We are delighted to announce that Thomas Kinch will join San Francisco Opera’s prestigious Merola Opera Program this summer.
Thomas is currently an Associate Artist at Welsh National Opera where his roles have included First Armed Man in The Magic Flute and Vitek (cover) The Makropulos Affair.
We are delighted that mezzo soprano Wendy Dawn Thompson has joined our artist roster for general management. Wendy studied at the University of Wellington, Royal Northern College of Music and Royal College of Music. She is a former Dame Malvina Major Emerging Artist at New Zealand Opera, winner of the 2003 Kathleen Ferrier Award and in 2005 was a finalist at BBC Cardiff Singer of the World, representing New Zealand.
Her engaging performances in a wide-ranging repertoire have made her a favourite with both audiences and critics, whether she’s playing the role of Teresa Salieri in Amadeus at the National Theatre of Great Britain; Charlotte in Werther at Vilnius City Opera; or Magdalena in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg at the Edinburgh International Festival.
Ailish Tynan returns to the Royal Opera House in January and February 2023 in two much loved productions.
Firstly she will perform Erste Dame in Sir David McVicar’s classic production of Die Zauberflöte where she is joined by Harry Nicoll as Erster Priester. Ailish previously performed Papagena in this production in 2003 while she was a Vilar Young Artist.
She will then perform Berta in Il barbiere di Siviglia, a revival of the 2005 production by Moshe Leiser and Patrice Caurier.
We are delighted that baritone Mark Nathan has joined our artist roster for general management. Mark is a graduate Royal College of Music and Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, and a recent alumnus of the Emerging Artist Programme at Scottish Opera.
Recent highlights include his mainstage debut with Scottish Opera as Giuseppe The Gondoliers and Mr Goldbury Utopia Ltd; Hunter Rusalka, Guglielmo (OperaFirst) Così fan tutte and Herr von Faninal (cover) Der Rosenkavalier (Garsington Opera).
In the current season Mark made his debut with Welsh National Opera and Schaunard La bohème and later this season returns as Maximillian in a new production of Candide. Other appearances this season include Notary Der Rosenkavalier for Irish National Opera; and Le Dancaïre Carmen for Waterperry Opera Festival.
Ailish Tynan features on a new recording of Stephen Dodgson songs. The recording, Volume 1, The Peasant Poet, is released by SOMM Recordings on the eve of the 10th anniversary of Stephen Dodgson’s death in 2013. It is the first in a three-volume series devoted his rich and varied songs.
Dodgson: Volume 1, The Peasant Poet
Label: SOMM Recordings
Code: SOMMCD 0659
Release date: 18 November 2022
We are delighted that tenor Thomas Kinch has joined our artist roster for general management. Thomas is a graduate of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and is an Associate Artist for Welsh National Opera in the 2022/23 season. He is rapidly establishing himself as an exciting young performer.
He has participated in the Emerging Artists Programme at the Institute for Young Dramatic Voices, in Reno, where he has been mentored by Dolora Zajick and worked with coaches, directors, and teachers from the Metropolitan Opera, La Scala, and Deutsche Oper Berlin. Plans to work with Salvatore Fisichella in Sicily were cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
In the current season his roles for Welsh National opera include First Armed Man in The Magic Flute and Vitek (cover) The Makropulos Affair, with more roles to be announced.
Ailish Tynan will perform in a cultural event marking the centenary of the Civil War in Ireland. The event will be attended by the President Michael D Higgins, Taoiseach Micheál Martin and Tánaiste Leo Varadkar.
In a programme including traditional Irish and classical music, poetry and song, Ailish will perform the Lento e largo—Tranquillissimo from Górecki’s Symphony No. 3 (Symphony of Sorrowful Songs), with the National Symphony Orchestra, conducted by John Finucane.
The event can be watched on the RTÉ website.
Birmingham Opera’s production of Wagner’s Das Rheingold, or RhineGold will be available to watch on Opera Vision for 6 months from 9 September 2023.
The acclaimed production, directed by Richard Willacy and conducted by Alpesh Chauhan, features Felicity Buckland as Wellgunde, Gweneth Ann Rand as Erda and Keel Watson as Fasolt.
Llio Evans sings Y Fon Hon on this recording of 2117 / Hedd Wyn by Stephen McNeff and Gruff Rhys, commissioned by Welsh National Opera.
This Welsh-language opera is set in 2117, 200 years after the death, in the First World War trenches, of iconic Welsh bard Hedd Wyn. Following a nuclear disaster the drama instils a dystopian future with Welsh mythology and Hedd Wyn’s own verse.
McNeff: 2117 / Hedd Wyn
Label: Tŷ Cerdd
Code: TCR037
Release date: 5 August 2022
AbracadOpera! produced by English National Opera and Somethin’ Else TV Studio is designed to introduce young viewers to opera for the first time, this comedy-musical-drama unfolds as an epic adventure and features Nazan Fikret as Mozart’s Queen of the Night.
The show has been created as part of the nationwide learning programme Access All Arts Week, which provides free resources for teachers to take their classes on a week-long creative adventure.
Available from 10 June on Sky Kids and on the Sky Arts channel at 10am on 11 June.
Nazan Fikret will make her debut with Welsh National Opera next season as First Lady in a new production of The Magic Flute, directed by Daisy Evans.
After opening in Cardiff the production will tour through to the end of May for a total of 25 performances.
Nazan was to have performed Fiordiligi for WNO in the summer of 2020, but the production was unfortunately cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Neil Balfour will make his US debut next season with Portland Opera as Father/Judge/Reporter/Mastoi in Kamala Sankaram’s Opera Thumbprint, in a production directed by Omer Ben Seadia.
Commissioned for the PROTOTYPE Festival, Thumbprint was inspired by the true story of Mukhtar Mai, a young illiterate peasant who was gang-raped as retribution for an alleged ‘honor’ crime by her little brother and who became the first woman in Pakistan to bring her rapists to justice.
English National Opera has today announced its 2022/23 season featuring our artists in new productions and revivals at the London Coliseum.
It’s a Wonderful Life
Gweneth Ann Rand and Ronald Samm perform Mother Bailey and Uncle Billy Bailey in the UK premiere of Jake Heggie’s operatic adaptation of the genre-defining Frank Capra film of the same name – directed by Aletta Collins and conducted by Nicole Paiement.
Carmen
Keel Watson performs Zuniga in Calixto Bieito’s classical production. This revival is directed by Jamie Manton and conducted by Kerem Hasan.
Akhnaten
Felicity Buckland and Keel Watson perform Daughter 4 and Aye in Phellim McDermott’s acclaimed production, conducted by Karen Kamensek.
Blue
Ronald Samm performs The Reverend in the UK premiere of Blue, by the acclaimed Tony Award-winning composer Jeanine Tesori – directed by Tinuke Craig and conducted by Matthew Kofi Waldren.
The Royal Opera House, Covent Garden has today announced its 2022/23 season featuring our artists.
La bohème
Wyn Pencarreg performs Alcindoro in Richard Jones’ production, with performances conducted by Kevin John Edusei and Evelino Pidò.
Die Zauberflöte
Ailish Tynan performs First Lady and Harry Nicoll performs First Priest in this revival of Sir David McVicar’s classic production, conducted by Maxim Emelyanychev.
Il barbiere di Siviglia
Ailish Tynan performs Berta in Il barbiere di Siviglia, a revival of the 2005 production by Moshe Leiser and Patrice Caurier, conducted by Rafael Payere.
We are delighted that South African tenor Monwabisi Lindi has joined our artist roster for general management. Monwabisi was born in Port Elizabeth, South Africa where he studied with Pierre du Toit at the Tshwane University of Technology. He is currently studying at the National Opera Studio and is supported by donors to the NOS, the Drake Calleja Trust and the Hampstead Garden Opera singers bursary.
He made his UK debut as Rodolfo in Puccini’s La bohème for Hampstead Garden Opera, in a fully staged new production by award winning director Daisy Evans. It was these acclaimed performances that brought him to the attention of to several UK opera companies, and his application to the National Opera Studio was supported by the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.
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