Rossini: Fireworks! concert

A ‘tremendous young conductor’ (The Observer), John Andrews is Principal Guest Conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra and Conductor-in-association of the English Symphony Orchestra. ​

He has a special affinity for the bel canto repertoire with his recent Lucia di Lammermoor described as ‘sans-faute’ by one reviewer. John has conducted over 40 operas for English Touring Opera (Donizetti: Pia de’ Tolomei, Handel: Tolomeo; Mozart: Don Giovanni; Donizetti: Anna Bolena), Garsington Opera (Humperdink: Hänsel und Gretel; Rossini: La Cenerentola), Volkstheater Rostock (Mozart: Die Entführung aus dem Serail), Opera Holland Park (Todd: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Sullivan: The Pirates of Penzance), Stanley Hall Opera (Rossini: The Barber of Seville; Tchaikovsky: Eugene Onegin; Mozart: Der Schauspieldirektor, Leoncavallo: Pagliacci), Co-Opera (Sullivan: The Mikado) and Opéra de Baugé (Handel: Riccardo Primo & Giulio Cesare in Egitto; Donizetti: Don Pasquale; Verdi: La Traviata; Puccini: La Boheme: Donizetti: L’elisir d’amore).

John has recently conducted four recordings of music by Sullivan, Cellier, Sherwood and Cowen with the BBC Concert Orchestra, BBC Symphony Chorus and BBC Singers, the first of which (Sullivan’s Macbeth and The Tempest) was named a ‘Disc of the Year’ in the Sunday Times. Future opera plans include ​recording Sullivan’s Haddon Hall with the BBC Concert Orchestra, Arne’s The Judgment of Paris for the London Handel Festival, The Gondoliers for the London College of Music and productions in 2019 for both ETO and Opera Holland Park.

Born
Brazil

Training
Cardiff International Academy of Voice; GSMD; University of Rio de Janeiro

Opera
Tamino Zauberflöte (Teatro Amazonas/TMRJ); Don Otavio Don Giovanni (Teatro Amazonas); Le Comte Ory Le comte Ory (Nantes/Angers); Giannetto La Gazza ladra (Massy); Don Ramiro La Cenerentola (Belgrade National Theatre); Il conte d’Almaviva Il Barbiere di Siviglia (Teatro Amazonas) Nemorino L’Elisir d’Amore (TMRJ); Fenton Faltaff (Palácio das Artes/GSMD); Fadinard Il Cappelo di Paglia di Firenze (TMSP); Orfeo Orfeo (TMRJ/TMSP); Tebaldo I Capuleti ei Montecchi (TMRJ); Rinuccio Gianni Schicchi (GSMD) Nadir Les Pecheurs des Perles (TMRJ)

Concerts
Britten Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings (Teatro Amazonas); Britten Les illuminations (Teatro Amazonas); Rossini Stabat Mater (Ravenna); Mozart Requiem (TMRJ) Carl Orff Carmina Burana (TMRJ) Bach Magnificat (Sala Cecilia Meirelles)

Recordings
Gianni Schicchi (Radio Cultura SP); Stabat Mater (RAI 3) Il cappello di paglia di Firenze (Radio cultura SP)

Mezzo soprano Catherine Carby studied at the Canberra School of Music and the RCM, London. In her native Australia, she has performed with the major opera companies including Opera Australia, Opera Queensland and Victoria State Opera. UK engagements have included performances with BFO, ENO, ROH and SO. She sang Messiah at the 2013 Three Choirs Festival; other concert work has included performances with the Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra, the City of London Sinfonia, the Hallé, the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Northern Sinfonia, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the West Australian Symphony Orchestra. For ETO, she has previously sung Aurelio L’assedio di Calais.

British tenor John Gyeantey is steadily gaining a reputation as a fine exponent of the bel canto repertoire. As a high tenor, he has a facility to sustain the tessitura essential for the speciality roles of Rossini, Donizetti and Bellini. He is an alumnus of the prestigious Accademia Rossiniana, Pesaro, where he worked closely with Alberto Zedda, and began his training at the Royal College of Music and the National Opera Studio as a Peter Moores Foundation Major Scholar. In 2015, John performed the role of Luke in Tippett’s The Ice Break for Birmingham Opera Company and toured throughout the UK and Europe with Diva Opera as Normanno, Lucia di Lammermoor and Basilio, Le nozze di Figaro.

Born in Australia, Gillian Ramm trained at the Western Australian Conservatorium of Music and the West Australian Opera Young Artist Programme, before receiving a scholarship at RNCM. Gillian was awarded the John Cameron Lieder Prize and the Ricordi Prize for Opera. Operatic engagements include Fiordiligi/ Così fan tutte (GFO, GTO); Rosalinde/ Die Fledermaus (GTO); Second Niece/ Peter Grimes (Teatro di San Carlo); Aci/ Aci Galatea e Polifemo (London Handel Festival); Valencienne/ The Merry Widow (West Australian Opera); Anne Truelove/ The Rake’s Progress (RNCM); Clorinda/ La Cenerentola (Ryedale Festival); Yum Yum/ The Mikado (Carl Rosa). Gillian has sung in concert with The Classical Opera Company, ON, LPO and Teatro Comunale di Bologna. Future and recent plans include her debut with ENO as First Niece in a new production of Peter Grimes and Fiordiligi/ Così fan tutte (GTO). Gillian has previous performed with ETO as Tytania/ A Midsummer Night’s Dream.