The Duenna

Adam received his BA with Honours in Theatre Design at the RWCMD. He was a group winner of the Linbury Biennial Prize for Stage Design in 2003. Recent operatic engagements include costume design for Roméo et Juliette (ON) and both costume and set design for Le nozze di Figaro (RNCM) and As I Crossed the Bridge of Dreams (Almeida Opera). Ballet engagements include Children of Adam and Sensorium (Royal Ballet at the ROH). Additionally, Adam worked with ETO as designer for Country Matters and Katya Kabanova.

Opera includes: The Magic Flute, Katya Kabanova, Don Giovanni, Anna Bolena, Susannah, The Seraglio, Eugene Onegin (English Touring Opera); The Cunning Little Vixen, (National Theatre Brno); The Ring Cycle, The Magic Flute, The Marriage of Figaro, Tosca, Hansel and Gretel (Longborough Festival Opera); Names of the Dead (Battersea Arts Centre).

Theatre includes: Peter Pan, Be Near Me (NTS); Serenading Louie (Donmar Warehouse); Waste (Almeida); Othello (West End); Elektra (Young Vic); A Christmas Carol, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (Birmingham Rep); As You Like It, Bollywood Jane, Macbeth , How Many Miles to Basra?, West Yorkshire Playhouse); Kes, Season’s Greetings, (Liverpool Playhouse); Amadeus, The Little Fir Tree, Fen, Far Away, Macbeth (Sheffield Theatres); Of Mice and Men (Mercury Theatre, Colchester); A Streetcar Named Desire (Clwyd Theatr Cymru); Zero Degrees and Drifting…, Could It Be Magic? (Unlimited Theatre).

Dance includes: Bruise Blood, Flicker (Shobana Jeyasingh Dance Company); The Land of Yes, The land of No, Square Map of Q4 (Bonachela Dance Company); And Who Shall Come to the Ball? (Candoco); About Around, This Moment is Your Life, The Diminishing Present (bgroup); Odyssey (Krische /Wright); Havana Rakatan (Sadler’s Wells); Mischief (Theatre Rites); No More Ghosts, (Richard Alston Dance Company); Love & War, Sea of Bones, Bad History, Green Apples, Dive (Mark Bruce Company); Frontline, Green in Blue, Little Red, Expression Lines, White Space, Second Signal, Shot Flow (Henri Oguike Dance Company).

Musicals include: The Witches of Eastwick, All the Fun of the Fair, Aspects of Love (UK tours); Assassins (Sheffield Theatres);My Fair Lady (Singapore); City of Angels
(Frankfurt).

Training: Scholarship to Guildhall School of Music and Drama; now private study with Janice Chapman and coaching with Linnhe Robertson.

Roles at college include: Despina (COSI FAN TUTTE – Mozart); Juliette (ROMEO ET JULIETTE – Gounod)

OPERA and OPERETTA roles: Josephine (HMS PINAFORE); Ophelia (HAMLET (Ambroise Thomas)); Mabel (THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE); Christine (THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA)

CONCERT AND RECORDINGS: A NIGHT AT THE OPERA – tour with Jonathan Ansell. Guest singer for Prince Albert of Monaco at the Ritz, London.
Soprano soloist at Colston Hall Bristol and the Royal Albert Hall London for Remembrance Day. Recorded a duet album with Bjorn Casapietra, produced by BMG, which got to No. 3 in the Classical charts. Performed at Wells Cathedral at the direct request of the Prince of Wales. Soprano soloist in Haydn’s Nelson Mass with CBSO under Sir Simon Rattle. Soprano soloist in Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis under Sir Colin Davis at the Barbican. New album of operatic arias to be released shortly.

Charlotte Page studied at the Royal Academy of Music in London.

Operatic engagements include First Niece PETER GRIMES for the Royal Opera Covent Garden at the Savonlinna Festival and in Peter Stein’s production for Welsh National Opera, Gretel HÄNSEL UND GRETEL for Welsh National Opera and Opera Northern Ireland, Yum-Yum THE MIKADO, Mabel THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE and Phyllis IOLANTHE for D’Oyly Carte Opera, Elsie Maynard YEOMAN OF THE GUARD, Title Role PATIENCE, Phyllis IOLANTHE, Yum-Yum THE MIKADO and Josephine HMS PINAFORE for Carl Rosa Opera on tour throughout the United States, Polly Peachum THE BEGGAR’S OPERA for Central Festival Opera, Jenny THE THREEPENNY OPERA for The Opera Group, Adele DIE FLEDERMAUS and Norina DON PASQUALE for Crystal Clear Opera, Zerlina DON GIOVANNI for Pimlico Opera, THE ROSWELL INCIDENT for Music Theatre Wales, title-role LA BELLE HÉLÈNE for Court Opera at Holland Park, Galatea ACIS & GALATEA for the English Bach Festival at the Linbury Studio Theatre, Royal Opera House, Despina COSÌ FAN TUTTE, Nora RIDERS TO THE SEA, Adina L’ELISIR D’AMORE, Boy Philip in Andrew Gant’s THE BASEMENT ROOM, Pamina DIE ZAUBERFLÖTE, Cherubino LE NOZZE DI FIGARO, Climene L’EGISTO, title role LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR for Haddo House Opera, Paquette CANDIDE for The Opera Group, Casilda THE GONDOLIERS, Rose Maybud RUDDIGORE, Yum-Yum and Mabel for the Buxton Gilbert and Sullivan Festival Mahler 4th Symphony for Cernier Festival, Viennese Concerts for Raymond Gubbay, Adele DIE FLEDERMAUS and Valencienne THE MERRY WIDOW for Opera Holland Park, Doll in Daron Hagen’s VERA OF LAS VEGAS for Opera Theatre Company Miss Rowan LET’S MAKE AN OPERA, Mimi LA BOHEME for Opera Project, Rowan THE LITTLE SWEEP for Aldeburgh Festival and Mrs Jones & Nurse Maid STREET SCENE for the Opera Group at the Young Vic Theatre

Charlotte also starred as Christine PHANTOM OF THE OPERA at Her Majesty’s Theatre, London for eighteen months and recently Mrs Nordstrom in Sir Trevor Nunn’s new production of A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC at the Menier Chocolate Factory. Foreign engagements include Yum Yum, Phyllis and Josephine on tour in US with Carl Rosa Opera, Mélisande PELLÉAS ET MÉLISANDE for Atelier Lyrique, Orleans on tour throughout France, Aldimira ERISMENA for Opera Theatre Company in Ireland, at the City of London, Buxton and Aldeburgh Festivals and concerts in Tokyo.

Engagements in 2010 include Mrs Jones & Nurse Maid STREET SCENE for Opéra de Toulon.

Joe was born in Leigh, Lancashire, and studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. He has performed principally with the D’Oyly Carte Opera Company, and has played the roles of Nanki-Poo, (The Mikado) at the Savoy Theatre, at the Royal Festival Hall, and on U.K. tour, Pelegrin and Armand Brissard (The Count of Luxembourg), and Ralph, (H.M.S. Pinafore) at the Savoy Theatre, on U.K. tour, and, at the Schubert Theatre in New Haven, Connecticut. He also took part in their educational workshops of ‘Mikado’, ‘Iolanthe’, ‘Trial by Jury’ and ‘Patience’ and is a regular soloist in their ‘A La Carte’ concerts.

Previous engagements include: Lippo Fiorentino (Street Scene) for the Opera Group at the Young Vic, Watford Palace and Buxton Opera House, Basilio (The Marriage of Figaro) for Savoy Opera; Marco (The Gondoliers) and Bertie (the Water Babies) at Chichester Festival Theatre season; Box (Cox & Box) & Ralph (H.M.S. Pinafore) for the G&S Opera Co. at Buxton Opera House; Autumn (The Fairy Queen) English Bach Festival at the Linbury Studio, Covent Garden and Ralph (H.M.S. Pinafore) for Opera Della Luna and Trevelyan (One Day, Two Dawns) for English Touring Opera Other roles include Don Curzio and Don Basilio (Nozze di Figaro), Il Notaro (Don Pasquale), Conte di Lerma and Don Carlos (Don Carlos), Eisenstein and Blind (Die Fledermaus), Goro (Madame Butterfly), Parpignol (La Boheme), Ruiz (Il Trovatore), Defendant (A Policeman’s Lot/Trial by Jury) and Frederic (Pirates of Penzance).

Other theatre credits include Ko-Ko (The Hot Mikado) Theatre Royal, Brighton, Joe/Josephine/Shell Oil Jnr (Sugar) Wimbledon Theatre, Mr Emanuelli (Once a Catholic) Jacksons Lane, and Daisy (Baby with the Bathwater) Duke of Cambridge.

On the concert platform he has performed in the U.K. for the National Concert Orchestra, the New London Sinfonia, the London Salon Ensemble, Opera Interludes, Hatstand Opera, Pavilion Opera, and for First Act Opera in the U.K. and U.S., the D’Oyly Carte in the U.K. and Egypt and the Concordia foundation in Rangoon. He has performed on a number of cruises for Swan Hellenic, with Opera Interludes for Noble Caledonia and with the Concordia Foundation on the QE2.

Engagements in 2010 include Lippo Fiorentino (Street Scene) for Opéra de Toulon and Antonio (Duenna) for English Touring Opera.

London-born Adrian Thompson is an artist of extraordinary versatility with a wide-ranging opera, concert and recital repertoire of works from the renaissance to the present day. He trained at The Guildhall School of Music and Drama where he is now a professor of vocal studies.

His opera appearances have included the title role of Peter Grimes, Skuratov from The House Of The Dead and Canio I Pagliacci for Oper Frankfurt; Snout A Midsummer Night’s Dream for Teatro alla Scala, Milan; Monostatos in Die Zauberflöte, 1st Jew in Salome, Arv in Nielsen’s Maskarade and Valzacchi Der Rosenkavalier at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden; Florestan Fidelio and Scribe Khovanshchina for Welsh National Opera, Prologue The Turn of the Screw, Michael Jarrell’s Galilée and Rev. Adams Peter Grimes (Runnicles) for Grand Théâtre de Genève, Albert Gregor The Makropoulos Case, Erik Der Fliegende Holländer and Laca Jenufa for Opera Zuid; the title role of Janacek’s The Diary of One who Disappeared both in Brussels and the Aix-en-Provence Festival; Zivny in Janacek’s Osud and Midas in Die Liebe Der Danae for Garsington Opera as well as concert performances as Grigory Boris Godunov at The Brighton Festival and Bacchus Ariadne Auf Naxos at The Barbican. He has also performed with Glyndebourne Festival Opera, English National Opera, Scottish Opera, Opera du Rhin, Badisches Staatstheater, Karlsruhe, Oper der Stadt Köln, Staatstheater Stuttgart, Staatstheater Darmstadt, at the Bregenz Festival, Théâtre des Champs Elysées, New Israeli Opera, and The Netherlands Opera. Recent engagements include Mime Das Rheingold for Nationale Reisopera, Dream of Gerontius at the Royal Festival Hall and Birmingham Symphony Hall and War Requiem at the Barbican Centre.

Adrian Thompson has performed with all the major British orchestras and ensembles and his overseas engagements have taken him all over the world. During his career he has worked with many distinguished conductors: Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Trevor Pinnock, Harry Christophers, Sir Andrew Davis, Richard Hickox, Sir Colin Davis and Philippe Herreweghe. In the contemporary field he has performed Lutoslawski’s Paroles Tisées with Oliver Knussen and The London Sinfonietta, recorded Judith WeIr’s A Night at the Chinese Opera and given many first performances of works by British and European composers. His recent concert highlights include Janacek’s Glagolitic Mass with the Hallé Orchestra/Mark Elder and Elgar Dream of Gerontius with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra/Christopher Seaman. He is particularly associated with the works of Britten and Elgar and his repertoire also includes Beethoven 9th Symphony, Verdi Requiem and Mahler Das Lied von der Erde as well as the Evangelists of Bach’s St John and St Matthew Passions.

A very experienced recitalist, Adrian Thompson has made many appearances at the Wigmore Hall and at festivals in the UK and Europe with pianists Graham Johnson, Iain Burnside and Roger Vignoles and harpist Ossian Ellis, also appearing in recital recently with Roger Braun at the Concertgebouw. He has recorded discs of works by Vaughan Williams and Gurney, a volume in the acclaimed Complete Schubert Edition and Janácek’s The Eternal Gospel with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra for Hyperion, Warlock’s The Curlew for Collins Classics and Schubert’s Die Schöne Müllerin for Pickwick. He appears on Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream for Virgin Classics, Vaughan Williams’ The Pilgrim’s Progress, Sir John in Love for Chandos and in Handel’s Rodelinda for Virgin Classics. His discography also includes Britten’s Serenade, Les Illuminations and Nocturne and Mendelssohn’s Lobegesang for Naxos.

Engagements in 2010 include Vitek The Makropulos Case for Angers/Nantes Opera, 1st Jew Salome for the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, The Kingdom at the Three Choirs Festival and Dream of Gerontius for Ex Cathedra. Subsequent engagements include Mao Nixon in China in Toronto, Esslinger Die Meistersinger at Glyndebourne Festival and Mime Siegfried for the Nationale Reisopera.