An Evening At The Opera, 25/11/2007
Photos courtesy of picsnapper.co.uk REVIEW
Sunday 25th November 7pm 2007
Sorry, if you missed this concert...
£1000 raised in support of the Princess Royal Hospital Maternity Unit Campaign
With a wide range of vocal and musical talent in what was another unique evening full of outstanding performances by sought after performers, everyone went home alive with the magic of the music, with smiling faces and warm hearts…just the thing to warm us all up for Christmas! This was a rare opportunity to hear outstanding international vocals by Nicholas Ransley, Tenor , Jo Appleby, Louise Armit & Riccardo Simonetti, accompanied on piano by accomplished conductor and music director Gareth Hancock. Pavlos Carvalho played a unique classical tango arrangement on cello accompanied by Jakob Fichert. This was a treat only seen by this small audience, with numbers restricted according to capacity, lucky ticket holders enjoyed a warm setting with a unique accoustic sound that rang out up into the arches of this beautiful church.
Nicholas Ransley & Jo Appleby
£1000 will be donated to:
Support the Princess Royal Hospital maternity unit campaign
THANK YOU TO EVERYONE for your huge amount of support, this was another unique evening of outstanding performances, everyone went home very impressed with smiling faces and warm hearts…just the thing to warm us up for Christmas!
Nicholas Ransley Jo Appleby Louise Armit Riccardo Simonetti Gareth
Tenor Soprano Mezzo Soprano Baritone Hancock
Pianist
Cellist: Pavlos Carvalho
Nic Ransley- Tenor
He melted the heart of Haywards Heath in 2006 when he appeared alongside stunning international soprano, Katherine Jenkins in the park.
Nicholas Ransley returned to perform in the heart of Haywards Heath, this time performing to a small local crowd as part of this unique evening of opera.
http://www.nicholasransley.com/pages/reviews.html
This was a rare opportunity to hear Nicholas perform alongside high profile soloists and musicians; Gareth Hancock, Jo Appleby,Louise Armit & Riccardo Simonetti. With numbers restricted according to capacity. Lucky ticket holders enjoyed a warm setting with a unique accoustic sound that bounced across the arches of the church.
Jo Appleby - Soprano
Jo hails from Thornton , Lancashire . She studied at the Royal Northern College of Music graduating with Bmus hons.
Jo spent four years with the Glyndebourne Festival Chorus where she understudied the role of Jano in “Jenufa”. She has also sung with Carl Rosa opera (Phyllis,“Iolanthe”), Diva Opera (Ida,“Die Fledemaus”), London
In 2002 Jo was signed by Sony BMG as an original member of the classical group “Amici Forever” recording two multi Platinum selling albums. She has enjoyed success internationally and has performed in prestigious venues including the Sydney Opera House, Windsor Castle (for HRH The Prince of Wales), The Queen Elizabeth Hall, The Royal Albert Hall, (for the Queen and Prince Philip), Wembley Stadium, Cardiff Millennium Stadium and the state Opera House in Kiev. Jo also features on the debut album of Sony BMG artist Joseph Mc Manners.
During her travels Jo has been lucky enough to rub shoulders with great artists from both the opera and Pop world. She has drawn a great deal of inspiration from watching the hard work and dedication that goes into the performances of Dame Shirley Bassey, Sir Cliff Richard, Renee Fleming, Bryn Terfel and tenor, Daniil Shtoda.
Since her departure from Amici Jo has returned to her classical roots touring Australia , Dubai and New Zealand Rochester
She is currently involved in UK
Jo is always thrilled to perform in her now home town of Haywards Heath
www.myspace.com/joappleby
Louise Armit - Mezzo Soprano
Louise Armit studies at the Royal Northern college of Music. She made her operatic debut singing the role of Doubt in the world premier of Bertwistle’s “ The second Mrs Kong” at Glyndebourne, where subsequent roles include Olga, ( Eugene Onegin), Zweiter Dame (Die Zaubeflote), Cherubino ( Le Nozze di figaro), Tisbe ( La Cenerentola) and Cretian woman ( Idomeneo).
Louise has also worked for English National Opera, Scotish Opera, Wexford Festival Opera, Garsington and Diva Opera in Japan where roles include Hansel, Dorabella (Cosi fan tutti), Nancy (Albert Herring), Mercedes (Carmen) and Amor (Orfeo ed Euridice).
Louise performs regularly in concert throughout the Uk and is the recipient of several major awards and scholarships. She is currently a member of the Royal Opera House.
Louise gets frustrated that Puccini didn’t really write anything for Mezzo-sopranos, as she loves his operas! Her dream is to sing Madama Butterfly (as well as Mirella Freni!!)
Riccardo Simonetti - Baritone
Born in Lancashire, Riccardo Simonetti studied at the Royal Northern College of Music where he won the prestigious Anne Zieger / Esso Award.
His Operatic roles include Albert Werther and Count Almaviva The marriage of Figaro for English Touring Opera, Ping Tuarandot in Nice, Sharpless Madame Butterfly and Marcello La Boheme, Lyric Opera Dublin, Eddy in Mark-Anthony Turnage’s Greek for the London Sinfonletta, Marullo Rigoletto in Amsterdam,Rodimarte in Scaratti’s ii Trionfo dell ‘onore for La Monnaie, Pish-Tush The Milkado, Gran Teatro La Penice, Venice, Figaro ii barblere di Siviglla for Welsh National Opera, Schaunard La Boheme, Holland Park, Belfiore in Vardi’s Un giorno di Regno at the Buxton Festival, Don Giavanni, ii Conte Amaviva and Patrocle in the Royal Opera in the Linbury and Belcore L’elisir d’amore, Papageno, The Magic Flute for Opera North.
For the English National Opera, Riccardo has sung Malatesta Don Pasquale, Papageno The Magic Flute, Schaunard La Boheme, Ygene in the world premiere of Gavin Bryers Dr Mahagonny , Pish-Tush The Mikado, and Figaro The barber of Seville
Riccardo has recorded for EMI with Antonio Pappano and is also a regular on BBC 2’s Friday Night is Music Night.
Future engagements include Don Giovanni in Ireland and a proms debut at the Royal Albert Hall.
Gareth Hancock - Pianist
Born in Worcester Clare College Cambridge 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
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 Europe and the USA
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 plans for Gareth include conducting Madame Butterfly for Opera North.
He is also due to release a CD of works for Cello and Piano later this year.
Pavlos Carvalho - Cellist
Pavlos Carvalho studied cello with his father Santiago and then Stephen Popov before going to the Royal College of Music (RCM) to study with Steven Doane and, later, Jerome Pernoo. There, supported by a scholarship from the RCM and the Countess of Munster Trust, he graduated with distinction in solo and chamber music performance. He continued at the RCM as a Junior Fellow and is currently assistant teacher of cello to Jerome Pernoo.
Pavlos appears regularly as a soloist and chamber musician in the UK and abroad with a wide-ranging repertoire from baroque through to twentieth century music. He has won numerous prizes, including the Koblenz Chamber Music competition in Germany, the International Taneev competition in Russia and the Tunnell Trust in Scotland – with Trio Belle Epoque. He also performs regularly with the LPO Chamber Ensemble.
Pavlos has also taken part in many master classes, including a BBC televised class given by Lynn Harrell and the Manchester Cello Festival with Janos Starker. He performs regularly with the LPO Chamber Ensemble.
A large part of Pavlos’ musical life is dedicated to outreach work and was a member of the Live Music Now! scheme, for whom he now mentors new groups.
Guest Pianist: JAKOB FICHERT
Photo not provided
Jakob Fichert is a very sought after performer playing solo and chamber music recitals in the UK, Germany, Italy and other European countries. He studied at the Musikhochschule Karlsruhe with Wolfgang Manz, graduating with distinction before undertaking a postgraduate course at the Royal College of Music (RCM), studying with Yonty Solomon.
He obtained a Masters Degree in Chamber Music and stayed on as a Junior Fellow at the RCM until 2003. Jakob has won numerous prizes at international competitions both as a soloist and chamber musician. These include the Valentino Bucchi International Piano Competition for 20th century music in Rome, the Liza Fuchsowa Memorial Prize at the Royal-Over-Seas-League – best chamber music pianist, and the International Taneev Chamber Music Competition in Kaluga and Moscow – with Trio Belle Epoque.
As a performer of 20th century and contemporary music, Jakob has been very successful both in the UK and in Germany. He has performed recitals at the Schleswig-Holstein Musikfestival, played under Peter Eötvös in Karlsruhe and premiered a piano trio by Dai Fujikura at the Purcell Room. He also performed Bartok’s 3rd piano concerto with the RCM Symphony Orchestra under Christopher Adey.
He has made live broadcasts on BBC Radio 3 as well as Hungarian and German radio stations.
Jakob’s wide ranging experience in educational work includes Live Music Now! a scheme founded by Yehudi Menuhin, and workshops for GCSE and A-Level students.
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