An Evening At The Opera, 24/02/2007

An Evening at The Opera, February 2007

''Thank you Tim, for another magical evening, it was a great way to raise money for local charity.''

Saturday, 24th February 2007

St Wilfrid's Church
Haywards Heath

Tenor: Shaun Dixon : Soprano: Pamela Wilcock : Baritone: Riccardo Simonetti : Painist: Gareth Hancock

The evening was a huge success...following the concert an Italian supper at The Centenary Hall continued the evening with jolly impromptu performances and audience participation including the Italian classic 'Amore'.

The concert was a wonderfully fun evening with high quality Italian food, wine and entertainment for all music lovers. Watch out for our next concert in November...for another evening of high quality opera followed by a ' Supper de Paris!'

 BIOGRAPHIES

MarcMark Chaundy
 
Tenor
 
Mark studied at Magdalen College Oxford, in Italy with Dennis O’Neill and at the RoyalCollege of Music and The Samling Foundation. He now works with Joy Mammen and was one of first recipients of a Susan Chilcott Scholarship in 2005. In 2002 he joined the Glyndebourne chorus singing First Trojan Man Idomeneo and Guiseppe La Traviata. In 2003 he won a National Federation of Music Societies Award. He was recently an Associate Artist with Welsh National Opera singing Roderigo Othello  and understudying Lenski Eugene Onegin and Kudrjas Kata Kabanova and Duke Rigoletto. Other recent engagements include Rossini Stabat Mater, Mozart Requiem with The Britten Sinfonia in King’s College Chapel, a tour with Essential Scottish Opera, Brubeck  La Fiesta de la Posada at the Barbican, Bajazet Tamerlano for Cambridge Handel Opera Group, Pedrolino The Jewel Box Bampton Classical Opera and Handel’s Messiah with the CBSO. Future plans include a Samling Recital at the Wigmore Hall, cover Kudrjas/ Kata Kabanova for Opera North and recitals with Iain Burnside.He lives in Stoke Newington with several friends, a rather old piano and a few goldfish.
 

PamelaPamela Wilcock

Soprano

Pamela grew up in Lancashire, but now lives in Rochester, Kent. Graduating with an Honours Degree in Music from Liverpool University, she then continued her studies at The Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, achieving a Masters degree in Advanced Opera. Pamela’s career has taken her worldwide. Highlights have included two Operatic Gala Concerts at The Festspielhaus, Baden-Baden, performing excerpts from Madame Butterfly in Tokyo, touring the USA for three months singing Michaela in Carmen for London City Opera, and working as part of an operatic sextet aboard the QE2 during her world cruises of 2003 & 2004. Pamela’s other operatic roles include: Violetta (La Traviata), Donna Elvira (Don Giovanni) both for English Touring Opera, Mimi (la Boheme), Tytania (A Midsummer Night’s Dream), and for Glyndebourne on Tour, Bridesmaid (Figaro). Pamela will be returning to Glyndebourne later this year singing in the chorus and covering the role of Miss Jessel (Turn of the Screw).

RiccardoRiccardo Simonetti
 
Baritone
Born in Lancashire, Riccardo studied at the Royal Northern College of Music where he won the prestigious Anne Ziegler/Esso Award.
 
His operatic roles include Albert Werther and Count Almaviva The Marriage of Figaro for English Touring Opera, Ping Turandot in Nice, Sharpless Madama Butterfly and Marcello La Boheme, Lyric Opera Dublin, Eddy in Mark-Anthony Turnage’s Greek for the London Sinfonietta, Marullo Rigoletto in Amsterdam, Rodimarte in Scarlatti’s ll Trionfo dell ‘onore for La Monnaie, Pish-Tush The Mikado, Gran Teatro La Fenice, Venice, Figaro ll barbiere di Siviglia for Welsh National Opera, Schaunard La Boheme, Holland Park, Belfiore in Verdi’s Un giorno di Regno at the Buxton Festival, Don Giovanni, ll Conte Almaviva and Patrocle in Iphigenie en Aulide for Glyndebourne Festival Opera and Suitor/Narrator in Babette’s feast for the Royal Opera in the Linbury.
 
For the English National Opera, Riccardo has sung Malatesta Don Pasquale,Papageno The Magic Flute, Schaunard La Boheme, Ygene in the worl premiere of Gavin Bryars Dr ox’s Experiment, Patrclus King Priam, Bill The Rise and fall of the city of Mahagonny, Pish-Tush The Mikado, and Figaro the barber of Seville.
 
Riccardo has recorded for EMI with Antonio Pappano and is also a regular guest on BBC 2’s Friday Night is Music Night.
 
Future engagements include Belcore L’elisir d’amore and Papageno The Magic flute for Opera North.

           

Gareth

Gareth Hancock

Pianist

Born in Worcester, Gareth graduated from Clare College, Cambridge with a BA (Hons) in Music and gained the Dip. RAM in piano accompaniment. He has subsequently worked as conductor, senior coach and repetiteur at Glyndebourne Festival and Touring opera, The Royal Opera, Convent Garden, English Natioonal Opera, Opera North, Opera de Lyon and English Touring Opera.
 
He has conducted Rigoletto, The Marriage of Figaro, The Barber of Seville, Rape of Lucretia, Don Giovanni, Misper and Apollo e Daphne.
 
He recently conducted the debut album for Alfie Boe for Classic fm/Sony BMG and Puccini highlights for the Chandos/Peter Moores Foundation opera in English series. He also worked as Musical Advisor and vocal coach on a film of The Magic Flute, directed by Kenneth Branagh.
 
As an accompanist Gareth has appeared at all the major London venues and throughout Europe and the USA. He has also broadcast on BBC Radio 3, Radio France and Classic fm.
 
Gareth was Head of Music for Savoy Opera and is Music Director for English Music Company. He is also on the coaching staff at the Royal Academy of Music.
 
Future work includes conducting Wiener Blut by J.Strauss ll, Eugene Onegin and Die Entfuhrung aus dem Serail for ETO.
 

 £50,000 promise fulfilled…

During the last 3 years of LIVE charity concerts Its Magic are proud to announce that they have raised £50,000 towards The Ashenground Community Centre Fund as promised.

This LIVE concert for charity was created and organised by Mr Tim French, Chairman for It's Magic Promotions in support of the local community centre in the Ashenground area of Haywards Heath. All cleared profits raised by the concert was donated to the fund set up to rebuild the centre, originally tendered at a cost of £600,000. Haywards Heath Town Council is supportive and the charity also has the backing of West Sussex County Council and Mid Sussex District Council as well as sponsorship from hugely supportive small local business in Mid Sussex.

For sponsorship opportunities please contact Clare T: 01444 255 134 contact us here