Tenebrae Music

Jonathan is from Liverpool and studied at Exeter University and GSMD. Roles include Tolomeo/ Tolomeo (ETO), Bertarido/ Rodelinda (GFO); Amadigi/ Amadigi (Ireland, Paris, NYork); Nireno/ Giulio Cesare (ROH); Les Oiseax de passage (Teatro communale, Bologna); Trinculo/ The Tempest (Strasbourg); Orfeo/ L’Orfeo (Osaka). In concert Jonathan has performed with AAM, OAE, RLPO, RSNO, EBS, Gabrieli Consort, Ulster Orchestra under such conductors as Gardiner, Hickox, Parry, Fischer, Glover, Parrott, Mortensen, Bolton, Bicket. Recordings include Mattheus-Passion (Miller/ Goodwin); Agrippina, (Gardiner); Buxtehude Cantatas (Immerseel); La conversione di Clodoveo (Gester); Israel in Babylon (Fontaine).
Jonathan is baroque specialist at BBIOS. Conducting appearances include Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater for artist Dorothy Cross/ OTC Dublin; Teseo (ETO). Plans include Orfeo (Akademie fur Alte Musik im Saarland) and Flavio (Lucca).

Countertenor Jake Arditti graduated from Guildhall School of Music and Drama, where he studied with Andrew Watts. He is currently at the Royal College of Music continuing his post-graduate studies with Russell Smythe on the prestigious Royal College of Music International Opera School. He is the recipient of the Joseph Clover Award and a Countess of Munster Musical Trust Award. As a treble he performed with the English National Opera and Glyndebourne Festival Opera. Concert works include Carmina Burana at Snape Maltings and Fairfield Halls. For the Heidelberg International Quartet Festival he performed Respighi’s Il Tramonto and Hilda Paredes’ Canciones Lunaticas, a work for countertenor and string quartet which had its UK premiere this year at the Wigmore Hall. At the National Theatre Jake sang and performed in The Revenger’s Tragedy and Dido Queen of Cathage. Other theatre work includes Laurie Sansom’s critically acclaimed production of The Duchess of Malfi for The Royal and Durngate, Northampton. Jake covered the role of Arcane Teseo for English Touring Opera’s 2009 Handelfest, sang the role of Apollo Terpsicore/Il Pastor Fido and Unulfo Rodelinda for the London Handel Festival. Recently, Jake has been working with Christian Curnyn on Iford Arts Festival’s production of Rodelinda. Other engagements for 2011 have included Canciones Lunaticas at the Herrenhaus Edenkoben in Germany, with future performances at the Wien Modern in Vienna and the Festival d’Automne à Paris.

JAKE IS CURRENTLY STUDYING AT THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF MUSIC

Polish countertenor, Michal Czerniawski, was studying singing at the Academy of Music in Gdansk in Poland with Piotr Kusiewicz. He began to develop his music abilities in early childhood as a member of Szczecin Boys’ Choir. He has attended masterclasses given by Paul Esswood in Florence and Gdansk.
In 2004 he sang the role of Cyprien in the world premiere of Yvonne, Princesse of Burgunde, an opera by Zygmunt Krauze, in Paris.
During his studies he sang in several Academy of Music productions which have included Arsamene in Handel’s Serse, Timagene in Cleofide by J.A. Hasse and Orfeo in Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice.
In 2007 he was one of the winners of Le Jardin des Voix and was invited by William Christie and Les Arts Florissants to take part in an academy and international tour, making his debut in Paris, London, Madrid, Lisbon, Brussels, Frankfurt and New York.
In the same year he began cooperation with Krakow Chamber Opera. Since September 2008 he is studying Historical Performance at Guildhall School of Music and Drama.
Michal also took part in Handel’s Acis and Galatea with European New Opera.
During his stay in London he affiliated himself with a new group specialized in baroque music – The Solomon Choir and Orchestra. The first joined project was Handel’s Messiah. He also sang the main role in Handel’s Solomon with The Solomon Choir and Orchestra.
He took part in the Britten-Pears Young Artists Programme where he performed J.S. Bach’s St Matthew Passion conducted by Masaki Suzuki. In July he sang a recital of Purcell’s songs at Tudeley Festival.
In January 2010 he took part in Les Arts Florissants’ 30th anniversary gala concert at Opera Comique in Paris.
In April he made his debut in the production of The Fairy Queen by Purcell in his hometown opera house in Poland.

Hereford-born tenor Anthony Gregory was the 2010 Independent Opera Vocal Scholar at the Royal College of Music International Opera School (RCMIOS) supported by the Josephine Baker Trust, the Elmley Foundation and in 2009 was a recipient of an Ian Fleming Award administered by the Musicians’ Benevolent Fund. In April 2011 Anthony won the prestigious Lies Askonas Prize at the RCM. He was also selected to represent the Royal College of Music’s Opera department in the “Rising Stars” Chamber Concerts held at London’s Cadogan Hall in spring 2011.
Anthony’s most recent operatic roles include Ferrando Così fan tutte (RCMIOS) and Grimoaldo Rodelinda (RCMIOS and London Handel Festival, conducted by Laurence Cummings), Tamino Die Zauberflöte, Jupiter Semele (Bath University), Pasek The Cunning Little Vixen (RCMIOS), Lysander A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Opera de Baugé), Oronte (cover) Alcina (ETO), Silvio Il Pastor Fido with the RCMIOS and London Handel Festival, Novice (cover) Billy Budd (Glyndebourne) and The Hussar Mavra (Jerwood Young Artist programme, Glyndebourne).
Concert performances include his recent debut with the Classical Opera Company in Alfred the Great (Arne) at Kings Place and the New London Orchestra at Cadogan Hall, Mozart Mass in C with the Hertfordshire Chamber Orchestra at St. Albans Abbey, as well as a concert at the Elgar Room (Royal Albert Hall). Forthcoming engagements include Peter Quint (cover) Turn of the Screw for Glyndebourne Festival Opera, and Purcell The Fairy Queen for English Touring Opera.

ANTHONY IS CURRENTLY STUDYING AT THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF MUSIC

Johnny Langridge studied music at Cambridge University, where he was a Choral Scholar at Clare College and subsequently a Lay Clerk at St John’s College.

As a choral singer, Johnny has performed in many of the world’s major concert halls with ensembles including the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Freiburger Barockorchester, His Majesty’s Sagbutts & Cornetts and The Salzburg Mozarteum Orchestra. He has also recorded extensively for Chandos, Harmonia Mundi and NAXOS. His operatic roles have included both Snout and Flute in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Shadwell Opera) and First Armed Man in Mozart’s The Magic Flute (Shadwell Opera). With a passion for contemporary music, he most recently appeared in the lead role of Bonesong, a newly-commissioned electro-acoustic opera by Kate Whitley (Opera Underground). As a concert artist, Johnny’s performances have included Rossini’s Petite Messe Solennelle and Bach’s Magnificat in St Martin-in-the-Fields, as well as many solo song recitals.

Johnny now sings as a Gentleman-in-Ordinary at Her Majesty’s Chapel Royal, St James’s Palace, and is English Touring Opera’s Development Associate.

Sheffield born, Nicholas Merryweather studied modern languages at University College, London, before training at the Musikhochschule, Köln and on the opera course at GSMD. He was the winner of the Glyndebourne Wessex Award in 2008 and a semi-finalist in the Kathleen Ferrier Award in 2009. Nicholas’s operatic roles include Don Giovanni/ Don Giovanni and Figaro/ Le Nozze di Figaro (Longborough Festival Opera); cover Morales/ Carmen (GOT); Papageno/ The Magic Flute (BYO); Starveling/ A Midsummer Night’s Dream (ETO). Recent concert engagements include Schubert Schwanengesang (Oxford Lieder Festival) and Carmina Burana (Plymouth Philharmonic Choir). He was the soloist on the World Premiere recording of Karl Jenkins’s Armed Man Mass for Peace.

Aidan studied at GSMD and RAM. He has worked for The Royal Opera, SO, Saltzburg Festival, Bregenez Festival, Aldeburgh Festival, Garsington Opera, OHP, Longborough Festival Opera and Opera Project. He has recorded Tosca for ORF (featured in the James Bond film A Quantum of Solace); Acis and Galatea and Dido and Anaeas for BBC; Opus Arte and The Beggar’s Opera for Chandos. Future engagements include Jevons/ Ludd and Isis (Royal Opera); Van Bette/ Zar und Zimmerman (Opera South).