VOICEARC

Courteous note: All weapons to be left at the reception witch Knuckles MacBride

Almaviva’s cordially welcomes you to the marriage of

Figaro and Susanna

Almaviva’s cordially welcomes you to the marriage of

Figaro and Susanna

VoiceArc are delighted to present our debut production “Le Nozze di Figaro”

An opera in IV acts by W. A. MozartLibretto: L. Da Ponte

Conductor: George Wilson Director: Dr. Nell Drew

There will be a 30 minute interval between acts II and III.

SYNOPSIS

Almaviva (il Conte) is having the day of all days. Suddenly made the head of his Scottish-Italian crime family, he is trying to keep control of his drugs and pros-titution empire. His fixer and hit-man Figaro is marrying his most popular club escort and lap-dancer Susanna, the object of il Conte’s lust.

He attempts to foil the marriage by scheming with the club drag-queen, and Il Conte’s biggest fan, Basilio, and ageing brothel madame Marcellina, but instead facilitates two marriages and even gives his neglected and bored aris-tocratic young wife hope for the future. He is left with a troubled heart, and crucially, no Susanna.

Brand new professional opera company VoiceArc proudly present their debut production, Le Nozze di Figaro, at St Brides Centre, Edinburgh. This is truly Mozart laid bare!

VoiceArc’s imaginative adaptation mixes traditional and classic with the edgy and contemporary. Set in a seedy Edinburgh underworld and featuring a host of insalubrious characters including hit men, lap dancers, escorts and ageing madams, the opera charts a humorous yet profound tale of love, lust, betrayal and forgiveness. Can you hear the club orchestra tuning? Your ticket awaits.

It is quite simply not to be missed!

Friday, 6th March 2015 - Performance cast list

Cast and Creative teamConductor George WilsonDirector Dr. Nell DrewSet Designer Jamie E. R. WhitfieldTechnical Production Stage Manager Lauren HoweSurtitles & translation Isobel McGregor Company accompanist Michal Gajzler

Cast includesFigaro Chris JohnstonSusanna Rosie SimpsonCountess Sophie HorrocksCount Jake R. J. HardimentBartolo Jaap de JongeMarcellina Jemma BrownCherubino Linda van AbelDon Basilio Blake J AskewAntonio Tobias OdenwaldDonna Curzia Fiona MainBarbarina Claire TurnerFlower Girls Hannah McDonald & Beccy RobertsPage Boy Anthony Roberts

ChorusMark Adams, Joanna Bleau, Michael Dennistoun, Catherine Harkin, Neil MacTavish, Judy Miller, Leslie Moffat, Jayne Carmichael Norrie, James Rennie, Tim Riley, Jamie E. R. Whitfield.

Saturday, 7th March 2015 - Performance cast list

Cast and Creative teamConductor George WilsonDirector Dr. Nell DrewSet Designer Jamie E. R. WhitfieldTechnical Production Stage Manager Lauren Howe Surtitles & translation Isobel McGregorCompany accompanist Michal Gajzler

Cast includesFigaro Chris JohnstonSusanna Nina KopparhedCountess Essi PurhonenCount Jake R. J. HardimentBartolo Jaap de JongeMarcellina Jemma BrownCherubino Linda van AbelDon Basilio Blake J AskewAntonio Tobias OdenwaldDonna Curzia Fiona Main Barbarina Rosie SimpsonFlower Girls Hannah McDonald & Beccy RobertsPage Boy Anthony Roberts ChorusMark Adams, Joanna Bleau, Michael Dennistoun, Catherine Harkin, Neil MacTavish, Judy Miller, Leslie Moffat, Jayne Carmichael Norrie, James Rennie, Tim Riley, Jamie E. R. Whitfield.

Orchestra

Violin 1 Liz BeestonViolin 2 Bethan HunterViola Michael BeestonCello Robin MasonDouble Bass May HalyburtonFlute Susan FrankOboe Rona PollardClarinet Jean Johnson Bassoon Grant McKayHorn Christine SmithTimpani Paul Gavienas

Orchestra provided by Beeston Arts Management.(www.beestonartsmanagement.com)

Company Description

VoiceArc arose from a conversation I had with a group of professional singers who were jaded by the constant rehashing of classic operas set within outdated themes. Increasingly the young professionals that we spoke to were turned away from opera as an art form because it bore no resemblance to the popular media they chose to engage with in heir everyday lives.

The need for VoiceArc was clear and we began creating a new and exciting pro-fessional opera company to provide contemporary, elegant, sophisticated and edgy opera for the modern world.

VoiceArc provides a safe space for the singers and creative team to explore new concepts and storyboards for well loved classics and new work while maintain-ing the musical and vocal integrity and musicality originally envisioned by the composer. We don’t seek to change the music we are about changing the deliv-ery to provide opera for the modern world.

years study combined with acting as Assistant Organist at St Giles’ Cathedral, the German Government Academic Exchange Service allowed further study in Piano and Accompanying as well as Organ.

There ensued a busy career which embraced chamber music, choral conducting, teaching and broadcasting and helping found and conduct the Stirling Re-hearsal Orchestra. Two Scottish Arts Council awards helped to cultivate further accompanying skills with Paul Hamburger and later to develop interpretation and improvisation skills in Holland.

After working in Scientific Sales for some years, George celebrated his return to music at the 2011 Edinburgh Fringe by performing the Six Organ Sonatas of JS Bach at the Canongate Kirk and in each successive year since has focussed on one tonality of Bach’s output. This year, he shares the bill with his 12 year-old twin sons who perform on violin and ‘cello. Over the years, George has per-formed a large output of Mozart’s chamber and choral music and is overjoyed at the prospect of preparing and performing Figaro with Nell Drew and the cast of VoiceArc.

Dr Nell Drew has sung as a freelance soloist (dramatic soprano) specializing in the operatic roles of Richard Strauss, Wagner, and the dramatic operas of Verdi and Puccini with opera companies all over Europe and in the US, includ-ing Berlin, San Francisco, Venice, Palermo, New York and Boston. Her per-forming career encompasses the genres of lieder, the symphonic song cycles of Mahler and art song singing with her most specialised interpretive work on this stage being the lieder of Richard Strauss and the art songs of the early to mid-20th century English composers (e.g. Vaughan Williams, Quilter, Finzi, Head, Warlock, Gurney etc.). Nell is involved in a long-term project to record all of Strauss soprano songs and arias.

Nell teaches and coaches talented and professional emerging singers, and con-tinues to direct opera and music theatre in Europe and the US. She runs inter-national workshops and masterclasses for opera companies and professional singers in Europe and in the US (e.g. The Lincoln Centre, Metropolitan Opera House, The Manhattan School of Music, The Juilliard School of Music, New York; The Royal Academy of Music, London; The Staatsoper, Berlin and various centres of voice education including Paris, Milan, San Francisco, Munich etc.). Her experience as an international professional performer and extensive experi-ence in working as a voice coach and singing teacher brings a vast collection of talent and perspective to VoiceArc.

George Wilson was born into a family where music was the first language and laughter a close second. At the old Royal Scottish Academy of Music, George won prizes in piano and organ performance and for what was then called “general good work” In his final year thanks to the excellent teaching of Lawrence Glover and Herrick Bunney, George won Caird and Cross Trust scholarships for further study in the UK as well as the Mary Jane Murray piano Scholarship. After two

Nell has directed several productions including operas and music theatre in her 20 years’ experi-ence of working within these art forms.

Chris Johnston is currently continuing his post-masters, professional voice training with Dr. Nell Drew. As a Gladys Bratton scholar, he completed his masters at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance with Lyn-ton Atkinson and Helen Yorke.

In 2014, Chris performed with Aria Alba - Opera for All in their Fringe production of Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte as Papageno.

Oratorio performances have included Bach’s Matthäus-Passion, Handel’s Alexander’s Feast and Dettingen Te Deum, Brahms’ Ein deutsches Req-uiem and Faure’s Requiem.

Chris won a scholarship from the Colin O’Riordan Trust to study piano at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland with Jean Hutchison. Developing his skills in solo and collaborative piano he simultaneously pursued his vocal training under Alan Watt and later George Gordon.

Nina Kopparhed is an emerging professional Lyric Coloratura. She gave her UK debut singing Mozart’s Exsultate, Jubilate with the Dunblane Chamber Orchestra in November 2011 and made her operatic debut at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2012 as Susanna (Le Nozze di Figaro) with Aria Alba.

Previous roles: Susanna (Le Nozze di Figaro); Belinda (Dido& Aeneas); Suor Osmina and 2nd Touriere (Suor Angelica), Queen of the Night (Die Zauberflote)

Upcoming roles: Fiordiligi (Cosi fan Tutte); Zerbinetta (Ariadne Auf Naxos)

Courses: Co-Opera Co Easter Development Course (2013), National Opera Studio Opera Intensive Course (2013) and NLOP Performance and Communica-tion skills course(2014).

Liz Beeston Elizabeth studied with Richard Deakin at the Royal Northern College of Music, and Warren Jacobs at the RSAMD (Royal Conservatoire of Scotland),receiving chamber music coaching from Christopher Rowland, The Franz Schubert Quartet of Vienna and the Vermeer Quartet, and or-chestral training under Timothy Reynish, Malcolm Layfield and Ian Brown. Elizabeth held the position of sub-principal violin with the orchestra of Scottish Ballet from 1995 until 2012, and she has performed, recorded and toured nationally and internationally with many of the UK’s leading orchestras and ensembles including European Chamber Opera, D’Oyly Carte Opera Company, English Touring Opera, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Scottish Op-era, Performing Arts Symphony Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Manchester Camerata, Royal Northern Sinfonia, the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Edinburgh Quartet and the Cadell Quartet, of which she was a founder member. In 2007, she was invited to become leader of the Edinburgh Contemporary Music Ensemble. She has made many recordings for TV and radio, and has toured and recorded with numerous rock and pop groups.

She has a popular private teaching practice and is the violin/viola tutor at Merchiston Castle School. She has also taught at the City of Edinburgh Music School and is in demand as a mentor and chamber music coach across Scotland.

The 2014/15 season has seen her as leader of Mozart’s Magic Flute with Aria Alba - Opera for All, leader of the Orchestra of the Canongait in Beethoven’s Fidelio and Strauss’ Alpine Symphony and Don Quixote and guest leader of the Dundee Symphony Orchestra. Liz was delighted to be invited to join VoiceArc along with other members of the Beeston Arts String Quartet (founded in 2010 with husband, violist Michael Beeston) and other distinguished friends and colleagues for this exciting project.

Based in Newcastle, Baritone Jake R J Hardiment performs as a soloist, teaches singing, and is the conductor of Newcastle University Student Orchestra and Choir and AriaAlba - Opera for all.

Jake was a choral scholar at St Peter Mancroft, Norwich and was a lay-clerk at Newcastle Cathedral (2009-2013). Jake completed his bachelors degree in Music at Newcastle University and has performed alongside; Newcastle Sinfonietta, Newcastle University Symphony Orchestra, The English Philharmonic and with His Majesty’s Sagbutts and Cornets. Roles; Rustic (Rosina, W.Shields ICMus Summer Festival 2013); Pa-pegeno (Die Zauberflote, AriaAlba, Edinburgh Festival 2014). Jake will appear in ‘Così fan tutte’ and ‘Ariadne Auf Naxos’ in VoiceArc’s next season.

Sophie Horrocks is studying for a Masters in Musicology at Kings College London. In June graduated from Murray Edwards College, Cambridge University where she sang with the choir of Clare College.

She can beheard as a soloist on their recently released discs Handel: Peace and Celebration (Obsidian Records), Lux de Caelo: Music for Christmas (Harmonia Mundi USA), on their upcoming Victoria Requiem (Harmonia Mundi USA).

Operatic roles in Cambridge have included:Zerlina in Don Giovanni, Papagena in The Magic Flute, The Wife in Milhaud’s The Poor Sailor, Juliet in Purcell’s The Fairy Queen: Reimag-ined, Euridice in Orpheus in the Underworld and Pepik in Janacek’s The Cunning Little Vixen.

Rosie Simpson graduated in July from Queen Margaret University with her BA (hons) Drama and Performance.

Since beginning tuition with Dr Nell Drew in 2010 Rosie has performed with Edinburgh company Aria Alba-Opera for All several times taking on her first full operatic role aged 19 as Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro. Since then she has taken on several roles with the company including Belinda and First Witch in Dido and Aeneas and Queen of the Night and Papagena in Die Zauberflöte. In 2012 Rosie was asked to be a vocal soloist on the Vacation Chamber Orchestra’s summer course and tour of Southern England; performing German’s Just So Songs and Walton’s Façade.

Essi Purhonen is a Finnish soprano who is undertaking her professional voice training with Dr Nell Drew and has been studying with Nell since 2011. Essi previously studied with Paula and Matti Rankala in Helsinki, Finland, where she still regularly performs.

In 2012, Essi had her operatic debut in the role of Susanna in Aria Alba’s production of Le Nozze di Figaro. In 2014, she performed as Pamina in Die Zauberflöte (Aria Alba). Essi is currently preparing the roles of Fiordiligi in Cosi Fan Tutte and Ariadne in Ariadne auf Naxos for productions by VoiceArc. She is excited to do her professinal debut as Countessa in Voice Arc’s production of Le Nozze di Figaro.

Jemma Brown holds a BMus (hons) from the University of Glasgow and PgDip, MMus, MMus (opera) and MOpera from the RSAMD. She studied with Patricia MacMahon, Kathleen McKellar Ferguson and now studies with Judith Howarth.

Operatic Roles include Mavra Kuzminichna (Prokofiev/War & Peace), Lady Billows (Britten/Albert Herring), Filipjevna (Tchaikovsky/Eugene Onegin), Gertrude (Humperdinck/Hansel & Gretel), Klytaemnestra (Strauss/Elektra), Amneris (Verdi/Aida), Meg Page (Verdi/Falstaff), Waltraute (Wagner/Die Walküre and Götterdämmerung), Fricka (Wag-ner/Das Rheingold) and Second Norn (Wagner/Götterdämmerung).

She made her Proms debut in 2010 with the BBCSSO and Donald Run-nicles and was a Britten Pears Young Artist in 2011 in their production of Albert Herring, double cast with Dame Felicity Lott.

Jaap de Jonge, is a dutch baritone studying with soprano Wiebke Göetjes.

Operatic roles include:Papageno in Die Zauberflöte with Goëtjes’ Hojotoho Studio, Dialogues des Carmélites (Marquis), Hansel und Gretel (Peter der Besenbinder), Amahl and the Nightvisitors (King Balthazar), Aida (Il Re dell’ Egitto), Don Gio-vanni (Leporello) and Carmen (Don Escamillo).

In 2012, he established the Ensemble Postiljon with American soprano Persephone Abbott and Czech pianist Petr Karlicek, with whom he per-formed Pergolesis La Serva Padrona in 2012 and 2013. Postiljon is prepar-ing the performance of Il Segreto di Susanna of Wolf-Ferrari in 2015.

He is very happy to have been given the opportunity to sing Bartolo in VoiceArc’s ‘Le Nozze di Figaro’.

Linda van Abel trained in singing, acting and dancing at the Musical Center in Amsterdam while at university. She then pursued studies on the Opera Performance course at Birkbeck College London. As an ensemble member she has sung in Nabucco, Norma, La Traviata, l’Elisir d’Amore and Alceste with Lyric Opera in Dublin and Chelsea Opera Group in London.

She attended the AIMS Summerschool and Barefoot Opera course and cur-rently studies with Jenny Miller in London. She is delighted to interpret the role of Cherubino for the first time with VoiceArc and really looks forward to the performance.

Blake J AskewTheatre includes Senator Gallagher in CALL ME MADAM:Puck in national tour of A MIDSUMMER NIGHTS DREAM , Borachio in MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING, Yepikhodhov in THE CHERRY ORCHARD, Ensemble in INHERIT THE WIND ( Old Vic), Ensemble in TO KILL A MOCKING-BIRD ( Tricycle Theatre), Henry Higgins in PYGMALION ( European tour), James Vane in THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GREY, Mr Rushworth in MANSFIELD PARK .

Opera: CHORUS in COSI FAN TUTTI ( Starlight Opera) and Leon in LA MERE CUPABLE ( Arcola Theatre/ Grimeborne Opera Festival)

Film : Chris in KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON, James in HER WAYS TO ROAM.

Adverts: Daily Mail, British Airways, Sky Sports.

Tobias Odenwald studied at the opera class of Conservatory of Music in Würzburg, Germany. Since moving to London in 2009, he had additional training at Morley Opera School and attended courses at the National Opera Studio in Italy. He also participated in master classes with Ian Page, Jonathan Miller, Dame Anne Evans, Judith Weir, Ulf Bästlein, Mark Shana-han amd Della Jones.

Later this year he will appear as ‘Kecal’ in The Bartered Bride with Bear-wood opera and ‘Luther/Crespel’ in The Tales of Hoffmann with Opera Academy. Tobias currently studies with Roderick Earle.

Fiona Main has been singing for over 25 years in Edinburgh, Fife and beyond in opera, operetta and musicals. Roles include Anna Glavari in ‘The Merry Widow’, Sarah-Jane Moore in Stephen Sondheim’s ‘Assassins’, Rosalinda in ‘Die Fledermaus’, Kathie in ‘The Student Prince’ and both Yum-Yum and Katisha in ‘The Mikado’.

She is proud to have been involved in the 2000 recording of Sir Arthur Sullivan’s Opera ‘Haddon Hall’ on the Divine Art label singing the role of Dorcas and in 2004 as soloist for the performance and recording of Sul-livan’s ‘Festival Te Deum’.

Claire is a soprano who is based in Edinburgh and currently studies with Dr. Nell Drew.

Having received singing lessons since the age of 12, Claire was awarded a vocal scholarship at the University of St Andrews, where she won the Cedric Thorpe Davie Award for Music and Drama upon her graduation.

Claire has performed in numerous musical theatre and opera productions in Scotland, most recently as 2nd Lady in Aria Alba’s Edinburgh Fringe Production of Die Zauberflöte

Rebecca Roberts started singing at the age of 7 in the NYCoS Edinburgh Area Choir, from which she progressed through the National Girls Choir (2013) into the National Training Choir (2014). Rebecca first took part in opera as a member of the children’s chorus in Edinburgh Grand Opera’s 2012 production of Carmen. She was subsequently invited by Nell Drew to join Aria Alba - Opera for All, where she took the roles of Barbarina in the youth production of Le nozze di Figaro (2012), Second Woman in Dido and Aeneas (2013) and Papagena / Spirit in Die Zauberflöte (2014). Rebecca has enjoyed the inspirational teaching of Nell Drew for three years and is honoured to be involved with Voice Arc. She is a music scholar at George Heriots School and hopes to pursue a career in music after completing her education.

Anthony Roberts started singing at the age of 7 in the NYCoS Edinburgh Area Choir and has progressed into the National Boys Choir (2013 & 2014). He was invited by Nell Drew to join Aria Alba - Opera for All, where he was a chorus member in Le nozze di Figaro (2012), and took the roles of Spirit in Dido and Aeneas (2013) and Spirit in Die Zauberflöte (2014). Anthony loves sing-ing for Nell Drew and is thrilled to be part of Voice Arc. He is a pupil at George Heriots School where he enjoys singing with the chamber choir and playing cello in the school orchestra. Antho-ny’s other interests include playing rugby and upstaging his older sister whenever the opportunity presents itself!

12 Year old Hannah McDonald has been a member of Aria Alba for the past 18 months and per-formed in the Edinburgh International Festival last year in the Aria Alba production of the Magic Flute. She is also studying dance with the Julie Mitchell Edinburgh Dance Academy where she is an active member of the performance group and is privately studying music (voice and piano). Han-nah is a singing student of Dr Nell Drew. She has already participated in a number of productions including three consecutive years (2010 -2013) as a babe in the annual pantomime at the Kings Theatre in Edinburgh. In 2013 she also performed as a member of the choir at the Edinburgh Royal Military Tattoo. This February Hannah was a member of the childrens’ choir in the Andrew Lloyd Webber production of Joseph and his Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat in Edinburgh.

Thank you to

Peter & Jenny Roberts,Fiona Denniston,Hilarie Howarth

for their help with front of house,& Faye Ward and her team at St Brides Centre

Future productions

Figaro FugitEdinburgh International Fringe Festival, August 2015.

Cosi fan tutteSummerhall, Edinburgh - 11th, 12th & 13th November 2015