Ayrshire Arts Network
Creative Spaces ~ Press release ~ Opera Masterclass with Elizabeth Connell
Ayrshire Arts Network will present “Creative Spaces” in Ayr Town Hall
on Saturday 5th June, 2010. The event will include an Arts Information
Fair, open throughout the day, featuring a variety of professional artists
and makers. Many of the local cultural groups, including the National
Trust for Scotland’s Burns Heritage Park will be publicising their activities.
The key event in the afternoon programme will be an Opera Masterclass
with the renowned international singer Elizabeth Connell working with
young singers commencing their professional careers in Scotland. The
class will be held on June 5th, 2010, from 2.30 until 5.30pm in the Recital
Room at Ayr Town Hall. The class will explore roles from the Italian
and German repertoire.
Elizabeth Connell is recognised as one of the world’s leading dramatic
sopranos. Following her debut at Wexford Opera Festival in 1972
she sang at the opening of the Sydney Opera House in War and Peace in
1973, and has continued to have a special relationship with Opera Australia
ever since. Following a five-year association with English National
Opera she has been a freelance artist with the major opera houses throughout
the world.
In December 2008 Elizabeth Connell had a triumphant success in the title
role at the opening night of Turandot at the Royal
Opera House, Covent Garden. Her 2010 performances include Elektra in
Auckland as well as a solo recital in London St John's Smith Square.
In April 2011 she will be returning to Opera Australia in Melbourne for
Verdi's Macbeth.
The six singers taking part in the class include:-
Marie Claire Breen (soprano). Born in Saltcoats, Marie Claire is currently
on the Master of Music (Opera) course at the Royal Scottish Academy of
Music and Drama, under the tuition of Patricia Hay. She recently completed
a tour of Washington DC, performing and recording duets with trumpet
virtuoso and RSAMD Principal, John Wallace. She will have a leading
role in Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro at the RSAMD in June.
Jemma Brown (mezzo soprano) was a music scholar at St Leonards School,
St Andrews, before obtaining a BMus (hons) from the University of Glasgow
in 2007, studying with Patricia MacMahon.
She graduated in 2008 with a Postgraduate Diploma and in 2009 with a
Master of Music in performance. Jemma sang the world premiere of Kirsty
Blackwood’s These Delicious Promptings, which was commissioned as a collaboration
with visual artist Anna Henson, at the 2008 Glasgow International Visual
Arts Festival.
Elin Pritchard (soprano) gained her Bachelor of Music with Honours in
2007 and completed the Post-Graduate Diploma course at the Royal Welsh
College of Music and Drama in July 2009. She now studies with Patricia
Hay and Judith Howarth on the Opera Course at the Royal Scottish Academy
of Music and Drama. In June 2010 Elin will perform the role of Countess
Almaviva for RSAMD and will cover Mimi, La Boheme, for British
Youth Opera in September 2010.
Fiona Scott (soprano) was born in Preston, Lancashire. A former
student at the Royal Northern College of Music, she has just completed
the Opera School of the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, studying
with Patricia Hay. Fiona was the recipient of the Dame Eva Turner
Award for Dramatic Sopranos (RNCM) and the Wagner Society of Scotland
Bayreuth Bursary for 2008. She recently reached the Semi Finals
of the 6th International Richard Wagner's Neue Stimmen (Bayreuth & Karlsruhe).
Bjartmar Sigurdsson (tenor) was born in Reykjavík, Iceland. It was
not until the age of 28 that he realized the potential to become a classical
singer and he began to study privately with teachers in Iceland and in
the UK. In 2007 Bjartmar moved to Glasgow where he completed a Postgraduate
Diploma in Opera Studies. He is now in his second year of a two year
Masters course in Opera, studying with Stephen Robertson. In 2009 Bjartmar
was granted the Wagner Scholarship from the Wagner Society in Edinburgh,
Scotland
Adam Laslett (Repetiteur), from Australia, will accompany the performers.
Adam Laslett is pursuing a Masters in opera repetiteur studies at the
Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow. He has worked
professionally as repetiteur, most often for contemporary opera such
as Michael Berkeley’s Jane Eyre, and plays regularly for gala
concerts, masterclasses and competitions. He has performed as an
associate artist with singers, instrumentalists and choruses in Australia,
the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, the USA and New Zealand
The South American baritone, Michel de Souza, will also participate
in the masterclass. He will be appearing in a production of Mozart’s Marriage
of Figaro at the Royal Scottish Academy later in the month.
Creative Spaces received financial support from Awards for All Scotland
(Lottery Funding) and South Ayrshire Council.
For further information on the seminar and other events, please visit our website at www.ayrshirearts.com or address inquiries to creativespaces@ayrshirearts.com
MB 29/05/2010
Summary
Creative Spaces
Ayr Town Hall, New Bridge
Street, Ayr
5th June, 2010, 1030 – 1730
Free Admission
Arts and Information Fair throughout the day
Visual Arts Seminar 11am – 1pm
Contemporary Scots Writing 1.30 – 3.30pm
Opera Masterclass 2.30 – 5.30pm.
Website www.ayrshireart.com
~ inquiries creativespaces@ayrshireart.com
Note for Editors
Ayrshire Arts Network’s aim is to raise
the profile of all arts in the area, to identify and represent the needs
and wishes of artists and audiences alike and to generate a more dynamic
and active cultural environment.
Objectives
- To encourage, support and develop long term and strategic planning for the arts in Ayrshire
- To liaise with the amateur, voluntary and professional organisations and practitioners within the arts, and other relevant sectors
- To locate arts practitioners in the area and create and maintain a database
- To encourage and develop networking and training opportunities
- To ensure that the needs and wishes of audiences and participants in the arts are represented
- To improve facilities for the arts in Ayrshire including arts centres and studio provision/ facilities for practitioners
- For further information about AAN, dates of meetings, forthcoming workshops and events go to www.ayrshirearts.com