Falstaff

Director
Born Venice
Training Cà Foscari University, Venice, Paolo Grassi Theatre School, Milan
Awards 2003 Best Opera Production Irish Times Award for Svanda the Bagpiper (Wexford Festival Opera)
Opera Trionfo delle Belle (Rossini Opera Festival), The Little Sweep (Luglio Musicale Trapanese), Il Barbiere di Siviglia (Maggio Musicale Fiorentino), The Soldier’s Tale, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Carnival of the Animals, Noye’s Fludde (Auditorium di Milano)
Theatre Una notte, The Death of Ivan Ilyich, Amadeus (Teatro Franco Parenti, Milano), Quartetto Campanile (Teatro al Parco, Mestre), La Betìa (Festival Teatro in Campo, Venice)

Designs for theatre, opera and dance. Joanna’s opera engagements include The Rape of Lucretia (RCM); Flavio, Eugene Onegin, Falstaff, Alcina, Le nozze di Figaro, A Midsummer Night’s Dream and The Cunning Little Vixen (all ETO). She has also worked with the ROH, SO, and OTC Dublin.

Joanna’s designs for theatre include The Young Vic, Hampstead Theatre, West Yorkshire Playhouse, Salisbury Playhouse and The Lyric Hammersmith. She designed The Noise of Time for Theatre de Complicité at the Lincoln Centre NY, Barbican Centre London and European Festivals.

Dance designs include Cholmondeleys, Shobana Jeyasingh Dance Company and London Contemporary Dance Theatre. She is Senior Lecturer in Scenography at Central School of Speech and Drama.

Wendy was born in Timaru, New Zealand and went on to train at Victoria University of Wellington, RNCM and RCM. In 2005 she was a Cardiff Singer of the World finalist and won the Kathleen Ferrier Award, Royal Overseas League Music Competition and Young Artist Trust in 2003. Opera roles include Isabella/ L’italiana in Algeri (New Zealand Opera); Fiduma/ The Secret Marriage (SO); Innocent/ The Minotaur (ROH); Messenger/ L’Orfeo (ENO); Der Komponist/ Ariadne auf Naxos (Garsington Opera); Varvara/ Katya Kabanova (ON). Concert appearances include Mahler Symphony No. 2 (Zagreb Philharmonic); Mozart Mass in C Minor (RLPO); Song Recital (Wigmore Hall).

Andrew studied at Royal Northern College of Music and St Petersburg Conservatoire. He has performed more than 60 opera roles including Lotario, Ariodate, Falstaff, Bottom, Bartolo, Blitch, Alfonso, Donald and Araspe (All ETO); Ben Selim (Royal Opera House), Nachtigal (Grange Park Opera), Golaud (Glyndebourne Touring Opera), Faninal (Scottish Opera), Basilio (Welsh National Opera), Sacristan (Opera North), Colline (English National Opera) etc.

Recordings include Nyman, Love Counts and Mozart 252 (MNR); Michael Berkeley, Jane Eyre (Chandos); Stravinsky, The Flood (Twentieth Century Classics).

Julie Unwin studied at GSMD and NOS, and currently studies with Jacqueline Bremar. Operatic roles include Elsa/ Lohengrin (Wagner Society); Cio Cio-san/ Madama Butterfly (OHP); Countess/ The Marriage of Figaro (GTO, OHP); Donna Anna/ Don Giovanni (GTO); Mimì/ La bohème (Opera Zuid); Cleone Ermione (GFO); Micäela/ Carmen (RAH, WNO); Pamina/ The Magic Flute (ENO); Nancy/ Silas Marner (City of Birmingham Touring Opera); Tatyana/ Eugene Onegin (OHP). Awards include John Christie Award and Esso Singer’s Prize (Glyndebourne), International Singer of the Year at the Llangollen International Eistedfodd and Harold Rosenthal Opera Award. Previous concert appearances include Berlioz L’Enfance du Christ (Helsinki Philharmonic), Beethoven Symphony no. 9 (Helsinki Philharmonic) and Mahler Symphony no. 2 (Kaplan and London Philharmonic). Julie has previously performed with ETO as title role/ Anna Bolena; Alice Ford/ Falstaff; title role/ Tosca; Countess/ The Marriage of Figaro.

Born Port of Spain, Trinidad
Training GSMD, RNCM, NOS
Awards Peter Moores / Lord Pitt Foundation Scholarship to RNCM, Sybill Tutton Awards, Alexander Young Competition second prize
Opera Bardolph Falstaff (ETO), cover Otello Otello (GFO), cover Canio I Pagliacci (WNO), Canio I Pagliacci (English Pocket Opera), Florestan Fidelio, Drum-Major Wozzeck, Prodigal Son The Prodigal Son (all Birmingham Opera Company)
Concert Verdi Requiem, Verdi Otello (Royal Festival Hall)
Recordings / TV Don Jose Carmen and Otello Otello (Opera Works, BBC 2), Florestan Fidelio (South Bank Show)

Born Belfast
Training ENO Baylis
Opera Macduff Macbeth (Surrey Opera), Ferrando Così fan tutte (London Opera Players), Quint/Prologue The Turn of the Screw (Pigott’s Music Camp), Basilio/Curzio The Marriage of Figaro (Palace Opera), Alfred Die Fledermaus (Tête à Tête)
Concert Rossini Petite Messe Solennelle (Barnes Choral Society), Berlioz L’Enfance du Christ (Kensington Choral Society), Mendelssohn Elijah (Putney Choral Society)

Baritone
Born Cardiff
Training RWCMD, GSMD
Awards Sir Geraint Evans Memorial Prize, MOCSA Young Welsh Singer Competition, National Mozart Competition, Royal National Eisteddford Blue Riband
Opera Jacob Joseph (Bill Kenwright Ltd), Black Bob The Little Sweep (Alfresco Productions), Leoporello Don Giovanni and Mefistopheles Faust (Freiburg Opera), Basilio The Barber of Seville (WNO)
Concert Beethoven Symphony no 9 (Royal Philharmonic Orchestra), Berlioz La Damnation de Faust (London Symphony Orchestra), Mendelsohn Elijah (National Chamber Orchestra of Wales)
Recordings Gran Sacerdote Nabucco (BBC, WNO), King of Clubs Love for Three Oranges (Freiburg Opera, Südwest FUMK TV)

Born Bolton
Training Manchester University, RNCM
Awards Ricordi Prize for Opera
Opera Ford Falstaff (ETO), Don Magnifico La Cenerentola (Garden Opera), Michele/Tonio Tabarro/Pagliacci (ON), Sharpless Madame Butterfly (Opera Project), Rigoletto Rigoletto (OHP) + one?
Concert Handel Messiah (Liverpool Philharmonic), Puccini Madame Butterfly (Liverpool Philharmonic), Tchaikovsky Maid of Orleans (BBC Philharmonic)
Recordings Martin In Terra Pax (Swiss Radio)

Harriet Williams studied at Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Royal Opera début Erster Knappe, Parisfal, English National Opera début Polinesso, Ariodante, début Royal Ballet singing Duparc’s songs for Michael Corder’s L’Invitation au Voyage.

With The Opera Group Harriet sang Mrs Olsen Street Scene which was voted ‘Best Musical’ in Evening Standard Theatre Awards.

Has appeared with Welsh National Opera, ETO, Grange Park Opera, Longborough Festival Opera and Opera Holland Park. Her operatic roles include title roles in Ariodante, Carmen, Rosina, Il barbiere di Siviglia, Angelina, La Cenerentola, Mistress Quickly, Falstaff, Fenena, Nabucco, Suzuki, Madam Butterfly, Dido, Dido and Aeneas, Flora and Annina, La Traviata, Ottavia and Fortuna, L’incoronazione di Poppea, Smeaton, Anna Bolena.

Recent operatic engagements have included Mrs Olsen, Street Scene for Opera de Toulon, Marie, For You by Michael Berkeley and Ian McEwan in Rome, and Waltraute, Die Walküre at Longborough Festival. Forthcoming engagements include Flosshilde, Der Ring des Nibelungen for the Royal Opera.

Born Bedford
Training RAM
Awards Leverhulme Award (RAM), Sybil Tutton Award, Kathie Thomas Prize
Opera Tytania A Midsummer Night’s Dream (BYO), Flamina Il Mondo della Luna and Amore The Coronation of Poppea (RAM), Vixen The Cunning Little Vixen (Surrey Opera), Sabina Adriano in Siria (Classical Opera Company)
Concert Mozart Grabmusick (Wigmore Hall), Lunchtime Recital (ROH Linbury Studio), Handel Acis and Galatea (St Martin’s-in-the-Field)
Recordings Britten Albert Herring (BBC Radio 3 and Chandos, cond. Hickox)

Alan Fairs has performed with WNO, as Dikoj, Katya Kabanova, Bartolo, The Marriage of Figaro, Basilio, The Barber of Seville, Dulcamara, L’elisir d’amore, Swallow, Peter Grimes, Monterone, Rigoletto, Sacristan, Tosca, Bonzo Madame Butterfly, Magnifico, La Cenerentola, and Talpa, Il tabarro.

At Glyndebourne, Alan has sung Antonio, The Marriage of Figaro, Starveling, A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Micha and Kecal, The Bartered Bride. With Scottish Opera he has sung Bonzo, Madame Butterfly, Kommissar, Der Rosenkavalier, Raimondo, Lucia di Lammermoor, Le Comte des Grieux, Manon and Monterone, Rigoletto and also appeared as a concert soloist.

Elsewhere, he has sung a wide-ranging repertoire of roles, from Osmin and Sarastro to Falstaff, and Alberich, Das Rheingold. Recent concerts have included Verdi’s Requiem, Rossini’s Stabat Mater, Dvořàk’s Stabat Mater, Haydn’s Creation and Bach’s St. Matthew and St. John Passions and his B Minor Mass. He looks forward to a Diamond Jubilee performance of Elgar’s The Kingdom on Elgar’s birthday in Worcester Cathedral with English String Orchestra.