And So Forth

London Launch

4 June 2015

Welcome

To say I am thrilled to be writing a Welcome

message for the programme of And So Forth's

launch event is a vast understatement. Of course, I

am: thrilled to be writing it, thrilled to be welcoming

you, and thrilled that after months of planning we

are at last able to introduce you to our extraordinary

team of artists, to our collaborative work currently in

development, to our plans for the future, and to the

ethos and approach towards making art that we

have already begun to foster.

And So Forth, you will read in our official blurb online

and elsewhere, is a new opera and theatre

company dedicated to interdisciplinary collaboration between exceptional

emerging artists. Collaboration, for us, is more than just a gimmick; we don't use the

word 'interdisciplinary' because it's trendy. We believe that by working together in

an environment of mutual support, with colleagues specialising in other artistic

areas, our collective and individual practices will be challenged and ultimately

strengthened. We believe that by sharing practice we can bridge critical gaps

between creative industries. We believe that in today's climate, emerging artists

need all the support they can get, especially from one another. This evening's

programme is designed not only to give an insight into our work, but also the way in

which we work. For more information about all of tonight's pieces, please see the

Future Projects section in the central pages.

We are as committed to showcasing our artists as we are to providing a platform

for their future development and growth. Our team already boasts some of the

most promising young artists in their respective crafts: playwriting, composition,

performance, design, movement, conducting, directing, stage management,

producing, workshop facilitation and photography. You can read their impressive

biographies in this programme, and we hope you will feel free to approach our

members at the interval to find out more about their work. Tonight we also invite

you to invest in our artists, by becoming a friend or sponsor, or by considering

offering your time as a mentor to a member of the team. For more information,

please refer to the ASF Friends' information insert or come and speak to us.

Thank you for supporting our artists through your presence here, at our launch. We

hope you enjoy the evening, and that we will see you again at future events.

Laura Attridge, Artistic Director, And So Forth

And So Forth: Core Team

Laura Attridge, Artistic Director, Director & Writer

Laura Attridge is a young director and writer of opera and theatre, with a passion for

collaborative creative work. Since obtaining First Class Honours in English Literature from

Newcastle University and a Graduate Diploma in Vocal Performance from the Royal College

of Music (RCM), Laura has been an Assistant Director with Opera Holland Park, British Youth

Opera and the Royal Academy of Music. She has also recently directed for a number of

theatre companies championing new writing: Theatre Renegade for Courting Drama

(Southwark Playhouse), Paperback Pictures for A Foot In The Door (Arts Theatre) and The

Pensive Federation for their Collective Project (Camden People’s Theatre) and Significant

Other Festival (Tristan Bates Theatre). This summer, Laura will be directing La Boheme for

Opera Loki’s France/UK tour and assisting at Blackheath Halls Opera. As a writer, Laura has

had poetry published in prestigious magazines and zines, including The Rialto and Mslexia.

She is a graduate of The Writing Squad, a development programme for young writers in the

North East, affording her opportunities to work with writers including Peter and Ann Sansom,

Frances Leviston, Simon Armitage and Toby Martinez de las Rivas. Laura collaborates regularly

with composers, providing text for song and opera. Her first short opera, Now, written with

Lewis Murphy, premiered at the RCM in 2014, in association with Tête-à-Tête Festival. May

2015 saw a site-specific song cycle of Laura’s, The Avian Eye, written in collaboration with

composers Mari Sainio and Benjamien Lycke, premiered at the National Gallery.

@laura_attridge & www.lauraattridge.com

Richard Walls, Writer

Richard is a Coventry-born writer and performer currently attached to the

2015 Birmingham Rep Foundry programme. His play, ‘Clubmartyr’, won the

Judge’s Award at the 2014 Coventry Shoot Festival whilst his play, ‘Urban

Legend’, was shortlisted for the Play for the Nation’s Youth Award. His play,

‘Powder’ was commissioned and produced by Theatre Absolute in 2013.

After graduating with a BA in Theatre and Performance (University of

Warwick, 2010) he was assistant to artistic director Peter Flynn at the Hangar

Theatre in Ithaca, New York before completing an artistic apprenticeship

with Theatre Absolute’s artistic director/writer Chris O’Connell upon his return home. He went

on to study for an MA in Writing for Performance (Goldsmiths College, 2013) before

graduating from both the Brockley Jack Writers’ Workshop and the Lyric Hammersmith Young

Writers’ Programme.

@Richard_Walls & www.richardwalls.co.uk

Danielle Winter, Actor

Actor Danielle Winter graduated from Bristol Old Vic Theatre School in 2013,

and has since performed in a wide variety of shows across the UK, including

many exciting new writing projects. She is also a freelance Workshop

Facilitator and delivers drama-based workshops on a range of topics for

schools. Danielle is dedicated to making exciting new work that celebrates

young talent, creativity, and is developed alongside local communities and

the current issues they face. Danielle also has a keen interest in Literature,

having studied English Language and Literature at Newcastle University.

Celebrating classical texts with fresh and faithful productions is something Danielle is

particularly passionate about. Danielle has worked with the Cheltenham Everyman, where

she played the leading role of Gina in Alice Jolly’s new play Before The Fire Burns Out, a show

involving puppetry and Romany folk music. In summer 2014, Danielle worked with Pentabus

Rural Theatre Company on their Young Writer’s Festival rehearsing and staging eight new

plays in just three weeks. As well as theatre Danielle has also appeared alongside Phill Jupitus

in CITV’s hit children’s series Bottom Knocker Street as The Good Fairy, Winifred the Witch, and

Agent 9.

@DanielleCWinter

Elizabeth Bacon, Outreach

Elizabeth is a theatre and movement facilitator, director, project manager

and producer working in professional and participatory settings. She loves

bringing people from different parts of society together through the arts to

create, discuss, debate and learn from one another. Anything that helps to

build communities and provides more access to high-quality arts for more

people, she is there. As a theatre maker, Elizabeth is happiest when working

with artists from different settings, with different experiences and

backgrounds coming together to make something that is richer, more

exciting, challenging and entertaining than the sum of its parts.

Elizabeth started out by studying Theatre Facilitation at Royal Central School of Speech &

Drama and English Literature at Newcastle University. Since then, as a facilitator and director

she has worked with Only Connect, the Almeida Theatre, Polka Theatre and the Finborough

Theatre. As a Producer and Project Manager she has worked for the Barbican Centre,

Guildhall School of Music & Drama, Spitalfields Music and a new writing project, Script Club

and have taken shows to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

@lyzbacon & www.elizabethbacon.co.uk

Lewis Murphy, Composer

Lewis is a Scottish composer and arranger. What motivates him as an artist is

the desire to create work that has a powerful sense of focus and in which

there is room for the performer to make important expressive decisions. Lewis

believes that collaboration is an essential part of the creative process. When

considering different perspectives on a piece of work, horizons are

broadened and the essential idea behind the work becomes something

that is no longer bound by the imagination of any one artist.

Lewis studied for four years at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (formerly Royal Scottish

Academy of Music and Drama), and he is currently continuing his studies with a Master's in

composition with Mark-Anthony Turnage at the Royal College of Music, London. His work has

been performed across the UK and abroad, by such highly esteemed ensembles and soloists

as Ensemble l'Itinéraire, orkest de Ereprijs, Red Note Ensemble and Richard Craig. Lewis' first

opera, 'Now', written in collaboration with Laura Attridge, was premiered last year at the

Royal College of Music, in association with Tête-à-Tête Festival. His first major orchestral work,

'One', was premiered by the East Renfrewshire Schools Symphony Orchestra at the Glasgow

Royal Concert Hall in November 2014. In December 2014, he was appointed Young

Composer in Residence at Glyndebourne for 2015-17.

@lewis_c_murphy & www.lewismurphy.com

Imogen Burgess, Producer

Imogen is a Creative Producer and Assistant Director with a passion for

making the classical arts accessible, relevant and exciting to all. Imogen

studied Music at King’s College London with Spanish and Classical

Civilisation, Vocal Studies at the Royal Academy of Music with Diane Forlano

and Nicholas Clapton, and Music in Development at SOAS. She has sung in

productions of Aïda, La Traviata, Carmen, Queen of Spades, Don Giovanni,

Iolanta and The Bartered Bride and now studies singing with Bryan Husband.

And So Forth has been kindly supported by:

We would also like to express our thanks to the many people who have assisted and

encouraged us so far, including: All those who have made kind donations to our raffle, including Pact Coffee;

St James’s Church (Sussex Gardens); Guy & Diane Lee; Chris Schlechte-Bond;

City Hope Church (Bermondsey); David King at St Gabriel's Hall; Paperback Pictures.

As a producer Imogen has created productions including Die Zauberflöte (King’s College

Chapel), The Beggar’s Opera (Brixton Jamm), Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny (Tutu’s

Nightclub), A Soldier’s Tale and Renard (The Bloomsbury Theatre) and Toi Toi Festival 2015 – a

Modern Opera Club Night (The CLF Arts Centre, Bussey Building). She has also assistant

directed for Christopher Cowell at The Royal Academy of Music and for Helios Collective and

Constella Ballet and Orchestra with Ella Marchment.

Her future work includes producing Toi Toi Summer and Winter 2015 for Helios Collective and

in 2016 producing a Brazilian Ballet Triple Bill with Constella Ballet and Orchestra, for which she

has commissioned a new ballet by Brazilian composer Leonardo Margutti and choreography

to Villa Lobos Choros. Imogen most enjoys creating collaborative productions, involving

dance, music, theatre and innovative set, lighting and costume design to create an

immersive experience for the audience. She believes that the more the audience can

become involved in the performance, the more they can understand, learn and be

influenced by it to change their preconceptions of the themes explored and appreciate the

unique creativity of collaborating artists.

@imogenrose1

Christine Lee, Assistant Producer & Treasurer

Christine is a freelance theatre producer with a passion for enabling

excellent artists to create provoking work. All her current projects involve

exciting emerging artists developing new writing, often seeking to refresh the

voice given to women in theatre. Christine enjoys bringing strategic

overview to teams, so her passion for collaborative and inter-disciplinary

work comes from wanting to facilitate each individual's strengths for the

benefit of the overall work. With connections across the UK, Christine is also

keen to encourage regional theatre and hopes to create opportunities for And So Forth to

perform beyond London.

Christine is a chartered accountant (ACA) and prior to becoming a theatre producer worked

for Deloitte LLP in Newcastle, Glasgow and London where she gained over five years'

experience providing consultancy and tax advice to a variety of organisations, specialising in

not for profit organisations. Since relocating to the creative sector, she has also trained with

the Stage One new producers' workshops.

@ChrisRuthLee

And So Forth: Associate Artists

Adam Drew, Actor

Adam is an actor, writer and singer, interested in the strangeness of the

mind, its expression and manipulation through language, music and

performance. Adam performed in plays through school and at Cambridge,

where he read Classics, and appeared in Footlights and Marlowe

Society productions. He made his professional debut playing Spitfire

pilot George Beurling in US TV series Air Aces. He has performed at the

Young Vic, The Southwark Playhouse and the Bristol Old Vic.

Adam writes lyrics and sings in the satirical jazz duo, Bounder & Cad, which made its London

debut entertaining the PM, and will give its debut solo show at The Crazy Coqs cabaret,

Brasserie Zedel, Piccadilly, on June 21st at 7pm. (Do come!) He wrote and produced his first

short film, Loopy, last year as the winner of the Roundhouse Online Film Fund. This year he is

developing a feature project, as the winner of a bursary at the Screen Arts Institute at the BFI.

@Mr_Adam_Drew

Victoria Longdon, Conductor

Tori is a choral conductor studying for a masters in Choral Conducting at the

Royal Academy of Music. She currently directs the Templar Scholars

(www.templar-scholars.com) and several other choirs who have performed

in venues such as the Royal Albert Hall, the Wigmore Hall and Wembley

Arena. She is assistant director for the London Youth Choir and is looking

forward to taking up the post of Director of Music at St John at Hackney in

London in the near future.

Tori works regularly with the National Youth Choirs of Great Britain and the Ulster Youth

Training Choir and recently travelled to Poland to coach the sopranos of the National Youth

Choir of Poland. This summer she looks forward to trips to Shanghai, Germany and Ireland.

@tori_longdon

Joanna Goodman, Designer

Joanna is a London based set designer, making work based around finding

new ways of story-telling through a visual universe. She works a lot through

collaboration, and finds working within a collaborative setting extremely

enriching; by sharing, debating and bouncing ideas with others the result

can be much richer and more exiting. Since graduating with First Class

Honours in Performance Design and Practice from Central St Martins,

University of the Arts London, Joanna has been developing her skills on sets

for editorial magazines, window displays, installations, exhibitions, dance

pieces and performances.

Joanna has been responsible for projects including: collaboration with the composer Naama

Zisser to design a new piece commissioned by the Barbican and London Symphony

Orchestra; designing the award-winning exhibition stand for the Best of Britannia event,

showcasing eight fashion designers; set design for productions by Belgian choreographer

Tara Saclier d'Arquian to be produced in London theatres. Joanna is hungry to discover new

methods and techniques. She is immensely passionate about what she does, and thrives on

new challenges.

Instagram: @jgdmn

Marianne Chua, Photographer

Marianne is a London-based photographer, specialising in capturing raw

emotions and natural documentary at a range of private and public events.

Marianne is relishing the opportunity to do collaborative work with the

talented artists and creatives of And So Forth; she thinks taking inspiration

from a range of sources will help her expand her own creative vision and

style. Marianne owns her own photography business and she has shot for the

likes of Lomography and Secret Cinema. She has also been awarded an

excellence award from Wedding Photography Select and been recognised by various blogs

as one of the top creative wedding photographers in the UK.

@savethemarianne & www.mariannechua.com

Niamh McKernan, Movement coach

Niamh is a movement director and movement teacher for actors and opera

singers. She likes to make collaborative immersive theatre work that

challenges the audience/performer relationship, as well as the traditional

hierarchical dynamic both of how performances are made and how the

components of a performance are put together. Collaborative theatre-

making and interdisciplinary work challenges her to continuously question

what she knows and allows her to find better solutions in the company of

many great minds and bodies. Niamh trained in collaborative practice and theatre making

at LISPA in London as well as in movement training for actors at Guildhall School of Music and

Drama. Niamh is currently working at the Royal Academy of Music as well as the Danish Royal

Ballet. Previous engagements have included Trinity College Dublin, The Barbican Centre and

the London Method class. Niamh runs a monthly class for performers at Chisenhale dance

that includes movement for actors, meditation and yoga.

Mark Austin, Conductor

Mark Austin is a conductor who lives to bring great music to life. In order to

find fresh ears to be able to listen well in our noisy world, Mark feels it is our

responsibility as musicians to explore music and its context as deeply as

possible in order to present it to audiences. He believes collaboration with

new artists and disciplines is the best way to gain understanding, to emerge

invigorated as a result of this work. After studies at Cambridge University and

the Royal Academy of Music Mark was appointed Shinn Fellow at the latter, and is now a

member of staff. He has worked as an assistant conductor with Sir Colin Davis, Sir Mark Elder

and Marin Alsop. He is currently Artistic Director of the Faust Ensemble and Music Director of

Opera South. His previous opera conducting engagements include Le Comte Ory (Opera

South), Il barbiere di Siviglia (Musique Cordiale International Festival), La traviata (Opera

South), Hansel and Gretel (Mercury Theatre, Colchester) and Tosca (Musique Cordiale

International Festival). As an orchestral conductor Mark has appeared with the Orchestra of

St John's Smith Square, Faust Ensemble, Hertford Symphony Orchestra and Two Moors Festival

Ensemble. As a pianist, Mark has performed in venues including St John's Smith Square, St

Martin's-in-the-Fields, Wigmore Hall, Colston Hall, Kings Place, Opéra National de Paris and

Shanghai Oriental Arts Centre.

@mark_aus_tin & www.mark-austin.net

Anni Butler, Stage Manager

Anni works in Stage Management with a focus on the role of Assistant Stage

Manager as she has a particular interest in found objects and props. She is

also currently taking on the role of 1st Assistant Director and exploring roles

within film. Anni is interested in site-specific performance: it transforms a

space you would have never considered to have that kind of potential

before. This can additionally affect the connection between audience and

performer, potentially blurring the lines between them. Collaborative or interdisciplinary work

is, for Anni, the future of theatre and opera; it stretches the minds of everybody involved and

gives real energy to a performance. It attracts innovative people to the piece who are a real

joy to work with and learn from. Anni is currently a student on the Technical Theatre and

Stage Management course at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (2013-2015), and

previously received a BA in Devised Theatre from Dartington College of Arts. She has worked

with British Youth Opera, Treehouse Theatre, Play It Again Theatre and Theatre Hullabaloo.

Cassie Adey, Stage Manager

Training in Technical Theatre, her particular focus is Stage Management

whilst additionally enjoying the interdisciplinary roles of Deputy Stage

Manager and Assistant Stage Manager and First Assistant Director. She is

most enthusiastic about projects that leave an audience questioning ideas

and pre-conceptions, which leave a mark of inspiration. Particularly

focusing on sexual and racial equality within the arts. Cassie couldn’t be

keener to develop the relationship and collaboration between the different

artistic disciplines. She feels that the potential to explore this as an artistic platform has

incredible opportunities and is wonderfully accessible. Cassie is currently completing her

training at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. She has previously worked with RADA, the

British Youth Opera, the Royal Shakespeare Company and Northampton University.

Katie Coventry, Mezzo-soprano

Katie is a mezzo-soprano from Perthshire and is currently studying at the

Royal College of Music with Tim Evans-Jones. Katie has a wide range of

interests, from the Baroque through to the contemporary. She especially

enjoys working on new and innovative projects and is therefore very excited

to be working with And So Forth and collaborating with different artists across

the industry. Katie is currently studying for a Masters in Performance at the

RCM and looks forward to continuing her studies as a member of the Opera

School in September. She is an RCM Scholar generously supported by a

South Square Trust Award, a Douglas and Hilda Simmonds Award, a Sir James Caird Travelling

Scholarship Award and the Josephine Baker Trust. Katie has a Graduate Diploma from the

RCM and 1st Class Honours in History and Music from Royal Holloway, University of London.

Recent roles include Zweiter Knabe, Die Zauberflöte and L’Écureuil and La Chatte in

Ravel’s L’enfant et les sortilèges (RCMIOS), 3rd Singing Apple (BYO), Hänsel, Hänsel and

Gretel, Le Prince Charmant, Cendrillon (Opera Holloway) and Stephano,Roméo et

Juliette (Opera Bearwood). In scenes Katie has performed the roles of Cenerentola, Didone,

Dorabella, Nancy and Tisbe, created the role of The Reader for Josephine Stephenson’s

chamber opera, On False Perspective as part of RCM ‘Hogarth’s Stages’ and was female

cover for Iain Burnside's Journeying Boys.

@Katie_Coventry & www.katiecoventry.com

Claire Harris, Accompanist

Claire Harris is in her second year of a Masters of Performance in Piano

Accompaniment at the Royal College of music, studying with Simon Lepper

and Elizabeth Burley. She is an RCM Scholar, generously supported by a John

and Marjorie Coultate Award and a Soirée d'Or Award. She is also supported

by a Post-graduate fellowship from the New Zealand Federation of

Graduate Women. Claire is a graduate of the New Zealand School of Music,

where she studied with Diedre Irons and received the school's Pianoforte

Performance prize. She was recently awarded the Help Musicians UK

Accompanist Prize as part of the Maggie Teyte and Licette Award. Claire

has performed widely as an accompanist, chamber musician and soloist, with a particular

interest in contemporary music and collaborating with composers.

And So Forth: Future Projects

Damsel/Wife/Witch

Our inaugural show, Damsel/Wife/Witch, is a three-hander for two actors and

mezzo-soprano co-written by playwright Richard Walls, librettist Laura Attridge and

composer Lewis Murphy. The piece explores 21st Century gender expectations

through fairy tale, and will be premiering 15th-18th September at the atmospheric

Chapel of Asylum London, in Peckham.

Our programme this evening includes an extract from the script of

Damsel/Wife/Witch, which is currently in development. We're excited to be sharing

the piece with you at this stage, performed by the actors who are creating the

roles, and welcome your reactions and feedback as we continue to redraft the

piece.

Also featured tonight are the results of our recent Song Cycle Project. Seven hand-

picked partnerships of brilliant emerging composers and singers were each

assigned a text from the songs that form the backbone of Damsel/Wife/Witch, to

respond with the support of ASF and create a unique song cycle written especially

for this launch event.

Now

In 2014, Now, by Lewis Murphy and Laura Attridge, premiered as part of 'Hogarth's

Stages', a festival of new 15-minute operas curated by the Royal College of Music

in association with Tête à Tête Festival. The piece was directed by Bill Bankes-Jones

and conducted by Tim Murray.

Now is currently being developed into a full chamber opera for 2016, with the

support of Tête à Tête. We're delighted to be offering a concert performance of

the piece this evening, performed by the singers who originally premiered the

opera last year.

Q&As

As part of our commitment to outreach and artist development, August will see the

launch of a series of public Q&A events held Above The Arts, in the heart of the

West End. Industry professionals from different disciplines will be featured in

conversation with their ASF counterparts in an informal setting.

If you are interested in being a part of our Q&A series, please contact us!

Workshops

This autumn ASF will be trialling a series of workshops for singers and actors to share

practice about their craft as performers, their approach to the rehearsal room and

stage, and their place within the opera and theatre industries.

And more...!

To keep up to date please visit our new website www.asfp.uk, follow us on Twitter

@AndSoForth_ or Facebook (AndSoForthProductions) and join the conversation!

And So Forth: London Launch Evening Programme

Damsel/Wife/Witch Text: Laura Attridge

Song Cycle Project Accompanist: Claire Harris

Stepmother

Composer: James Ball Mezzo-Soprano: Katherine Aitken

Wolf

Composer: Griffin Candey Soprano: Jenny Stafford

First Blood

Composer: Kevin Penkin Soprano: Rebecca Hardwick

Skin

Composer: Martin Scheuregger Soprano: Gemma Summerfield

Horizon

Composer: Alex Paxton Mezzo-Soprano: Claire Barnett-Jones

Beast

Composer: Rose Hall Soprano: Anna Sideris

Widow

Composer: Christopher Schlechte-Bond Mezzo-Soprano: Rozanna Madylus

Composer Q&A ASF Composer in Residence, Lewis Murphy, in conversation with some of our song cycle composers

INTERVAL

Damsel/Wife/Witch

Script Extract Writers: Richard Walls, Laura Attridge Director: Laura Attridge Assistant Director: Imogen Burgess Her: Danielle Winter Him: Adam Drew

Now Concert Performance

Music: Lewis Murphy Libretto: Laura Attridge Conductor: Victoria Longdon Accompanist: Claire Harris Alice: Rose Stachniewska Sarah: Charlotte Howes Ruby: Laure Poissonnier Tim: William Wallace Rupert: James Davies

@AndSoForth_

#ASFLondonLaunch

Damsel/Wife/Witch:

Song Cycle: Composers

James Ball

James graduated from the University of York with a BA (Hons) in Music. His first musical Red

Snow was work-shopped in Reading and fully staged in York. James’ second show The Cream

Tea Conspiracy was written for the Goldsmiths festival of Olympic musicals, and revived at

the Jermyn Street Theatre in 2013, directed my Tim McArthur. His current project, Bang Out Of

Line, has been workshopped in Guildford and in London (Tristan Bates). It is a radical re-

imagining of Shakespeare's Othello, set in modern-day Manchester. His credits as a Musical

Director include Rent, Company, and The Blues Brothers – Live! He has directed his own

musical Red Snow, as well as York Music Department’s production of Bernstein’s Wonderful

Town with a cast, band and crew of over one hundred students. James teaches piano,

singing, and music theory across South East London, and at the American Musical Theatre

Academy. He is pursuing a PhD at Goldsmiths, exploring how Stephen Sondheim's work might

be viewed as postmodern.

@jr_ball & jamesrobertball.com

Griffin Candey

Griffin Candey (b. 1988) is an American composer dutifully committed to creating vocal and

theatrical works (opera, ballet, and song) that approach contentious subjects in meaningful

ways and help to preserve these forms for future generations. Candey's latest opera, Sweets

by Kate, will premiere with the Midwest Institute of Opera in July 2015, with subsequent

performances at Opera America's National Opera Center in New York City and at Knoxville's

Marble City Opera. A variety of his song cycles and chamber works are scheduled to

premiere throughout both 2015 and 2016 on recitals in Michigan and Illinois, and his newest

original opera-ballet will premiere in conjunction with the dance department at Northern

Michigan University in April 2016. He was recently awarded first prize in the first annual Words

& Music, Inc. Composition Competition. A Michigan native, Candey received both of his

degrees in vocal music performance (Michigan State University, BM '07, and the University of

Illinois, MM '11.) Candey is the student of the London-based composer Iain Bell.

@griffincandey & griffincandey.com

Kevin Penkin

Kevin debuted at the age of 18, collaborating on a Japanese video game with legendary

Final Fantasy Series composer Nobuo Uematsu. The collaboration proved to be so successful

Kevin has now been in involved with Uematsu on 4 different video game projects. He won

Development & Rehearsals #DamselWifeWitch

"Outstanding Achievement for a Vocal Theme" at the 2013 Annual Video Game Music

Awards for his song "I Race the Dawn", and was nominated for the 2012 Annual Game Music

Awards held by Square Enix Music Online under the "Outstanding Achievement: Newcomer"

category for his work on his debut project "Jyuzaengi Engetsu Sangokuden". Recent projects

have seen Kevin compose for the RAYARK game “IMPLOSION” and for the Kickstarter

campaign “Project Phoenix”, which was listed as one of ClassicFM.com's "12 Video Game

Soundtracks you have to hear in 2014". Kevin is now also involved in the Japanese sci-fi

animation “Under the Dog”, produced by Kinema Citrus in Tokyo, Japan which will be

released in 2016. Kevin is currently completing a Masters in Composition for Screen at the

Royal College of Music.

@kevinpenkin & www.kpenkmusic.com

Martin Scheuregger

Martin Scheuregger is a composer based in the North of England. He is Composer-in-

Residence at the British Music Collection and Doctoral Fellow of the Humanities Research

Centre. He recently completed a PhD in music at the University of York funded by the AHRC.

His music has been played across the UK, in Australia, Holland, Germany and Hong Kong and

featured at the Gaudeamus Festival, Late Music, and York Spring Festival. The Four Last Things

was performed at the Wednesdays at the Forge series in London earlier this year, and has

recently been recorded by Dark Inventions for a CD release in association with University of

York Music Press. UYMP will also publish the work. Dark Inventions have also recorded Black

Swans on their first album, ‘Hinterland’. He is currently writing a substantial work for CHROMA,

to be performed in London and Huddersfield in November 2015. His work for violin and piano,

In that solitude, is on the long list for the 2015 Creative Responses to Modernism competition.

@scheuregger & www.scheuregger.co.uk

Alex Paxton

Alex Paxton is a prolific composer, his writing is quirky, furious and has a wide range of

influences including jazz and other rhythmic music. Alex has especially interested in working

with text, improvising musicians and theatrical settings. He graduated from the Royal

Academy of Music (Bmushons – 1stclass) where he studied with Christopher Austin, Phill

Cashian, Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, Gary Carpenter and Pete Churchill. Whilst at RAM he was

awarded the Evan Senior Scholarship and the J E West Prize. In 2013 he was the winner of the

“Ludlow English Song Composers Competition” (Finizi Friends). He is currently at Royal College

of Music as the Ian Evans Lombe Scholar for 2014/2016 studying with Mark Anthony Turnage

and Jonathan Cole. Further funding provided from the Henry Wood Trust & Music Students’

Hostel Trust. In 2014 Alex was an assistant orchestrator to Christopher Austin for “An American

in Paris” to open at Théâtre du Châtelet Paris in December 2014 and The Palace theatre

Broadway NYC in March 2015. His opera “The Equivocal Harriet Bowdler” was performed at

the Cockpit theatre and at the Forge Camden last year. Much of his work is especially

interested in iambic feet, theatre, sentimentality and equivocation.

soundcloud.com/alex-paxton-2

Rose Hall

Rose Miranda Hall is a York based composer with a focus on music for voice, and through her

PhD commencing in October with Prof. William Brooks Rose will be looking to critique social

prejudice through interdisciplinary collaborations to produce contemporary music theatre

and opera to both challenge and open minds. She was awarded the Nichola LeFanu award

in 2012 for ‘Journey to Recovery: A Requiem for the Addicted and the Recovering’ which

took liturgical texts and placed them against poetry, prose and texts commissioned from

recovering addicts. A continuation of the theme of addiction and recovery led to ‘And the

Ocean Smells Like Lilacs in Late August’, a song cycle using poetry by the Pulitzer Prize

winning poet Franz Wright. Rose’s most recent substantial work is a chamber opera on the

trial of Joan of Arc, ’La Pucelle’, which explores Joan’s multifaceted personality presented

through her trial record. Here three singers portray Joan: Joan The Maid, The Heretic and The

Knight. ‘La Pucelle’ was premiered at the York Spring Festival of New Music in May this year.

@RoseHComposer

Christopher Schlechte-Bond

Christopher is a London based composer originally from Liverpool. He studied Music at King’s

College London under Rob Keeley, Joseph Phibbs and Ed Nesbitt. Graduating with first-class

honours, he now studies at postgraduate level at the RCM under Joseph Horovitz and Gilbert

Nouno. Recent performances include a piano trio and string quartet at the Royal College of

Music, a piece for viol consort performed by Fretwork in November, a new commission for

period instruments and electronics for RCM’s Consort 21 ensemble in December and a solo

bassoon piece that was performed in New York in May. Christopher also enjoys difficult

philosophy and long days in the sun.

@CSchlechteBond & chrisschlechtebond.com

Stepmother

Each morning she rolls her shining stockings

from toe-tip to thigh in one fluid movement.

A spotless reflection smiles back at her.

Her hair is the colour of butter: the comb

cuts through it like a hot knife.

I look and look but the mirror shows me only

a pale canvas, the smudges of my dark

eyes.

I love to watch her eating apples: first

she quarters the fruit with a small, bright

blade,

dispatching the parts she can't consume.

Then, taking delicate bites, she savours

the sharpness, the sweetness.

Wolf

'There,' he says, pointing, 'there, see?'

A cluster of flowers in the curve of a tree-root.

In the falling light his eyes are brighter

than petals: they glint.

'Look,' he says, 'look, lean closer.'

A sleek, tailored tuxedo covers his pelt;

it cannot cover the smell of earth,

of damp grey mushrooms.

He takes off his gloves, and gently brushes

the light patina of freckles

on my pale forearm.

'There,' he says, 'perfect for picking.'

His hands are strangely human.

It is dusk and he has kissed me.

Song Cycle: Performers

Katherine Aitken

Scottish mezzo-soprano Katherine Aitken is an honours graduate of the Royal College of

Music. She continues her studies with Kathleen Livingstone and Gareth Hancock on the Royal

Academy Opera programme at the Royal Academy of Music where she is a Carr-Gregory

and Karaviotis scholar. Katherine is also a member of Academy Song Circle and Kohn

Foundation Bach Scholar. Katherine’s operatic experience includes the roles of Un Esprit in

Massenet’s Cendrillon, La Ciesca in Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi, Mother Goose in Stravinsky’s

The Rake’s Progress and Mrs Kneebone in Lennox Berkeley’s A Dinner Engagement with Royal

Academy Opera. She has also sung Suzy/Lolette in Iford Arts’ production of Puccini’s La

Rondine and the role of Siebel in Clonter Opera’s production of Faust by Gounod. On the

concert platform, Katherine has performed a diverse range of repertoire from composers

such as Monteverdi, Haydn, Beethoven and Britten. Notable performances include Narrator

in Walton’s Façade at the Royal Albert Hall, Vivaldi’s Gloria and Mozart’s Requiem at St

Martin-in-the-Fields and Mahler's 2nd Symphony at the Royal Academy of Music. A

committed recitalist, Katherine opened the 2013 season at the Scottish Arts Club and

performed at St Cecilia’s Hall, Edinburgh, in April 2014. Katherine is generously supported by

the Josephine Baker Trust, the Sir James Caird Travelling Scholarship Trust and the Robertson

Trust.

@AitkenKatherine

Jenny Stafford

Jenny Stafford was awarded the Isabel Jay Operatic Prize, Dame Eva Turner Operatic Award,

Rhoda Jones Roberts Scholarship and was supported by the Josephine Baker Trust while

studying at the Royal Academy of Music. This year Jenny was a semi-finalist in the Kathleen

Ferrier Awards, making her debut at the Wigmore Hall. She previously undertook ENO Opera

Works and the prestigious Georg Solti Accademia di Bel Canto. Concert performances

include Handel’s Messiah (Johannesburg Philharmonic Orchestra, Linder Auditorium,

Johannesburg), Brahms’ Requiem, Poulenc’s Gloria, Mendelssohn’s St Paul, Mozart’s Exsultate

Jubilate, C Minor Mass and Vesperae Solennes de Confessore, Haydn’s Harmoniemesse,

Theresienmesse, Missa Sancti Nicolai (Zurich, Switzerland) and Missa in Angustiis, Faure’s

Requiem and Monteverdi’s Vespers 1610. Operatic roles include Vitellia (La Clemenza di Tito)

and Dido (Dido&Aeneas) in Cadogan Hall, Fiordiligi (Così fan tutte), Musetta (La bohème) for

Silent Opera, First Lady (The Magic Flute) for Ryedale Festival Opera and Young Opera

Venture, Savitri (Holst’s Savitri), Alison (Holst’s Wandering Scholar) at Grimeborn Festival. Future

engagements include Musetta with Opera Loki and recitals in Yorkshire and Madrid.

@jen_the_sop & www.jennystafford.com

Rebecca Hardwick

Rebecca is currently studying for an MPerf at the Royal College of Music as an RCM scholar

supported by a Marjorie Tonks award, receiving vocal tuition from Tim Evans-Jones and

repertoire coaching from John Blakely. She is also generously supported by The Elmley

Foundation, and the Helen Mackaness trust. Previously Rebecca graduated from the

University of York with a BA in Music, roles of note including Soeur Constance in Poulenc’s

‘Dialogues des Carmelites’ and Susanna in opera scenes of ‘Le Nozze di Figaro’. At the RCM

she recently played The Raver in a new opera as part of the 'Hogarth's Stages' project, called

'On False Perspective' by Josephine Stephenson, as well as performing in opera scenes as The

Governess in Britten's 'Turn of the Screw' and Semele in Cavalli’s ‘L’Egisto’. This summer

Rebecca is playing the role of Una Conversa in Puccini's 'Suor Angelica' for Opera Holland

Park, as well as having played 'La Cugina' in the OHP Christine Collins Young Artists 2013

production of Puccini’s ‘Madama Butterfly’. Solo performances include the title role in

Handel's 'Rodelinda' (Amadè Players, Foundling Museum), Poulenc's 'Gloria' (Grosvenor

Chapel, Mayfair), Bach’s ‘St John Passion’ (Somerville College, Oxford), Mozart’s (Holy Trinity

Sloane Square), Bach ‘Magnificat’, and Vivaldi ‘Gloria’ and ‘Magnificat’ (St-Martin-in-the-

Fields). Rebecca is an apprentice with the Monteverdi Choir 2014-2015. She is also interested

in experimental performance, and has just recorded an album of extracts from Cornelius

Cardew's graphic score 'Treatise' with the Vocal Constructivists. Recent masterclasses include

performing for Dame Anne Evans, Patricia McMahon (RCM), Dame Felicity Palmer and Ann

Sophie Duprels (OHP). Rebecca also sings soprano at St James' Spanish Place, Marylebone.

@the_becksta

Gemma Summerfield

At the 2015 Kathleen Ferrier Awards, soprano Gemma Lois Summerfield 'swept the board'

winning both the prestigious First prize and the Song Prize. She studies at the Royal College of

Music under Rosa Mannion and Simon Lepper as the Drapers' De Turckheim Scholar

supported by an Opperby Stokowski Award and by Help Musicians UK and the Josephine

Baker Trust. Masterclasses include Sarah Connolly; Dame Felicity Palmer; Dame Joan Rodgers;

and Malcolm Martineau. Oratorio performances include Messe Basse (Fauré, Church of the

Madeleine, Paris); Carmina Burana (Orff, City Halls, Glasgow); Elijah (Mendelssohn); Stabat

Mater (Pergolesi); Magnificat in D Major and Christmas Cantata (Bach), Ein Deutsches

Requiem (Brahms). Gemma has played First Lady (Die Zauberflöte, Mozart, RCMIOS) La

Chauve-Souris/Une Pastourelle (L'enfant et les sortileges, Ravel RCMIOS), Annina (La Traviata,

Verdi, Rye Festival), and Vixen, Musetta, Ludmilla and Ilia in scenes from The Cunning Little

Vixen, La Boheme, The Bartered Bride and Idomeneo. She will take up her place at the Royal

College of Music International Opera School in September.

@GemmaLois1 & www.gemmaloissummerfieldsoprano.co.uk

Claire Barnett-Jones

British Mezzo Soprano, Claire Barnett-Jones, has performed as a soloist at prestigious venues

including, the Royal Albert Hall, St Martin’s-in-the-Field and St John’s, Smiths Square. She has a

wide Concert Repertoire, including Mozart’s Requiem, Lalande’s Te Deum, Handel’s Messiah

and Rossini’s Petite Messe Solenelle. On the operatic stage Claire’s roles have included: Mrs

Paskova The Cunning Little Vixen conducted by Lionel Friend, Emma Jones Street Scene

(Weill) conducted by Ben Kennedy, Zita Gianni Schicchi conducted by Michael Seal and

Sorceress Dido and Aeneas conducted by Andrew King and Martin Perkins. Claire is a current

member of the Royal Academy Opera at the Royal Academy of Music studying with Sarah

Walker and Audrey Hyland, having completed her MA (PGDip) at RAM. Her studies are

gratefully supported by The Headley Trust, The Josephine Baker Trust, The Ian Fleming Award

administered by the Helping Musicians UK, The Countess of Munster Trust, The Simon Fletcher

Charitable Trust, The Bishop Fox’s Foundation, The Police Dependents Trust and The William

Gibbs Educational Trust.

@cbeejay & clairebarnettjones.com

Anna Sideris

Anna obtained her undergraduate degree from Oxford University, and now studies at the

Royal Academy of Music. She has worked in masterclasses with eminent singers, such as

Renee Fleming and Ann Murray. The Kohn Foundation and Josephine Baker Trust support her

studies, she also received a Help Musicians UK Postgraduate Award. In 2013 she won third

prize in the Maureen Lehane vocal awards and in 2011 was awarded the Harriet Cohen

Memorial Prize. Anna has recorded two Fauré songs for BBC Radio 3 Music Matters. Recent

concerts include Strauss Vier letzte lieder in the Sheldonian Theatre, Handel’s Messiah and

Mozart’s Mass in C at St John’s Smith Square, and the title role in Handel’s Esther & Iole in

Handel’s Hercules. This summer Anna returns to Garsington Opera as Resi in Intermezzo

(Strauss) and 1st Fairy in Midsummer Night’s Dream (Mendelssohn). Other operatic experience

includes Lucy The Telephone (Menotti) for Salon Opera, Tamiri (cover) in Il Re Pastore (Mozart)

for New Chamber Opera. Anna has been involved in education projects for Glyndebourne

and Garsington Opera.

Rozanna Madylus

Rozanna was born in Leicestershire, England, of Ukrainian descent. She is a recent graduate

of Royal Academy Opera and the Academy Song Circle, where she studied with Anne

Howells and Jonathan Papp and was recipient of The Karaviotis Scholarship, Sir Charles

Mackerras Award and Carr Gregory Trust Award. Rozanna was also awarded The Amanda

Von Lob Memorial Prize from The Royal Academy of Music in June 2014 and was a finalist in

the prestigious Patrons Award. She attended the Georg Solti Accademia in the summer of

2013 and was awarded The Karaviotis Prize at Les Azuriales Young Artist Competition, Nice,

France, in August 2012. In May 2012 she won a place on the Young Artist Platform at The

Oxford Lieder Festival and has since performed at various recital halls around the UK. Previous

roles include Smeraldina The Little Green Swallow (BYO), the title role in Handel’s Ariodante

(RAO), Madame de la Haltière Cendrillon (RAO), Fidalma The Secret Marriage (Cover for

BYO), Sorceress Dido and Aeneas (RAO, Kantanti Ensemble), the title role in Ravel’s L’enfant

et les sortilèges (RAO with the BBC Symphony Orchestra), Hansel Hansel and Gretel (Sinfonia

D’amici), Maddalena Rigoletto (Stanley Opera), Olga (Opera Mint) and Filipyevna (RAO)

Eugene Onegin. This summer she will be performing the role of Beggar Woman in Britten’s

Death in Venice for Garsington Opera at Wormsley.

@Rozanna_M & www.rozannamadylus.com

First Blood

This is my story and I say

I chose to bleed.

I have never felt the

cold,

fragility,

fear.

Instead: birdsong and

blossom and loneliness;

always a hand holding

mine.

I have never felt.

Fate is a spindle,

the sharp heat in the tip

of a finger,

a single drop of blood.

Now I reach out

for something sharp,

a nameless pain that

slowly wells

and tastes of red, pure

ruby.

D/W/W Song Cycle:

Skin

Toes. Ten of them,

that I count again and again,

dig into the roughness of sand.

Ankle, shin, knee.

I have learned the names

for everything with which

the sea has birthed me.

Muscle, tendon, bone.

The slow waves break

on the beach, spread, reach

for my new skin to wash it clean.

Toes. Ten. I count them again.

Again(n). A(a). A(a).

I have learned.

The sea has birthed me.

The (s)sea. The (s)sea.

(S)Skin. New skin(n). Ski(i). Sk(i).

by Laura Attridge

Horizon

I walk; I am walking.

I stopped counting my steps

when my feet began to bleed.

At night I dream I am bound

and suffocating in the damp

coils of my own knotted hair.

I walk; I have been walking.

I dream I have given birth, here

in the desert, to three lion cubs.

A lioness does not have a mane;

I read that once.

I walk; the nape of my neck

blisters.

The child will be born soon.

I will keep her on the ground,

close to the possibility

of her own mistakes.

I walk; I am walking towards

this thing they call the horizon.

NOW: Performers

James Davies

Welsh baritone, James Davies, graduated with a BMus from Birmingham Conservatoire and is

continuing his studies on the postgraduate course at the Royal College of Music, studying

with Peter Savidge. He has appeared as King Balthazar in Menotti’s Amahl and the Night

Visitors, Hob in the rare Vaughan Williams opera The Poisoned Kiss, Schaunard in scenes from

Puccini’s La Bohème, Danilo in scenes from Lehár’s The Merry Widow, Second Priest in

Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte, Bastien in Mozart's Bastien und Bastienne, Aeneas in Purcell's Dido

and Aeneas and Lloyd George in the world premiere of David Blake’s Scoring a Century, with

world renowned director Keith Warner. James also joined the chorus of British Youth Opera for

their 2010 performances of Puccini’s La Bohème. On the concert and oratorio platforms,

James has performed Orff’s Carmina Burana, Stainer’s Crucifixion, the Requiems of both

Duruflé and Fauré and Butterworth’s A Shropshire Lad. Whilst studying at the Conservatoire

James was the winner of the 2009 John Ireland Prize and a finalist in the 2010 Mario Lanza

Society Opera Prize. This summer James will take the title role in Westminster Opera's

production of Puccini's Gianni Schicchi. James is grateful for the support of the Old

Breconians Society. He is an RCM scholar supported by a Douglas & Hilda Simmons Award.

@JamesBaritone & www.jamesdaviesbaritone.com

Rose Stachniewska

British soprano Rose Stachniewska is studying for her second year of Masters in vocal

performance at the Royal College of Music under Rosa Mannion and John Blakely. Before

joining the RCM she graduated from the University of Sussex with a BA in Music where she

studied with Sarah Pring. Recent engagements include Virtu andDrusilla (cover) for Ryedale

Festival Opera’s L’Incorinazione di Poppea, Pleasurein Händel’s The Choice of Hercules with

The Elia Ensemble for the Ashmolean museum in Oxford. An enthusiast for modern repertoire,

Rose participated in The Hogarth Project for RCM in which she played Alice in a premiere

of Now by Lewis Murphy. She also sung the role of Harlequinfor Naama Zisser’s opera Black

Sand for Tete a Tete opera festival and Grimeborn festival. Opera scenes at RCM include

Zerlina Don Giovanni, Gretel Hansel und Gretel, Helena A Midsummer Night’s Dream and

Flora Turn of the Screw. Last year rose participated in a workshop for ENO’s opera Between

worlds by Tansy Davies. In external concerts Rose has also premiered an arrangement of

Berg’s Seven Early Songs for piano quintet by conductor Bryan Fairfax and the song cycle The

Right Time by Caroline Sorsbury.

@Soprano_rose

Laure Poissonnier

Laure Poissonnier is a soprano who integrates the Atelier Lyrique of the National Opera of

Paris after a Master of Vocal Performance at the Royal College of Music, where she studied

with Amanda Roocroft. Previously she obtained her bachelor of "Musique et Musicologie" at

the Sorbonne University. Then she got her Diploma of "Etudes Musicales" at the Département

Supérieur pour Jeunes Chanteurs at the Conservatoire of Paris with a special award for a set

of Lieder by Clara Schumann and a contemporary piece by Allain Gaussin. Laure has also

taken part in Masterclasses with Leontina Vaduva, Sally Burgess, John Tomlinson. Her

preparations of roles have included Adele in Die Fledermaus by J.Strauss, Zerlina in Don

Giovanni by Mozart and Eurydice in Orphée aux enfers by Offenbach. She was member of Le

Jeune Choeur de Paris, conducted by Laurence Equilbey and Geoffroy Jourdain, and also

by Susanna Mälkki, Ivan Fischer. This summer, she will be Lauretta in Gianni Schicchi by

Puccini, performed with the Westminster Opera Company at the Château de Panloy in

France.

www.laurepoissonniersoprano.net

Charlotte Howes

Born in London, Charlotte grew up in Cowbridge in South Wales and studied History at the

University of Warwick before commencing her Masters at the Royal College of Music under

Amanda Roocroft and Gary Matthewman. Recent operatic experience includes the title role

in Rossini's La Cenerentola, the Mother in Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel, Dame Carruthers

in Gilbert and Sullivan's The Yeomen of the Guard, Tatyana in staged scenes from

Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin and Musetta in Puccini's La Bohème. She has sung in the chorus

for productions of the Marriage of Figaro and The Magic Flute. Recent competition success

includes the Edward Burton Cup for operatic aria at the 2013 Leamington Music Festival and

reaching the final of the 2014 John Fussell Award in Swansea. Upcoming engagements

include Wagner’s Wesendonck Lieder with the Knighton Chamber Orchestra on 6th June and

covering Janis Kelly in the role of Lady Billows for the RCMIOS production of Albert Herring in

July 2015.

@HowesMezzo & www.charlottehowes.com

William Wallace

William Wallace is currently in his final year of a Masters in Performance at the Royal College

of Music under the direction of Tim Evans-Jones and Chris Glynn. William’s studies are

generously supported by an Yvonne Wells award and The Josephine Baker Trust. His operatic

performance roles include Tybalt in Gounod’s Romeo and Juliet, Gastone in Verdi’s La

Traviata, Second Priest in The Magic Flute for RCMIOS; and in oratorio, Mendelssohn Elijah,

Handel Theodora, Saint-Saëns Christmas Oratorio, Bach Cantatas, Magnificats and St John’s

Passion, performing the role of Evangelist and the tenor arias in Oxford, Newbury and Bristol

during 2014. This Summer, William is excited to be playing the roles of The Mayor in the Royal

College of Music International Opera School’s, ‘Albert Herring’ and the Schoolmaster in British

Youth Opera’s ‘The Cunning Little Vixen’.

@WWTenor

Beast

The gate is open; the path

leads through a tangle of thorns.

The house is silent and full

of the over-sweet stench

of rotting roses, the blooms

he picked to welcome me.

I take off my shoes.

I take off my coat.

My bare feet crush

the carpet of petals

covering the staircase.

He has ripped the tapestries

from the wall; here are

claw-marks, here is broken glass.

It is cold. I open all the doors

into emptiness, until I reach

my own; my little room.

And then I hear it: the soft cry

of a wounded animal waiting

for his master to come home.

Widow

Room by room, I have sifted through

the things that made him a man;

the kind of man who always ached

to press a firm hand over my mouth.

I have been alone for months,

unlocking each door to let in the light;

except one: an unassuming opening

hidden at the end of a corridor.

I have weighted the ring of keys

with my own innocence, and

thrown it into the moat to join

the bodies of his wives, drifting.

Tomorrow I set out for the empty page

of the world, the past at my back.

Finally, the house is empty.

Damsel/Wife/Witch

A premiere by And So Forth Productions

By Laura Attridge, Richard Walls and composer Lewis Murphy

15-18 September 2015

Peckham Asylum, SE15