We are very excited to be joined in the concert by four talented soloists.
Born in Wolverhampton, Claire Seaton studied at the Birmingham School of Music, at the Royal Academy of Music with Rae Woodland and Kenneth Bowen, and subsequently with Linda Esther-Grey. She joined Kent Opera during her final year at the Academy, was awarded the Wessex Glyndebourne Association Prize in 1998 and in 1999 made her Glyndebourne Festival Opera debut singing the role of Vitellia (La Clemenza di Tito). Further engagements at Glyndebourne included covering the roles of Ellen (Peter Grimes) and the Countess (Le Nozze di Figaro), followed by contracts with Opera de Lyon and Opera Europa. Claire’s work in the early music field includes performances with The Tallis Scholars and the Gabrieli Consort, with whom she made her BBC Proms debut in Handel’s Dixit Dominus. She has also recorded the soprano solos in Allegri’s Miserere for Regent Records.
Claire’s oratorio experience includes performances of Verdi’s Requiem, Brahms’ Requiem and Mozart’s C Minor Mass. Recent engagements have included Strauss’s Four Last Songs in Sherborne Abbey and Mahler’s Symphony No 8 at the Royal Albert Hall with the RPO. In addition to the Allegri, Claire’s discography includes the role of The Believer in Rutland Boughton’s Bethlehem for Naxos, Brahms’ Deutsche Requiem with Jeremy Backhouse and the Vasari Singers for Guild, and the world premiere of Jonathan Dove’s The Far Theatricals of Day with Nicholas Cleobury.
Kate Symonds-Joy was educated at Cambridge University, where she graduated with a First Class Music degree from Gonville and Caius College. She then studied on the Royal Academy Opera course with Lillian Watson and Audrey Hyland, graduating with a DipRAM and the Charles Norman Prize. She was the winner of the 2011 Thelma King Vocal Award and was awarded the Basil A Turner Prize for her role Bianca in Britten’s The Rape of Lucretia for BYO.
Operatic roles include Mrs Herring in Britten’s Albert Herring for Britten Pears in Aldeburgh, Wild Girl in Delius’ A Village Romeo and Juliet for Wexford Festival Opera, Britten Noye’s Fludde in the Thaxted Festival, Dorabella in Mozart’s Cosi fan Tutte for RAO, Koukouli in Chabrier’s L’Etoile for Sir John Eliot Gardiner at the Opera Comique Paris, the title role in Bizet’s Carmen for Regents and Kentish Opera, Medea in Cavalli’s Giasone for RAO conducted by Jane Glover, Ino in Handel’s Semele for RAO with Sir Charles Mackerras, and Florence Pike in Britten’s Albert Herring for RAO directed by John Copley.
Concert work includes Rutter’s Feel the Spirit at the Barbican, Mahler’s 2nd Symphony in Cadogan Hall, a recording of Giles Swayne’s Stabat Mater for NAXOS, Handel’s Messiah with Bordeaux Opera, Berlioz’ Nuits d’ete with the Haydn Chamber Orchestra, Mozart’s Requiem in Snape Maltings and extracts as Carmen with Sir John Eliot Gardiner and the Monteverdi Choir at LSO St Luke’s. Recent recitals include the Wigmore Hall as part of the Royal Academy Song Circle and ‘Cautionary Tales for the Nice and Naughty’ in the ‘For Crying out Loud’ scheme, Janacek's Diary of One who Disappeared at Kings Place, Ravel’s Chansons Madecasses at the Purcell Room, Schumann Lieder with Malcolm Martineau on the Britten-Pears Young Artist Programme, Berio’s Sequenza III in the Norfolk and Norwich Festival and Berio Folksongs with the Psappha Ensemble.
Future projects include Bach with Solomon's Knot in the Aldeburgh Festival and Tryptich: for five solo singers, video and electronics in the Spitalfields Festival.
Daniel Joy studied music at Durham University where he gained a first class music degree, was awarded the Eve Myra Kisch Price Prize for outstanding academic achievement and was a choral scholar at Durham Cathedral, before studying on the postgraduate vocal course at The Royal College of Music, and recently graduated with distinction from the opera course at Guildhall School of Music and Drama.
Daniel made his professional stage debut as Kozak in Statkowski's Maria for Wexford Festival Opera, also broadcast on BBC, Schweizer Radio DRS and RTE Radio Ireland. He has returned to Wexford to perform The Poor Horn Player (Delius' A Village Romeo and Juliet) and Gherardo (Gianni Schicchi), the title role in Albert Herring at GSMD, covered of various roles in Monteverdi's L'incoronazione di Poppea for Glyndebourne Festival, cover of Cassio (Otello) for Opera North, Adolfo/Gobin/cover Prunier in Puccini’s La Rondine for Opera di Peroni / Go Opera, The Duke (Rigoletto) and Goro (Madama Butterfly) both for Opera Brava, cover of Remendado (Carmen) for Scottish Opera, Alfred (Die Fledermaus) for Kentish opera and the lead role of Jimmy in John Estacio's Lillian Ailing at The Banff Centre, Canada, in a joint production with Vancouver Opera.
Redcent concert performances include Finzi's Dies Natalis (Britten Sinfonia), Handel's Messiah (Cadogan Hall), the Evangelist in Bach's St John Passion (St. Martin-in-the-Fields), Monteverdi's Vespers of 1610 (The English Cornet and Sackbutt Ensemble), Haydn's Missa Sancti Nicolai (Europen Union Chamber Orchestra), Finzi's Intimations of Immortality (West Road Concert Hall, Cambridge), Evangelist and arias in Bach's Christmas Oratorio (Armonico Consort), Britten's St Nicolas (Durham Cathedral), as well as recitals of songs by Tchaikovsky accompanied by Liubov Orfenova, and of madrigals by Monteverdi in Glyndebourne Festival as part of the Jerwood Young Artists Development Scheme.
A former Head Chorister of Westminster Abbey, David Stout studied Zoology at Durham University, sang with the choir of St John’s College, Cambridge University and studied Opera at the GSMD with Rudolf Piernay, where he was recipient of the Principal’s Prize.
His operatic roles include Figaro The Marriage of Figaro, Monterone Rigoletto, Fritz Kothner The Meistersingers of Nürnberg, Pish-Tush The Mikado, Schaunard La Bohème and Zaretski Eugene Onegin (English National Opera); Dr Falke Die Fledermaus, Ping Turandot, Papageno Die Zauberflöte, Le Dancaïre Carmen, Poacher The Cunning Little Vixen and The Buddha Wagner Dream (Welsh National Opera); Robin Oakapple Ruddigore (Opera North); Baron Douphol La Traviata and Flemish Deputy Don Carlos (Royal Opera House, Covent Garden); Angelotti Tosca, Roucher Andrea Chénier, Nikita Das Portrait and Mick Playing Away and Gratiano The Merchant of Venice (Bregenzer Festspiele); Don Juan From the House of the Dead (Teatro Massimo di Palermo); The Dark Fiddler A Village Romeo and Juliet and Axel Oxenstierna Cristina, regina di Svezia (Wexford Festival); Sancho Pança Don Quichotte (Grange Park Opera); Marcello La Bohème (Mid-Wales Opera); Alfio Cavalleria Rusticana (Endellion Festival); Aeneas Dido and Aeneas and Pluto Orfeo (English Touring Opera); the Drunken Poet The Fairy Queen (Brighton Early Music Festival); Hercule Alceste (Chelsea Opera Group).
David has an extensive concert repertoire, including recordings from the NMC Songbook; The Creation with both New College, Oxford and Musica Saeculorum; Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen with Orchestra of the Swan; Mendelssohn Songs with Iain Burnside for BBC Radio 3; Wolf Eichendorff Lieder with Sholto Kynoch; Arthur Sullivan’s The Beauty Stone on Chandos; Donizetti Le Duc d’Albe with Sir Mark Elder and the Hallé Orchestra and Leoncavallo Zaza with Maurizio Benini and the BBC Symphony Orchestra for Opera Rara.
On the concert platform David has performed Handel Messiah, Brahms Requiem, Paolo in Simon Boccanegra and the title role of Falstaff (Hallé Orchestra); Vaughan Williams Sea Symphony (RPO); Walton Belshazzar’s Feast (Royal Festival Hall); Szymanowski Stabat Mater (Derby Bach Choir); Bach Ich habe genug (King’s Place), St John Passion with Polyphony (St John’s, Smith Square), Christus in St Matthew Passion (Endellion Festival) and B Minor Mass (Wells Cathedral); Haydn Nelson Mass and Polyphemus in Acis and Galatea; Mozart Requiem (RPO and Bournemouth Symphony); Beethoven 9th Symphony (Three Choirs Festival) and Missa Solemnis (Gloucester Cathedral); Tippett A Child of Our Time; Rossini Stabat Mater; Orff Carmina Burana (Gustav Mahler Saal); Mendelssohn Elijah; Verdi Requiem (Royal Albert Hall); Elgar The Dream of Gerontius (Bristol Cathedral); Britten War Requiem; Copland Ten Old American Songs and Il Maestro di cappella (Haffner Orchestra); English Comedy Songs (London Song Festival).
