theatre); Hamlet (Bristol Old Vic); Black Sun (Gregory Maqoma for Ballet Black’s Double Bill – UK Tour); A Number (Old Vic); Old Bridge (Bush Theatre); White Noise (Bridge); Is God Is (Royal Court); Anna X (Harold Pinter Theatre); Tales of the Turntable for Zoonation (Queen Elizabeth Hall Southbank Centre). Her film credits include Good Grief (filmed play), Fourteen Fractures (short film), Myrtle (short film), Fellow Creatures (short film), and Swept Under Rug (short film). As a designer Natalie has a deep passion for creating, whether that be through theatre or film and TV. She loves to transport the audience into another world allowing them to escape and be consumed by character and story. She thrives from working as part of a team; collaborating, learning and sharing ideas. She relishes embracing new challenges and opportunities which help her to grow, develop her practice, skillset and outlook as a creative. Natalie is also the recipient of the Black British Theatre Award Winner for Costume Design Recognition in 2020 and the Vanya Best Revival Olivier Award Winner in 2024.
SOPRANO
LES INDES GALANTES
Festival Debut
Recent Engagements: Gretchen Scenes from Faust (Teatro Camoes); Belinda Dido and Aeneas (Brussels); Hébé/Émilie Les Indes galantes (Paris, Madrid, Lyon); Title role Domitila (Madird, Bogota); Memma Kublai Khan (Theater an der Wien).
Future Engagements: Hébé/Émilie Les Indes galantes (Scala Milan, Sao Paulo); Sangaride Atys (Royal Opéra Versailles); Belinda, Dido and Aeneas (Utrecht, Grenoble); concerts in Portugal, Spain, France.
Biography: Portuguese soprano Ana Quintans studied at the Conservatory of Lisbon and the Flanders Opera Studio. She worked with conductors like Ivor Bolton, William Christie, Vincent Dumestre, Christian Curnyn, Leonardo Garcia Alarcón, Graeme Jenkins, Marc Minkowski and directors like Andreas Homoki, Barry Kosky, Graham Vick and Deborah Warner. She worked at theatres and concert halls like Opéra de Lyon, Centro Cultural de Belém, Flanders Opera, Dutch National Opera, Gulbenkian, Salle Pleyel as well as at the opera festivals of Aix-en-Provence, Edinburgh, Glyndebourne and Salzburg. This season she performs in Spain, France, Belgium, Germany, Portugal and Colombia.
FLORA BERVOIX LA TRAVIATA
Previous Appearances: Chorus (cover Poppea Poppea) 2024.
Recent Engagements: Solo Niña Ainadamar (WNO & Scottish Opera), Opera Highlights Tour (Scottish Opera), cover Second Lady The Magic Flute (ENO).
Future Engagements: cover Nancy Albert Herring (ENO).
Biography: American mezzo-soprano Annie Reilly’s operatic highlights include Hermia A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Royal Opera House Muscat in co-production with Teatro Carlo Felica Genova); Zerlina Don Giovanni; Hippolyta A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Scottish Opera) and Cherubino Le nozze di Figaro (Waterperry Opera Festival). In 2024 she covered Poppea L’incoronazione di Poppea (The Grange Festival) and was awarded the 2024 Most Promising Young Singer Award. She is a graduate of the Guildhall School of Music & Drama and RAM.
DIE FLEDERMAUS
Festival Debut
Recent Engagements: Mlle Jouvenot Adriana Lecouvreur (Teatro Real Madrid); Donna Anna Don Giovanni (Mozarteum Salzburg; MusikTheater an der Wien; Arena di Verona); Eurydice Orphée (Teatro Real Madrid); Fiordiligi Così fan tutte (Mozarteum Salzburg); Servillia La clemenza di Tito (Opéra de Lausanne, Teatro Real Madrid).
Future Engagements: Adina L’elisir d’amore (Festival Manlor); Recital with Olivier Godin (La Salle Bourgie, Montreal).
Biography: Spanish soprano Sylvia Schwartz has made a name as one of the leading sopranos of her generation, combining a deep musicality with great lyricism, and an exquisite eye for detail. An experienced performer at the peak of her powers, she is at home on the stages of La Scala Milan, Berlin Staatsoper, Wiener Staatsoper, Bayerische Staatsoper, Staatsoper Hamburg, Teatro Real Madrid, The Bolshoi Theatre and Maggio Musicale Fiorentino. Sylvia has also been a frequent guest of many international festivals, including Edinburgh, Baden Baden, Salzburg and Verbier. On concert and recital stages, Sylvia is much in demand, working alongside collaborative artists including Malcolm Martineau.
MARQUIS D’OBIGNY
LA TRAVIATA
Festival Debut
Recent Engagements: Chorus La traviata, Guilio Cesare, Tristan und Isolde (Glyndebourne); Sciarrone/ Carceriere Tosca (Lambeth Orchestra); Leporello Don Giovanni (Arcadian Opera, Stowe); Chorus Götterdämmerung (Longborough Festival); Lima/Freeman Brainland (Brainland Opera Project).
Future Engagements: Sharpless Madama Butterfly (Arcadian Opera, Stowe)
Biography: Bass-baritone Leo Selleck studied anthropology at Durham University and singing at the RCM, and has previously practised as a social worker. At the RCM Leo studied with Peter Savidge, was a Josephine Baker Scholar and took part in masterclasses with Ben Johnson and Susan Manoff, as well as opera scenes, performing as Don Alfonso Così fan Tutte and Warden Dead Man Walking In 2023, Leo was accepted to take part in the Przemysl International Opera Competition in Poland and was a finalist in the 2024 Mastersingers Competition for the promotion of young British Wagner singers.
GIORGIO GERMONT
LA TRAVIATA
Festival Debut
Biography: Born in Montevideo-Uruguay, Dario Solari is one of the most important interpreter of Verdi and belcanto baritone repertoire. He is a prize winner as “Best Young Singer” award at the “Ferruccio Tagliavini” competition in Deutschlandberg; “Tito Schipa” international competition in Lecce and “Iris Adami Corradetti” international competition in Padua.
He has performed on the major opera stages throughout the world including Deutsche Oper Berlin, New Israeli Opera in Tel Aviv, Oper Leipzig, Oper Frankfurt, Opéra di Monte-Carlo, Opéra de Toulon, Savonlinna Opera Festival, Théâtre du Capitole Toulouse, Royal Danish Theatre in Copenhagen, Palm Beach Opera, Florida Grand Opera di Miami, Maggio Musicale Fiorentino in Florenz, Teatro Filarmonico in Verona, Teatro Regio in Turin, Teatro dell’ Opera in Rome, Teatro Comunale in Bologna. Dario Solari has worked with prestigious conductors such as Roberto Abbado, James Conlon, Zubin Mehta, Riccardo Muti e Gianluigi Gelmetti and major directors like Bob Wilson, Micha Von Hoecke, Graham Vick, Franco Zeffirelli, David Mcvicar, Cristina Mazzavillani Muti.
BALLET BLACK: DOUBLE BILL
Biography: Born in London, Thomas started dancing aged five at the Kingston Ballet School. He subsequently joined The Royal Ballet School Junior Associates for three years before joining Elmhurst Ballet School aged 11, where he had the opportunity to perform with Birmingham Royal Ballet. His repertory includes work by Bintley, Wright, Petipa, Lawrence, Lopez-Ochoa and Pita, and has created roles in Marston’s Suit, November’s Ingoma, WASHA, Like Water and The Waiting Game, Tuckett’s Then Or Now and Maqoma’s Black Sun. He joined Ballet Black in 2017. Thomas has recently been nominated for Best Dance Performer at the 2024 Black British Theatre Awards.
QUEEN AT THE OPERA
Festival Debut
Recent Engagements: Despina, Così fan tutte (Detroit Opera); First Lady, Die Zauberflöte (Glyndebourne); Woglinde, Das Rheingold (LA Phil); Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 (Nashville Symphony); Meg Page, Sir John in Love (Bard SummerScape).
Future Engagements: Cio-Cio San, Madame Butterfly (Lyric Opera Kansas City); Santuzza, Cavalleria Rusticana (Opera Edwardsville); Tosca, Tosca (Florentine Opera).
Biography: American soprano Ann Toomey, whom Naples Daily News proclaimed, “…is a brilliant Floria Tosca… [whose] rich voice projects power that doesn’t disintegrate under adversity” is a former member of the Ryan Opera Center at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, a 2016 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions national semifinalist and 2019 Richard F. Gold Career Grant Recipient. Recently, she made her European debut, to critical acclaim, performing the title role in Suor Angelica at the Berlin Philharmonie, under the baton of Kirill Petrenko. Ann Toomey is a native of Detroit, and currently lives in Chicago.
LIGHTING DESIGNER
LA TRAVIATA, DIE FLEDERMAUS
Previous Appearances: Tamerlano (2022); Così fan tutte, Orfeo ed Euridice/Dido and Aeneas, The Queen of Spades (2023).
Recent Engagements: The Score (West End, Theatre Royal Bath); The Last Laugh (Theatre Royal Brighton, West End); Churchill in Moscow, Uncle Vanya (Orange Tree); Play ON! (UK Tour); Vardy V Rooney: The Wagatha Christie Trial (West End); Porgy and Bess (Royal Danish Opera); Rinaldo (Estonian National Opera); Carmen, Kátya Kabanová, The Secret Marriage (Scottish Opera) Future Engagements: Alfred Hitchcock Presents (Bath Theatre Royal); Comedy about Spies (West End); Cinderella (Theatr Clwyd).
Biography: Johanna is very pleased to be returning to The Grange having previously designed: The Queen of Spades, Orfeo ed Euridice/Dido and Aeneas, Così fan tutte, & Tamerlano for the company. Johanna is one of the UK’s leading Lighting Designers. She has worked across theatre, opera and events designing. She has worked extensively in the West End as well as all over the UK and internationally including on Broadway. Johanna is the Chair of The Association of Lighting Production and Design and a Fellow of Guildhall School of Music and Drama.
LA TRAVIATA, DIE FLEDERMAUS
Previous Appearances: Tosca, The Rake’s Progress (2024).
Recent Engagements: Handel Messiah (Cadogan Hall); Bach Mass in B Minor (Southwark Cathedral).
Future Engagements: Israel in Egypt (All Saints Dulwich); Song recital with Kitty Whateley (LSO St Luke’s & Radio 3).
Biography: A multiple-prize winning and critically acclaimed choral, orchestral and opera conductor and song accompanist, William Vann is delighted to be returning for a second season as Chorus Master. His extensive discography includes over twenty-five recordings for Albion, Champs Hill, Chandos, Delphian, Etcetera, Navona and SOMM and he has collaborated across the world with a vast array of singers, instrumentalists and orchestras. He is an Associate of the RAM, a Trustee of the Ralph Vaughan Williams Society, Director of Music at the Royal Hospital Chelsea, Musical Director of Dulwich Choral Society and the Artistic Director of the London English Song Festival.
LA TRAVIATA
Festival Debut
Recent Engagements: Opera: Rigoletto (Irish National Opera); Die Blume von Hawaii (Magdeburg); Theatre: Krapp’s Last Tape (Barbican); The Lost Things (Banff).
Future Engagements: Opera: Rigoletto (Santa Fe Opera & Opera Zuid, Netherlands); Carmen (Bari); Theatre: Krapp’s Last Tape (NYC Skirball Center); The Lost Things (Sydney Opera House). Biography: Notable designs for opera include Ariadne auf Naxos, The Queen of Spades (La Scala); Eugene Onegin (Strasbourg); Manon Lescaut (Parma, Bilbao & Valencia); Falstaff (Parma, GPO & Oman); Ariadne auf Naxos (Salzburg) La traviata (Malmo); William Tell (INO); Carmen (Lisbon, Turin, Cagliari) Aida (Cagliari); Theatre: Misterman (NYC, NT Lyttleton), best set design World Stage Design 2013; Woyzeck in Winter (Barbican) Grief is the Thing with Feathers (Barbican, NYC). Film design includes The Last Hotel (Sky Arts).
LES INDES GALANTES
Festival Debut
Recent Engagements: Tancredi; Der Freischütz (Bregenzer Festspiele); Dido, Königin von Carthago (Innsbrucker Festwochen); Amour a mort (Opéra national de Lorraine); Mass in B minor (Sao Paulo Symphony and at Festival Bach Montréal); Esther (Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra Tour); Harmoniemesse (Les Arts Florissants).
Future Engagements: Eremit Der Freischütz (Bregenzer Festspiele); Athalia (Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra tour); Messiah, King Arthur (Le Concert Spiritual); Mozart Requiem (Radio France).
Biography: Being praised for his “powerful, accurate and resonant” voice “with beautiful bronze tone” (bachtrack.com), German BassBaritone Andreas Wolf is one of the most sought-after interpreters on the international opera and concert stages, especially in Baroque and Classical repertoire. He studied with Prof. Heiner Eckels in Detmold and Thomas Quasthoff in Berlin. Andreas Wolf enjoys a particularly close collaboration with Leonardo García-Alarcón and Cappella Mediterranea as well as with Ton Koopman and Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra.
QUEEN AT THE OPERA
Festival Debut
Recent Engagements: Rose, Standing at the Sky’s Edge, Gillian Lynne Theatre, National Theatre; Kit, Pretty Woman, Savoy Theatre; Evita, Evita, UK Tour; Scaramouche, We Will Rock You, Dominion Theatre; Amber, Hairspray, Shaftesbury Theatre; Mary, Jersey Boys, Prince Edward Theatre; Annette, Saturday Night Fever, Apollo Victoria; Kristine, A Chorus Line, Crucible Theatre.
Future Engagements: Symphonic Queen, CBSO, Ulster Orchestra.
Biography: Rachael was born in Yorkshire and trained at Bird College. She has worked extensively in Theatre both in London’s West End and touring the UK and was a Semi finalist on Britain’s Got Talent 2016. She has also appeared in Coronation Street and Girlfriends for ITV and Doctors for the BBC. She has travelled the world singing the music of Queen, Abba and Bond to name a few and can heard on BBC Radio 2 – Friday Night is Music Night. Rachael is in the band The Lonesome Frets and she’s also a playwright. But her proudest achievement to date is being Emilia’s Mum!
Richard Farnes is an unlikely conductor. Born in Sussex in 1964 to Alec, a local hairdresser, and Christine, an occasional stewardess on cross-Channel flights, he was a genuine prodigy and once his musicality was discovered his path into the profession, textbook.
His family had an old Broadwood upright piano at home and his much elder sister played as a school child and aged two, Richard began dabbling. Characteristically of someone born talented, he’s dismissive of his early signs of natural ability and says ‘I would apparently sit at the piano –I vaguely remember this – and pick out tunes and play things that I’d heard off the radio by ear. My Dad, because he liked music, often had music on the radio, a brass band or something classical and from about the age of three or four I’d start picking stuff up from what I’d heard in a rather embryonic way. Then I started improvising and making up my own stuff. When I was about seven and I’d been learning the piano for a few years, my mum said why don’t you stop playing all your own things and play something your piano teacher showed you. And I gave a Debussy Arabesque a go and thought God, this is amazing….’ He was hooked.
He started piano lessons at four and his first piano teacher recognised his musical ear and encouraged his parents to send him to a choir school. Another influence at this stage was the organ. He’d joined the local parish church choir in East Grinstead at about six ‘and you’d sing in the choir practice, but for the first Sunday morning service, you’d sit next to the organist, and I was absolutely gobsmacked, all the different keyboards, the manuals and the pyrotechnics.’
Suffice to say the choirmaster in the church also said he should try for a cathedral choir school, so he auditioned for David Willcocks at King’s Cambridge and ‘I got in, so I was away in a way because I had a place at a choir school.’ The fact that it was a boarding school, and Richard was only seven wasn’t easy and he found the beginnings of each boarding term ‘horrible.’ Equally his just younger sister had to put up with spending Christmas at King’s Cambridge sitting through endless services. She, however, would keep his feet on the floor saying ‘don’t forget who you are, and don’t think you’re special…’ A good thing as Richard’s next stop was Eton on a music scholarship, then back to Kings as an organ scholar and to Cambridge to do a music degree, a high-class route…
Meantime he was the principal viola player in the school orchestra and fell in love with the sound of the orchestra. He also conducted the Poulenc organ concerto while still at school. Conducting seemed to be the way forward if he was to stay in the orchestral world so for repertoire he went to the Guildhall, for technical issues the Royal Academy of Music, and to gather a bit more repertoire the National Opera Studio, a comprehensive education; the unlikely musician was immersed and along the way he’d been spotted…
Ivor Bolton who was then running Opera 80 (now English Touring Opera) invited Richard to audition as a repetiteur and, because Richard was studying conducting, as an assistant conductor, resulting in conducting a couple of Falstaffs, pretty daunting. He was then picked up by the Glyndebourne tour in 1992 as a pianist on all three touring operas and as an assistant conductor on Katya Kabanová. He then put his hand in his pocket and took the train to Opera North in Leeds to audition for Paul Daniel, the music director and their head of music, Roy Laughlin. He remembers ‘even with a student railcard, the train fare was exorbitant. And they were very nice, but they advised me to get more experience in bigger London houses. All he could think about was how much money he’d wasted on the ticket. But a few weeks later Opera North rang and asked him to assist Paul Daniel on Britten’s Gloriana. ‘And Paul couldn’t do one of the performances on tour, or at least he said he couldn’t, which happened to be in Norwich. And it was fantastic because Josephine Barstow was Queen Elizabeth and one of the scenes of the opera is set in Norwich and she addressed the good Burgers of Norwich and there she was right at the front of the stage.’ The prodigal was really ‘away’ particularly at Glyndebourne and Opera North. (And curiously Paul Daniel is a fellow conductor at The Grange this year).
Richard’s other mentor was Edward Downes, and it was from him that he learnt about Verdi. Richard remembers seeing Rigoletto at Covent Garden ‘and he’s never imagined the piece would sound so natural flowing.’ He then invited Edward Downes to a concert at St John Smith Square resulting in Richard being asked to do some performances
with Downes’s Amici di Verdi, an amateur group with young professional singers and an amateur chorus. ‘They’d get two pianists, sometimes on two different pianos and put on early Verdi operas. It was great because I got to work with him trying to reproduce the orchestra on a Verdi opera’. Richard is acclaimed for conducting Britten, Wagner and Verdi. He singles out Traviata as being the only Verdi opera that’s set entirely indoors which makes it intimate. Comparing it to other Verdi operas he says ‘it’s more personal‘. Orchestrally it makes a difference, there aren’t these big percussive themes set to military backgrounds. And the incredibly attractive thing about it is the through composition. It’s a much more interesting piece to conduct, in the sense of building and the story being played through continuous music rather than keep stopping. Another thing is vocally Violetta is not really one role, it’s two or three different roles; the tessitura has to change; the high coloratura in the first act to the heft needed in the second act, and then the almost restrained singing and speaking in the third act. The first run of Traviata was a disaster because Verdi didn’t want the first Violetta.’ Good job then Richard knows Samantha Clarke who was the gold medal winner at the Guildhall in her year when Richard was on the jury…
This is Richard’s debut at The Grange Festival, but he first met Michael Chance (Artistic Director) when he was eleven and stood behind him in the choir at King’s Cambridge. ‘Later I remember playing the organ at a wedding somewhere in the Cotswolds and Michael sang. Michael had a performance later that day at Glyndebourne and he had a friend with a helicopter and flew from the Cotswolds to the lawn at Glyndebourne. And I was thinking, that’s pretty cool…’
Equally the unlikely conductor has achieved wide acclaim and fulfilment and can now pick and choose his conducting engagements. He’s also mentoring young talent, coaching Jette Parker Artists, and even teaching the piano. He’s also developed a passion for photography and does the odd professional job. Keep tempting him musically, otherwise it’ll be the music world’s loss…
Louise Flind
“Richard is acclaimed for conducting Britten, Wagner and Verdi. He singles out Traviata as being the only Verdi opera that’s set entirely indoors which makes it intimate. Comparing it to other Verdi operas he says ‘it’s more personal’”
COMPANY
Chief Executive Officer
Tyler Stoops
Artistic Director
Michael Chance CBE
Chief Operations
Officer
Michael Moody
Director of Development
Rachel Pearson
PATRONS
Mark and Sophie Ashburton
Director of Artistic Administration
Scott Cooper
Finance Manager
Annabel Ross
Director of Learning
Susan Hamilton
Director of Audiences & Impact
Guy Verrall-Withers
BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Chairman
Sir Richard Mantle
Vice Chair
Caroline Greenhalgh
Nicholas Allan Oliver Baines
Helen Byrne
WARDROBE
Head of Wardrobe
Fiona Williams
Deputy Head of Wardrobe
Lorinda Dean
Wardrobe Assistants
Beth Qualter Buncall
Ellen Measor
Rebecca Hamilton Jones
Costume Supervisors
Alexa Moore La traviata
Gabriella Ingram
Die Fledermaus
Assistant Costume Supervisors
Candice Lejoly La traviata
Wendy Olver
Die Fledermaus
GROUNDS MAINTENANCE
Caretaker of The Grange
Richard Loader Gardening and Roses
Gillian Taylor Di Threlfall
FESTIVAL VOLUNTEERS
Head of Volunteers
Nicky Cambrook
Jennie Azevedo
Hugh Brown
Sally Burrough
Nick Cambrook
Henrietta Cooke
Ruth Coombs
Kate Eskes
Richard Georgeham
Christopher Gibb
Carolyn Gibson
Ann Gilbertson
Head of Insights and Innovation
Alice Blincoe
Head of Marketing
Becs Williams
Head of Visitor
Experience
Clare Bowskill
Jenny Gove
Andrea Harris
Malcolm Hogg
Mary Hogg
Lizzie Holmes
Sally Johnston
Charmian Jones
Lynwen Jones-Thomas
Penelope Kellie
Sue Kennedy
Angela Larard
Jenny Makins
Judy McDougall
Belinda Mitchell
Production Co-ordinator
Kimberley Reilly
Media and Marketing
Coordinator
Connor Apps
Fundraising and
Events Coordinator
Gemma Slimm
Rosamund
Horwood-Smart KC
Jantiene T Klein
Roseboom van
der Veer
Malcolm Le May
Sonia Ponnusamy
Douglas Rae
Bindesh Shah
Peter Woods
PR & MARKETING
PR
Bread and Butter
Clair Chamberlain
Jocasta Marron
Louis Rabinowitz
Digital Marketing
Sine Digital
Marketing Consultant
Jo Finn
Audience Services
Administrator
Izzy Keir
Audience Services
Administrator
Emma-Jane Wilkinson
Strategy and Operations Associate
Thomas Sharrock
Production Manager
Tom Nickson
Company Manager
John Thompson
Festival Site Manager
Bridget Shegog
DESIGN & PRINT
Design and Identity
Jon Ashby at wearenoun.com
Programme Printers
Generation Press
ACCOMMODATION
HEALTH & SA FETY
Health and Safety Consultant
John Young
First Aid Training
Redline Safety
GENEROUSLY DONATED BY
Sarah and Peter Vey
Alison and Daniel Benton
Richard Cotton
WIGS
Head of Wigs
Lottie Davies
Deputy head of Wigs
Philipa Johnson
Wig/make up
assistants
Heidi Lloyd
Technical Manager
Ben Nickson
Head of Props
Robyn Hardy
Surtitle Operator
Izzy Thorn
Deputy Technical Manager
James Boyd
Deputy Technical Manager
Evie Redfern
Crew
Matthew Wells
Darren Barnett
George More
LIGHTING
Chief Lx
George Seal
Deputy Lx
Paddy Hepplewhite
Melissa Ashley
Programmer
David Stone
TRANSPORT
Transport by
Paul Mathews
BASEMENT
FESTIVAL SHOP
CLEANING
MARQUEES & PAVILIONS
John M Carter LTD
Phil Heather
BeGreen Cleaning
Festival Shop Manager
Camilla Dinesen
MAINTENANCE
R S Birch
Fine Line Flooring
John Waterworth
George More
Tom Davies Pope
Darren Barnett
Anthony Paulikas
GARDENERS
Judy Bishop
Catherine Mitchell
Sarah Peppiatt
Caroline Powell
Clare Read
Penny Russell
Katherine Sellon
John Theophilus
Hilary Trickle
Sukey Tucker
Felicity Urquhart
David Weeks
Sally Weeks
Brigid McManus
Jo Seligman
Felicity Urquhart
FLOWERS
Rosie Ferguson
Jan Harring
Elaine Loader
Pauline Lund
Mary Panter
Caroline Rees
Eleanor Warr
DINING AT THE GRANGE
Dinner in The House
Kalm Kitchen
Supper in The Park
Becka Cooper
DRINKS
Wine Merchant
Stone, Vine & Sun
Festival Sommelier
Simon Taylor
BOURNEMOUTH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
Chief Executive
Dougie Scarfe OBE DL
Head of Concerts & Artistic Planning
Heather Duncan
Concerts Manager
Daisy Brinson-Hill
Orchestra Manager
Kat Wallace
Assistant Orchestra
Manager
Charlotte Lee
Senior Stage Manager
Scott Caines
STAGE MANAGEMENT
Stage Manager
Mel Purves
Deputy Stage Manager
Margaret Crosby
Assistant Stage Manager
Jasmine Dittman
BOURNEMOUTH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
1st Violin
Leader
Amyn Merchant
Mark Derudder
Emre Engin
Kate Turnbull
Karen Leach
Magdalena GrucaBroadbent
Isabella Fleming
Julie Gillett-Smith
Kate Hawes
Joan Martinez
Flute
Anna Pyne
Owain Bailey
Horn
Eleanor Blakeney
Ruth Spicer
Rob Harris
Kevin Pritchard
Banda Piccolo
Jenny Farley
Timpani
Jonathan Phillips
2nd Violin
Carol Paige
June Lee
Catherine Alsey
Boglarka Gyorgy
Vicky Berry
Eddy Betancourt
Lara Carter
Hannah Renton
Stage Manager
Harry Pascoe
Viola
Clem Pickering
Miguel Rodriguez
Laura Cooper
Judith Preston
Liam Buckley
Melissa Doody
Cello
Jesper Svedberg
Auriol Evans
Hannah Arnold
Philip Collingham
Rebecca McNaught
Judith Burgin (21 June)
Piccolo
Owain Bailey
Trumpet
Paul Bosworth
Peter Turnbull
Banda Clarinet
Neyire Ashworth
Percussion
Matt King
Ben Lewis
THE GRANGE FESTIVAL CHORUS
Soprano
Isabel Garcia Araujo
Isabelle Atkinson
Helen Lacey
Grace O’Malley
Phoebe Smith
Matina Tsaroucha
Mezzo Soprano
Angharad Davies
Erin Fflur
Antoinette Pompe
van Meerdervoort
Annie Reilly
Miriam Sharrad
Leila Zanette
Oboe
Holly Randall
Rebecca Kozam
Trombone
Robb Tooley
Meggie Murphy
Banda Horn
Edward Lockwood
Jonathan Farey
Harp
Eluned Pierce
Tenor
Dafydd Allen
Daniel Gray Bell
Quito Clothier
Samuel Kibble
Sam Marston
Jonny Maxwell-Hyde
Clarinet
Barry Deacon
Cara Doyle
Bass Trombone
Joe Arnold
Banda Trumpet
Bob Farley
Peter Mankarious
Double Bass
David Daly
Ben du Toit
Mike Chaffin
Bassoon
Tammy Thorn
Emma Selby
Cimbasso
Stuart Beard/ Grady Hassan
Banda Trombone
Guy Berry
Bass
Peter Edge
Peter Lidbetter
Joseph Murphy
George Robarts
Leo Selleck
Stephen Whitford
STAGE MANAGEMENT
Stage Manager
Katie Thackeray
Deputy Stage Manager
Emily Danby
Assistant Stage Manager
Alex Holmes
BOURNEMOUTH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
1st Violin
Leader
Amyn Merchant
Mark Derudder
Kate Turnbull
Karen Leach
Magdalena
Gruca-Broadbent
Jennifer Curiel
Isabella Fleming
Julie Gillett-Smith
Kate Hawes
Joan Martinez
Flute
Anna Pyne
Owain Bailey
Horn
Oliver Johnson
Bob Ashworth (22 June)
Edward Lockwood
Rob Harris
Kevin Pritchard
Timpani
Jonathan Phillips
2nd Violin
Carol Paige
June Lee
Boglarka Gyorgy
Vicky Berry
Eddy Betancourt
Rebecca Burns
Lara Carter
Hannah Renton
Piccolo
Owain Bailey
Trumpet
Paul Bosworth
Peter Turnbull
Viola
Clem Pickering
Miguel Rodriguez
Toby Warr
Judith Preston
Liam Buckley
Melissa Doody/
James Hogg
Oboe
Dan Finney
Holly Randall
Trombone
Kevin Morgan
Robb Tooley
Percussion
Matt King
Ben Lewis
Alastair Marshallsay
THE GRANGE FESTIVAL CHORUS
Soprano
Isabel Garcia Araujo
Isabelle Atkinson
Helen Lacey
Grace O’Malley
Phoebe Smith
Matina Tsaroucha
Mezzo Soprano
Angharad Davies
Erin Fflur
Antoinette Pompe
van Meerdervoort
Annie Reilly
Miriam Sharrad
Leila Zanette
STAGE MANAGEMENT
Choreographic
Assistant
Féroz Sahoulamide
Musical assistant
Marie Van Rhijn
Choir Master
Thibaut Lenaerts
DANCERS STRUCTURE RUALITÉ
Féroz Sahoulamide
Lauryn Apharel
Guillaume Chan Ton
Adrien Goulinet
Anaïs Kouassi
Jubert Carl Tesado
Vinii Revlon
Mohammed Medelsi
Alexandre Moreau
Salomon Mpondo
Dicka
Martine Ngo Mbock
Michel Onomo
Juliana Roumbedakis
Aisi Zhou
CHORUS
Harp
Eluned Pierce
Cello
Jesper Svedberg
Auriol Evans
Hannah Arnold
Philip Collingham
Rebecca McNaught
Double Bass
David Daly
Nicole Carstairs
Jane Ferns
Clarinet
Barry Deacon
Cara Doyle
Bass Trombone
Joe Arnold
Bassoon
Tammy Thorn
Emma Selby
Bass
Tenor
Dafydd Allen
Daniel Gray Bell
Quito Clothier
Samuel Kibble
Sam Marston
Jonny Maxwell-Hyde
CHŒUR DE CHAMBRE DE NAMUR
Dessus 1
Alice Borciani
Camille Hubert
Armelle Marcq
Alice Marzuola
Amélie Renglet
Dessus 2
Cécile Dalmon
Cécile Granger
Zoé Pireaux
Julie Vercauteren
Hautes-contre
Stephen Collardelle
Arnaud Le Dû
Marcio Soares
Holanda
Jonathan Spicher
Renaud Tripathi
Tailles
Teo Aroni
Augustin Laudet
Eymeric Mosca
Lisandro Nesis
Jean-Yves Ravoux
Basses
Jérôme Collet
Vlad Crosman
Sergio Ladu
Maxime Saiu
Alvaro Valles
Peter Edge
Peter Lidbetter
Joseph Murphy
George Robarts
Leo Selleck
Stephen Whitford
ORCHESTRA CAPPELLA MEDITERRANEA
Leader
Amandine Solano
Dessus de violons 1
Laura Corolla
Adrien Carré
Koji Yoda
Dessus de violons 2
Roxana Rastegar
Yannis Roger
Stéphanie de Failly
Guya Martinini
Hautes-contre de violon
Carmen Martínez Cruz
Sara Gomez Yunta
Tailles de violon
Myriam Bulloz
Lucia Peralta
Basses de violon
Diana Vinagre
Gulrim Choï
Emily Robinson
Viola da gamba
Margaux Blanchard
Double bass
Eric Mathot
Recorder
Rodrigo Calveyra
Baroque flutes
Sylvain Sartre
Olivier Riehl
Oboes
Shunsuke Kawai
Irene Del Rio Busto
Musette
Patrick Blanc
Bassoons
Anaïs Ramage
Nicolas André
Trumpets
Nicolas Isabelle
Victor Theuerkauff
Theorbo
Quito Gato
Harpsichord
Marie Van Rhijn
Percussions
Laurent Sauron
BBC CONCERT ORCHESTRA
1st Violin
Nathaniel Anderson-Frank
Rebecca Turner
Chereene Price
Lucy Hartley
Cormac Browne
Rustom Pomeroy
Emily Earl
Maria Anastasiadou
Joanna Watts
2nd Violin
Michael Gray
Matthew Elston
Marcus Broome
Daniel Mullin
Sarah Freestone
Iona Allan
Robin Martin
Viola
Timothy Welch
Nigel Goodwin
Helen Knief
Mike Briggs
Judit Kelemen
Cello
Miwa Rosso
Matthew Lee
Josephine Abbott
Ben Rogerson
Miriam Lowbury
Double Bass
Andrew Wood
Stacey-Ann Miller
Lachlan Radford
Flute
Ileana Ruhemann
Sophie Johnson
JAZZ ORCHESTRA CONCERTGEBOUW
Conductor
Johan Plomp
Alt Sax
Marco Kegel (Lead)
Jasper van Damme
Tenor Sax
Simon Rigter
Sjoerd Dijkhuizen
Oboe
Gareth Hulse
Victoria Walpole
Clarinet
James Gilbert
Derek Hannigan
Bassoon
John McDougall
Jane Gaskell
Horn
Andrew Littlemore
Tom Rumsby
Mark Johnson
David Wythe
Richard Dilley
Trumpet
Catherine Moore
David McCallum
John Blackshaw
Rebecca Crawshaw
Trombone
Matthew Lewis
Andy Cole
Rory Cartmell
Bass Trombone
Mark Frost
Tuba
Sasha Koushk-Jalali
Timpani
Iris van den Bos
Percussion
Stephen Whibley
Owen Williams
Jeremy Cornes
Harp
Tomos Xerri
Keyboard
John G Smith
Kit
Neal Wilkinson
Guitar
Tommy Emmerton
Bass Guitar
Steve Pearce
Bariton Sax
Juan Martinez
Trumpet
Dave Vreuls (Lead)
Alvaro Jimenez
Angelo Verploegen
Rodolfo Ferrera Neves
Vocalist
Fay Claassen
Trombone
Jan Oosting (Lead)
Ilja Reijngoud
Bert Boeren
WELSH NATIONAL OPERA
STRINGS
Leader
David Adams†
Supported by Mathew & Lucy Prichard
Assistant-Leader
Oscar Perks†
Supported by Peter & Babs Thomas
First Violin
David Adams†
Oscar Perks†
Amanda Lake
Martin Kegelmann*
Lydia Griffiths
Maia Broido
Anya Birchall
Nadine Nigl
Emma Menzies
Caroline Heard
Second Violin
Kitty Cheung #
Ann Jones*
Donald McNaught*
Marilyn Shewring*
Rebecca Totterdell
Emma Waller
Jonathan Davies
Amy Fletcher
Viola
Section principal supported by Philip & Ann Roberts
Dunia Ershova†
Barry Friend*
Martin Fenn
Stephen Lloyd*
Eleanor Walton
Morven LapthornGraham
Cello
Section principal supported by Tom & Felicity Crawley
Rosie Biss†
Alicja Kozak
Matteo Salizzoni
Alison Gillies
Ed Furse
Double Bass
Section principal supported by Emrys & Margaret Roberts
Mikeal Price #*
Ben HavindenWilliams
Albert Dennis
Harp
Elen Hydref
Guitar
Daniel Thomas
Flute
Section principal supported by Colin & Sylvia Fletcher
Jonathan Burgess†*
Enlli Parri
Piccolo
Charlotte Thomas
Oboe
Section principal supported by Anonymous
Lucie Sprague†
Amy Till
Cor Anglais
Matthew Jones
Clarinet
Section principal supported by D Morgan
Thomas Verity†
William White
Bass Clarinet
Natalie Harris
Saxophone
Rhys Taylor
Jennie Porton
Hannah Morgan
David Miller
Bassoon
Section principal supported by Margaret
& Stephen Bickford-Smith
Stephen Marsden†*
Llinos Owen
Contrabassoon
Alexandra Davidson
Bass Trombone
Martin van den Berg
Bass
Frans van Geest
Guitar
Martijn van Iterson
Piano
Rob van Bavel
Drums
Martijn Vink
Horn
Section principal supported in memory of the late Lord Davies of Llandinam
Richard Bayliss‡
James Mildred
Edward Griffiths°
Max Garrard
Michael Gibbs
Trumpet
Section principal supported by Ginette Theano
Dean Wright†*
Corey Morris
Sian Davis
Morgan Rees
Tenor Trombone
Section principal supported by Ginette Theano
Roger Cutts†*
Jake Durham
Bass Trombone
Alan Swain
Tuba
Andrew McDade
Timpani
Section principal supported by Christopher Greene and Annmaree O’Keeffe
Mathias Matland†
Percussion
Section principal supported by Martin Plimsoll & Moura MacDonagh
Philip Girling
Andrew Cookson
Matt French
Piano / Celeste
Frederick Brown
Stephen Wood
Head of Orchestra
Matthew Downes
Orchestra & Projects Producer
Catherine Porteus
Orchestra Manager
Dave Collins
Orchestra Operations & Administration
Officer
Hywel ap Ian Evans
Senior Music Librarian
Georgina Govier
Music Librarian
Catherine Duffy
Head of Music & Casting Advisor
Russell Moreton
Deputy Head of Music
Stephen Wood
KEY
† Section Principal
‡ Guest Section Principal
° Co-Principal
# Acting Section Principal
* Denotes 20 years or more service with WNO
THE GRANGE FESTIVAL CHORUS
Soprano
Isabel Garcia Araujo
Isabelle Atkinson
Helen Lacey
Grace O’Malley
Phoebe Smith
Matina Tsaroucha
Mezzo Soprano
Angharad Davies
Erin Fflur
Antoinette Pompe
van Meerdervoort
Annie Reilly
Miriam Sharrad
Leila Zanette
Tenor
Dafydd Allen
Daniel Gray Bell
Quito Clothier
Samuel Kibble
Sam Marston
Jonny Maxwell-Hyde
BALLET BLACK
Patrons
Kwame Kwei
Armah OBE
Thandiwe Newton OBE
Founder, CEO & Artistic Director
Cassa Pancho MBE
Senior Producer
Richard Bolton
Executive Assistant
Simone Measures
Assistant Producer
Christina McDougall
Chief Lighting Designer & Technical Manager
David Plater
Media & Special
Projects Producer
Kelly Quintyne
Press Manager
John Cotton PR Ltd.
Bass
Peter Edge
Peter Lidbetter
Joseph Murphy
George Robarts
Leo Selleck
Stephen Whitford
Marketing & Research
Dwaynica Greaves
Administrative Assistant
Claire Guntrip
Rehearsal Director
Charlotte Broom
Staging Assistant
Natasha Harrison
Company Artists
Acaoã de Castro
Megan Chiu
Isabela Coracy
Taraja Hudson
Mikayla Isaacs
Love Kotiya
Bhungane
Mehlomakulu
Elijah Peterkin
Helga Paris-Morales
Ebony Thomas
Set Construction
Alistage Ltd
Richard Bolton
Costume Construction
Manuela Fleming
Matthieu Nunes
Prop Construction
Caroline Perry
Sound Engineers
Jim Carey
When we were staring into the abyss in March and April 2020, all those many who had already bought tickets for the Festival came to our rescue in a timely and deeply moving way.
We pledged to record their generosity.
Mrs Julia Abbott
Philippa Abell
Mrs Peter Albertini
Daphne and John Alderson
Charles and Clare Alexander
Mrs Rosemary Alexander
Nick and Sarah Allan
Dr Gerhard Altmann
The Amar-Franses and Foster-Jenkins Trust
Rhian and Tony Amery
David and Jane Anderson
Peter and Rosemary Andreae
Boo and Bill Andrewes
Mark and Sophie Ashburton
Mary and Julian Ashby
Chris and Tony Ashford
M D Austen
Dr Simon Bailey
Niven Baird
Jamie and Carolyn Balfour
Patricia Ball
Caroline Barber
The Hon Mrs Susan Baring, OBE
The Tait Memorial Trust/ Isla Baring OAM
Cara and Oliver Barnes
Geoffrey Barnett
Robin Barton
Paul and Janet Batchelor
Fiona Bateson
Tim Battcock
Richard and Patricia Bayley
Nigel Beale and Anthony Lowrey
Anne Beckwith-Smith
Peter and Valerie Bedford
Michele Beiny-Harkins
Christina Belloc Lowndes
Glynne and Sarah Benge
Elizabeth Benson
Nic and Maureen Bentley
Daniel and Alison Benton
Alice and Paul Beresford
Richard and Rosamund Bernays
Mike and Sarah Bignell
Anthony and Emma Bird
Simon and Julia Boadle
Bob and Elisabeth Boas
Sophie Boden
David Bogle
Sarah and Tony Bolton
Jeremy Bonnett
Robert and Caroline Bordeaux-Groult
Sarah Boswood
Jonathan and Karen Bourne-May
Neville and Rowena Bowen
Michael and Belinda Boyd
Robert and Fiona Boyle
Viscount and Viscountess
Bridgeman
Lord and Lady Bridges
Charles and Patricia Brims
Alison and Michael Brindle KC
Penny and Robin Broadhurst
Adam and Sarah Broke
Consuelo and Anthony Brooke
Nick and Sue Brougham
Hugh and Sue Brown
Mrs Charles H. Brown
Desmond and Jennifer Browne
David Buchler
Mrs Thomas Buckley
Peter and Pamela Bulfield
Anthony Bunker
Geoffrey Burnand
Mark Burrows AO
Martin and Sarah Burton
Tom and Elizabeth Busher
Richard Butler Adams
Peter and Auriol Byrne
Sandra Carlisle and Angus Carlill
Brian Carroll
David and Simone Caukill
Julian and Jenny Cazalet
Bernard and Caroline Cazenove
Belinda and Jason Chaffer
Suzie Chesham
Rex and Sarah Chester
John and June Chichester
Giles and Heather Chipperfield
Julian and Josephine Chisholm
Julia Chute
Jane Clarke
Sir Christopher and the Reverend Lady Clarke
Ian Clarkson and Richard Morris
Henry and Louise Clay
Dr Peter and Mrs Ros Claydon
Tim and Liz Coghlan
John and Suzanne Coke
Dr and Mrs Peter Collins
Gill Collymore
Oliver Colman
Dr Neville Conway
Henrietta Cooke
Miss Serena Cooke
Richard and Sindy Coppin
Corin and Richard Cotton
David and Nikki Cowley
Johnny and Liz Cowper-Coles
Lin and Ken Craig
David and Jane Crawshaw
Peter and Carole Cregeen
Julia and Stephen Crompton
Fergus Cross
Carl Cullingford
Edward and Antonia
Cumming-Bruce
Jill Cundy and Alan Padbury
© James Musslewhite
Geoffrey and Ingrid Dale
Niki and Richard Dale
Josh and Anna Dale-Harris
Peter and Pamela Davidson
Mr and Mrs Jerome Davidson
Dame Nicola Davies
Anthony Davis
Ina De and James Spicer
Pru de Lavison
Baron and Baroness de Styrcea
Sir John and Lady de Trafford
Jan and Caryn de Walden
Elizabeth Dean
Michael and Anthea Del Mar
Linda and Hugo Deschampsneufs
Patrick and Nikki Despard
G and J Devlin
The Viscount Dilhorne and Professor S J Eykyn FRCS, FRCP, FRCPath
Robert and Caroline Dixon
The Wykeham Gallery
ln memory of Ann Dussek
Howard and Donna Dyer
Christina and Andrew Dykes
Clive and Alison Earl
Paul and Pauline Eaton
David and Jennie Wilson
Mark and Margaret Edwards
David and Julie Edyvean
Julia P Ellis
Martin and Eugenia Ephson
Felicity Fairbairn
Robina and Alastair Farley
Nicholas and Jane Ferguson
Catherine and Jón Ferrier
Simon and Hilke Fisher
Giles and ’Wenna Fletcher
Tom and Sarah Floyd
Tim and Rosie Forbes
Sandy Foster
Mr and Mrs John Foster
Licia Venturi
Lindsay and Robin Fox
Peter and Judith Foy
Mrs Andrea Frears
Constance Freer-Smith
John and Joanna French
Alan and Valerie Frost
Jonathan Gaisman
Emma Galloway
Dame Janet and Mr John Gaymer
Diane Gibbons
Clare and Fergus Gilmour
Dr Asher Giora
Anne Glyn
Dr David Glynn
Jane and Charlie Graham
Scott and Caroline Greenhalgh
Mr and Mrs M Griffin
Tim and Jenny Guerrier
Felicity Guinness and Simon Ricketts
Mr Laurence Habets
Sir Charles and Lady Haddon-Cave
Robert and Elizabeth Haldane
Allyson Hall
Tom Hankinson
Edward and Rosie Harford
Roger and Victoria Harrison
James and Rhona Hatchley
Keith and Sarah Jane Haydon
Sheelin and John Hemsley
David and Odette Henderson
Malcolm Herring
John and Catherine Hickman
Philip and Wendy Hill
Will and Janine Hillary
Charles and Catherine Hindson
Alan Hoaksey
Hamish and Venetia Leng
Mr and Mrs I F Hodgson
Robin Hodgson
Jenny Hodgson
Daniel and Diana Hodson
Malcolm and Mary Hogg
Christopher and Jo Holdsworth Hunt
Peter and Sue Holland
The Hollingbery Family
Linda and Peter Hollins
Roger and Kate Holmes
Holmes Family
Ron Holmes
Mrs Jane L Hough
Luke and Polly Hughes
David and Wendy Hunter
Barnabas and Campie Hurst-Bannister
Nicholas and Deborah Hutchen
Graham and Amanda Hutton
Margaret Hyde OBE
John and Jan Jarvis
Martin and Sandra Jay
Anthony Johnson and Terence Drew
Nigel and Cathy Johnson-Hill
Owen and Jane Jonathan
Andrew and Caroline Joy
Michel Kallipetis KC
Ralph and Patricia Kanter
Diane Katsiaficas
Martin and Philippa
Kelway-Bamber
Dinah Kennedy
Kevin Kissane and Jonathan Hume
Emma Kjellin
Victoria Kleiner
Adrian Knowles
Stephen and Miriam Kramer
Lord and Lady Laidlaw
Dr Hugh Laing
Beth and Peter Lamb
Kenneth Law WS
Mr and Mrs Bill Lawes
Malcolm and Sarah Le May
Janet and Julian Le Patourel
Shaun Le Picq
Sue Leach
Nicky Levy
Mrs Roger Liddiard
Ben and Tom Linton-Todd
Anthony and Fiona Littlejohn
Simon Littlewood
Michael Llewellyn
Jon Long
Alan and Virginia Lovell
Mrs Fiona Lunch
James and Béatrice Lupton
John MacGowan
Joe and Minnie MacHale
Pamela and Peter Macklin
Bill and Sue Main
Mrs Jennifer Makins
Charles and Sue Marriott
Chris and Clem Martin
Sue and Nigel Masters
James and Caroline Masterton
Fairhurst Estates
Louise Matlock
Harry and Emma Matovu
John and Mary Maunsell-Thomas
Ian and Clare Maurice
Alison Mayne
Mr and Mrs James McGill
Mrs Julia McMullan
Nigel and Anna McNair Scott
Anthony and Sarah McWhirter
Stephen Meldrum
Sarah and David Melville
Nigel and Maria Melville
Heleen Mendl-Schrama
Brian and Bernadette Metters
Antony and Alison Milford
Elizabeth Miller
Mr and Mrs Hallam Mills
Sylvia Mills
Patrick Mitford-Slade
Kate and Malcolm Moir
Dr and Mrs Jonathan Moore
David and Alison Moore-Gwyn
Christopher Morcom KC and Mrs Diane Morcom
Isabel Morgan
Diana and Nigel Morris
Ian and Jane Morrison
Richard and Chrissie Morse
David and Angela Moss
Margot Mouat
Colin Murray
Tom and Ros Nell
Jenny Newall
Guy and Sarah Norrie
Steve Norris
Peter and Poppity Nutting
John O’Dowd
The Ogilvie Thompson Family
Lavinia and Nick Owen
Major General and Mrs Simon Pack
John A Paine
For Elise
Tim and Thérèse Parker
Nick and Julie Parker
The Parker Family
Mary-Vere and Jeremy Parr
Clive and Deborah Parritt
William and Francheska Pattisson
Robin Pauley
Michael and Cathy Pearman
Geoffrey and Vivienne Pearson
Lucy Pease
Andrew and Cindy Peck
Ed and Sarah Peppiatt
Guy and Nathalie Perricone
Caroline Perry
Roger and Virginia Phillimore
Laura and Hayden Phillips
Jonathan and Gillian Pickering
Ernst and Elisabeth Piech
Hew and Jean Pike
Mr and Mrs Julio Pinna-Griffith
Fiona Pitcher
David and Christina Pitman
Lady Plastow
James and Kate Plastow
Hugh Podger
John and Judy Polak
The Countess of Portsmouth
Michael and Sue Pragnell
Nigel and Vicky Prescot
Dr Victoria Preston
Hugh Priestley
Richard and Iona Priestley
Tony and Etta Pullinger
Stephen Purse
Christopher and Phillida Purvis
Mrs Adam Quarry
Jane and Graham Reddish
Lord and Lady Remnant
Anthony and Carol Rentoul
Florence and Robert Rice
Judith Rich OBE
Dick Richmond
Dr Lynne Ridler-Wall
The Rev’ds Tana and Royston Riviere
Miles and Vivian Roberts
James and Lygo Roberts
James and Catharine Robertson
Sir Simon and Lady Robertson
James and Sue Robinson
Christopher Marks and Lindsay Rodes
Kristina Rogge
Julian and Catherine Roskill
Simon and Alison Routh
Dr Angela Gallop CBE and Mr David Russell
Alan Sainer
Alicia Salter
Ginny and Richard Salter
Mike Sarson
David and Alexandra Scholey
Richard and Jackie Scopes
James and Judy Scott
Charles and Caroline Scott
Alex and So Scott-Barrett
George and Veronique Seligman
Katherine Sellon
Sophie Service
Edward and Philippa Seymour
Tom and Phillis Sharpe
Rebecca Shelley
Diane and Christopher Sheridan
Nigel Silby
Jeremy and Sarah Sillem
Brigitte and Martin Skan
Paul and Rita Skinner
Jock and Annie Slater
Mim Smith
Dr Anthony and Mrs Daphne Smoker
Miss India Smyth
Lady Snyder
Rupert and Milly Soames
Diana and David Sommerville
Andrew and Jill Soundy
Hammy Sparks
Mrs Heather Spencer
Lord and Lady Spencer of Alresford
David and Unni Spiller
Chris and Lisa Spooner
Fiona and Geoff Squire OBE
Richard and Clare Staughton
Caroline Steane
John and Margo Stephens
Brian and Henrietta Stevens
Jeremy and Phyllida Stoke
Ian Strange
Della and Sheridan Swallow
Canon Ron and Dr Celia Swan
Ian and Belinda Taylor
The Tehranians
Richard Templeton and Belinda Timlin
Mr and Mrs Roger ter Haar
The Tesolin Family
Stephen A Thierbach
David and Sarah Thomas
Sue Thomas
Nick Thomas and Eleanor Cranmer
Peter Thompson
Richard and Cynthia Thompson
Jonathan Thompson
Michael and Cara Thomson
Robin and Sarah Thorne
Elaine and James Tickell
Mrs S Tickner
Mr Peter Stewart Tilley
George and Lucinda Tindley
Alan and Alison Titchmarsh
Mr Zi Ken Toh
Mrs Carole Tonkiss
Richard and Elizabeth Tottenham
John and Pauline Tremlett
Professor Michael and Dame Jenifer Trimble
Sir Tom and Lady Troubridge
Simon and Mary Troughton
Clive and Tessa Tulloch
Ian Utting
Oona van den Berg
Kelsey and Rosemary van Musschenbroek
Lou and John Verrill
Peter and Sarah Vey
Mr Niko Vidovich
Rupert Villers
Marion Wake
Mark and Rachel Waller
The Band Trust
Lisa Hawkins
Guy and Fizzy Warren
Richard and Judith Watts
Tony and Fiona White
Peter and Alexandra White
Andrew and Tracy Wickham
Clare Williams
Penelope Williams
Jane Williams
Peter and Lissa Wilson
Mr and Mrs Craig Wilson
Jilly Wise
Sue and Stuart Woodward
Richard and Noely Worthington
John and Diana Wren
Tim Wright
Paul and Sybella Zisman and anonymous donors
The Allenby Sisters
Matt and Penny Andrews
John and Claudia Arney
Charles and Victoria Arthur
Dr Richard Ashton
Paul and Helen Baker
Caroline Barber
Mr and Mrs David Barrow
Mr and Mrs Simon Barrow
Mr and Mrs Bartholomew Sefi
Michael and Carolyn Bartlett
Val and Christopher Bateman
Susi and Marcus Batty
Stephen Beard
Julian and Jane Benson
Dr Rebecca and Mr Andrew Berkley
Adrian Berrill-Cox
Hugh and Etta Bevan
Carol Blacker
Graham and Julia Bourne
Robin and Jill Broadley
Simon and Dorothy Broadley
Charles and Amanda Bromfield
Tony and Mo Brooking
Jo and Geoffrey Burnaby
Mrs Maurice Buxton
Karina and Max Casini
Mr and Mrs Paul Chase Gardener
Neil Chrimes
Christie Family
Olivia Christie
Sarah Coate
Mrs Laurence Colchester
Mr and Mrs Robin Collet
Alan and Ceanna Collett
Prof Richard Collin
Barry and Pamela Collins
Elisabeth Colquhoun
Diana Cornish
Dr John Crook
Philippa Crosse and Simon Hopkins
Annabel and John Crowley
Paul and Rosemarie Cundy
John and Susan Curtis
Emiliana Damiani
Mike and Suzette Davis
James and Liz Davis
Anne and Jonathan Dawson
J W Dee
Carl and Mary Dore
Christopher and Jenny Duffett
Louise Duffy
Peter and Aurea Eckersley
Sir Malcolm and Lady Edge
Mr and Mrs John Ellard
Rob and Anne England
Alun Evans
John Farr
Rosie Faunch
Elaine Fear and Sol Mead
Michael and Nicola Fitzgerald
Marveen and Graham Flack
Jules and Jonathan Flory
Sir Robert and Lady Francis
David and Elizabeth French
Carol Geddes
Bruce and Karin Ginsberg
Ms P Glidewell
Philippa and Charlie Goodall
Colin and Letts Goodwin
Sam and Jane Gordon Clark
Robin and Gilly Greenwood
Alistair and Jenny Groom
Max and Catherine Hadfield
Dilys Hall
Peter and Romy Halliwell
Rosemary Hamilton
Robert and Gillie Hanbury
BLH
Rachel and John Hannyngton
Mr and Mrs Hayman
Basil and Caroline Henley
Michael and Geneviève Higgin
Peter Hildebrand
Jonathan Holliday and Gwen Lewis
Lizzie Holmes
David and Mal Hope-Mason
David and Patricia Houghton
Colin and Irene House
Stephen Howis
The Howmans
Bart and Carole Huby
Iain and Claudia Hughes
Robert Hugill and David Hughes
Sue Humphrey
Adam and Laraine Humphryes
Nicholas and Jeremy
Andrew and Juliet Huntley
Anthony and Jenny Isaacs
Allan and Rachel James
Professor and Mrs J Jennings
John and Sara Jervoise
Helen and Jonathan Jesty
Rupert Johnson and Alexandra Macdonald-Smith
John and Jennifer Kelly
David and Penny Kempton
Stephen and Caroline Kirk
Martin and Clare Knight
Mr and Mrs Morgan Krone
Simon and Antonia Strickland
Ian and Georgie Laing
John and Joanna Lang
Oliver and Victoria Larminie
Madi and David Laurence
Roger and Natalie Lee
Oscar and Margaret Lewisohn
Derek and Susie Lintott
Mr and Mrs H Lloyd
Tim and Rosanne Lowry
Michael and Margaret Major
John and Pat Marden
John and Deborah Markham
William and Felicity Mather
Julia Maxlow-Tomlinson
Dr Tom McClintock
Paul McKeown
Peter and Brigid McManus
Colin Menzies
Judith and Theo Mezger
Paul and Emily Michael
Martin Miles
Martin and Caroline Moore
Brian and Sonia Moritz
Cathy, Thea and Susi
Mr and Mrs John Muncey
Stephen and Fiona Murray
Tim Neill
John and Dianne Norton
Roy and Carole Oldham
Steven and Hilary Oldham
Denise Osborn
Peter and Sue Paice
Stephen and Isobel Parkinson
Colin and Judy Patrick
Peers of Alresford
Richard and Michelle Pelly
Mr and Mrs Penfold
Erik Penser
David Pether and Darin Stickley
Geoffrey and Jan Planer
John and Elizabeth Platt
Anthony Powell
Anthony and Trish Proctor
Mr and Mrs Pugh
Louisa Quarry
Miss Mary Rackham
Jane and Douglas Rae
Mrs C Rainey
Sir Martin Read and
Dr Marian Gilbart Read
Jane Ridley and Jeffrey Thomas
Stephen Riley and Victoria Burch
Xavier and Alicia Robert
Nerys Roberts
Annie Robertson
Roger and Geraldine Robinson
Lynda and Michael Rose
Peter Rosenthal
Mr Keith Ross
Richard and Ruth Saunders
Mr Peter Saunders and Mrs Jeannine Lindt Saunders
Tom Seabrook
Hugh and Patricia Sergeant
Lynn Shaw
David Shaw
Mary and Thoss Shearer
Julian and Carolyn Sheffield
Angus and Sarah Sladen
Ian and Stephanie Smith
Michael and Wendy Smith
Gill and Barry Smith
The Smith Family, Alresford and Swanage
Drew Steanson
Kate Mather
Mr and Mrs Nicholas Stranks
Ron Sullam
Dr Jonathan Swanston and Miriam Coley
Hugh and Sandy Thomas
Mr and Mrs P M Thomas
Mrs A J Thorman
John and Christine Thornton
Sarah Tillie
Roger Vignoles
Nick and Holly Villiers
Sandra and Paul Walker
Mr and Mrs Walsh
David and Meriel Walton
Anthony and Jane Ward
Johanna Waterous CBE and Roger Parry CBE
Philip and Annie Watson
Jane and Ian White
Eleanor Wilkinson
James and Sarah Williams
Hamish and Elisabeth Williams
Mrs David Wilson
Edward and Marja Wilton
William and Celia Witts
Mary Rose and Charles Wood
Mr and Mrs C Wright
The Wyatt Family and anonymous donors
Adam-Germain
Graham and Stephanie Airs
Chris and Denise Amery
Jean Anderson
Dr Martin T Anthony
Lord and Lady Arbuthnot of Edrom
Julie and Keith Attfield
Marie and Michael Bakowski
Fred Baring
Tom and Gay Bartlam
Robert Baty
Charlotte Bennett
Drs Peter and Beatrice Bennett
Jordan Bergmans
Charles and Ann Bonney
Matthew Bradley
Mrs Sheila Gay Bradley
Mrs Alison Bradley
Julie Bradshaw
Brett and Caroline Gill
Mr and Mrs J M Britton
George Brown and Alison Calver
Peter Bull
Russell Burdekin
Mr Thomas Cahill
Mariacristina Cammarata
Jeremy and Kate Cave
Jane Countess of Clarendon
The Clemson Family
Monique Clowes
Maria Cobbe
Richard and Verity Coleman
Marianne and Harald Collet
Rosie and Derek Collinson
Nathaniel Colman
Bob and Linda Connell
David Coplestone
Roseanne Corlett
Erica and Neil Cosburn
Morella and Robert Cottam
Alan Cracknell
Dr Olivia Cundy
Aimee Curtis
Caro and Gavin Darlington
Mr Peter Davidson
Simon and Noni de Zoete
Sandrine Boinet and Erik Dege
Hilary and Rob Douglas
Jonathan and Lynn Dowson
Dr Graham and Janna Dudding
Hugh and Christina Dumas
Mr Mark Duncan
Sir James Eadie
Nicky Ebdon and Alex Rowland
Peter Eggington
Michael and Margaret Ewing
Roger and Ruth Facer
Mrs Christopher Ferrer
Andrew Foot and Michael Hart
Peter Forster-Dean and David Elsley
Rod and Marie Franks
Geoffrey and Elizabeth Fuller
Paul and Sarah Galloway
N J Gammon
Lindsey Gardener
Jillian Ede and David Gendron
Joanna Gibbon
David and Bridget Glasgow
Katy Gordon
Dr Stephen Goss
Gill Graham Maw
Susie Grandfield
Michael Greaves
Dr Carolyn Greenwood
Mike and Stephanie Gretton
Catherine and Stephen Hackett
Richard and Judy Haes
John and Margaret Hall
Dr Sally Hanson
Susanna Hardman
John Harris
Guinevere and Julian Harvey
Maggie Heath
Rob and Anne Heather
Helen and Philip Heims
Roger Holden
H R Holland
Mrs Simon Holmes
Hei Mun Hong
Alex Horkan
Denzil How
Mrs William Howard
Derek Cormack and Suzanne Howe
The Allenby sisters
John and Susan Hyland
Howard and Anne Hyman
Chris Jefferies
Mrs Charlotte Johnson
Miss Flora Johnston
Scot and Sally Johnston
Nicola Jones
Alison and Jamie Justham
The Karran-Smith Family
Mae Keary
Penelope Kellie
Jocelyn Kennard
Michael and Julia Kerby
Mr and Mrs Patrick Hofmann
Cathy and Alan Kinnear
Mr and Mrs G Knapman
Dr and Mrs S Knights
Regine Kopp
Liz and Roger Kramers
Lynn Lee
Caroline and David Lentaigne
Kiereen and Nicholas Lock
James and Susie Long
Claudia Da Graca Lopes
Alex Louch
V Lowings and B Cozens
Jonathan and Clare Lubran
The Lyon Family
Stephen and Karen MacDonald
Ian and Jane Macnabb
JJ and Victoria Macnamara
Miss C Martin
Mr and Mrs P T Mealing
Elaine and Peter Mills
Wilsons Solicitors LLP
Michelle Nevers and Nathan Moss
John Muhlemann
Sally and David Murch
Tom and Catherine Neal
Emily Neill
Lord and Lady Northbrook
Nicki Oakes-Monger
Colin and Rosalind Osmer
Robin and Christine Petherick
Jeremy and Bryony Pett
Anthony and Sally Pfiffner
Frank and Doreen Pointon
Sebastian Pont
Professor Postma
Sue and Peter Prag
Raymond Sutton and Judith Prickett
Jean Boney and Chrissie Quayle
Dick and Fiona Rainsbury
John and Marie Randall
Mr and Mrs Nick Read
Neil and Julie Record
Merv and Fenella Rees
Anne Reynolds
Mr P and Mrs K Richards
The Rickards Family
Michael and Charlotte Robinson
Charles Rogers
Mr and Mrs Jeremy Rothman
Tim and Maitina Rumboll
Gillian and Terry Rush
Sebastian Salek
Joseph Saxby
Ian and Rosemary Saxton
Ben and Sian Shawley
David and Rebecca Sheppard
Caroline and Mark Silver
Poppy Skepper
Ann Smart
Mr and Mrs Mark Sorby
Dr Howard and Rosalind Sowerby
Brian Spiby
RM Stables
Judy and Graham Staples
Dianne Steele
Mr Steensma and Mrs
Steensma Bruynesteyn
David Stern
AnneMarie Stordiau
Rosie Sturgis
Swift Family
Tim and Charlotte Syder
Rachel Tait
Simon and Alison Taylor
Tom and Jo Taylor
Jeremy H Taylor and Raye Ward
Stephen Tedbury and Loveday Shewell
David Templeman
Tim and Jacky Thackeray
Prof and Mrs G M Tonge
John Trewby
Andrew and Diane Turnbull
M Tydeman
Edward and Katherine Wake
Anthony and Sue Walker
Sonia and Kevin Watson
Judith Wheatley
Angela Wheeler
Max Whitehead
Antonia Whitley
The Whittington Family
Kim Wilkie
Daniel and Thomas
Wilkinson-Horsfield
William and Madeline Wilks
Keith and Keren Williams
Mrs G C Williams
Wendy Wilson
Elizabeth Caroline Woods
Alan and Eleanor Wright
John Wynne-Williams and anonymous donors
The country. But not as you know it. Lime Wood, Beaulieu Rd, Lyndhurst, Hampshire
