Dead Man Walking
Programme
Please note this production contains adult content, including depictions of and reference to rape, murder and execution; strong language (including references to violence); scenes of physical and emotional abuse; and reference to drug and alcohol abuse. There will also be strobe lighting, haze, on-stage smoking and gun shots.
The performance duration is approximately 2 hours 55 minutes, including one interval.
Act I: 80 minutes
Interval: 20 minutes
Act II: 70 minutes
Please silence mobile phones and other electronic devices during the performance.
If in a dark theatre, please consider fellow audience members by lowering the brightness of your display.
Photography and recording is not permitted during the performance.
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Welcome
‘The truth will set you free’. This is Sister Helen Prejean’s constant plea to Joseph, that he should speak the truth before he is marched to the death chamber. The opera is based on her book of the same name, also made into a film by Tim Robbins, starring Susan Sarandon and Sean Penn. An account of real events, the book describes Sister Helen’s encounters with two particular inmates – Patrick Sonnier and Robert Lee Willie – as they faced the death penalty in Louisiana State Penitentiary in the 1980s. The Joseph De Rocher of the opera is a sort of collage, a hybrid of these two real men, and the events depicted draw directly on Sister Helen’s actual experiences.
A nun who works with children in the ‘projects’, the most challenging areas of deprived New Orleans, Sister Helen is clearly used to dealing with adversity. The most powerful weapon she has in her arsenal to deal with difficult situations seems to be an almost pathological urge to honesty. It carries her through meetings with obstructive priests, corrupt Pardon Board chairmen, incompetent lawyers, and, of course, prisoners who face the death penalty. And interestingly for a nun it is not faith that she asserts to support Joseph, but this abiding belief in the healing power of honesty. She draws deeply on her faith to give her inner strength, but does not require him to subscribe. This generosity and wisdom were palpable when, as a company, we had the privilege to meet both Jake Heggie, the composer, and Sister Helen on a zoom call. At eighty-five, she is still clearly a firebrand campaigner against the death penalty, and her authenticity is both challenging and inspiring by equal measure.
Her position on the death penalty is clear. As a principle, how can a society which teaches its citizens that the way to deal with difficult problems is to kill them, possibly expect those same citizens to behave otherwise? The use of the death penalty as political leverage raises profound questions about the legitimacy of claims of ‘justice for victims’. And in practice, the timescales, uncertainty, botched protocols and abject cruelty of the process itself brutalises and degrades all those involved. She rails against two common misapprehensions: that lethal injection is a simple and efficient medical procedure, when the reality is very much more sordid and prone to painful, bloody and cruel error; and that death of the perpetrator brings ‘closure’ to the victim’s family.
Early on in her work with convicts, she felt very strongly she should have reached out more assertively to the families of victims. This was a mistake she sought to rectify over years of campaigning for support for those who had been impacted by violent crime, while still vigorously fighting against the death penalty. The opera does not directly oppose capital punishment per se, but gives life to the realities behind the tub-thumping. Refracted through Helen’s eyes, it seeks to uncover the humanity trapped inside all of those involved, including the perpetrator. Rather than proselytise, it trusts to Sister Helen’s dictat, ‘the truth will set you free’.
Dead Man Walking has always been, since it’s first performance in 2000, a piece of pressing relevance in the US, and indeed the book sparked a national conversation. Meanwhile, in the last month a new appointee to a very senior British political position has called for the return of the death penalty in the UK. One might wish for the piece to be less timely.
A note about accents: we have approached accents in the production with careful attention to the reality of what one hears on the streets of Louisiana. There is no clear, single Louisiana accent. People from all over the world have made the South their home, and to differing degrees they have absorbed local dialects and inflexions, or clung to the cadences of their origins. We have sought to reflect this variety by channelling a range of accents through our polyglot cast.
Martin Lloyd-Evans
Music by Jake Heggie
Libretto by Terrence McNally
Based on the book by Sister Helen Prejean
This opera was commissioned by San Francisco Opera
By arrangement with Bent Pen Music, Inc.
Sole Agent: Bill Holab Music
Martin Lloyd-Evans director
Dominic Wheeler conductor
Anna Reid designer
Anthony Doran lighting designer
Andy Taylor sound designer
Edie Bailey & Anne Sutton assistant directors
Edwin Spark assistant conductor & chorus master
Kyra Coppini associate designer
Ros Chase associate lighting designer
Aoife Moran chief music coach
Alistair Burton & Michael Rose répétiteurs
Synopsis
Act I
The Louisiana bayou at night
Two teenagers are making out near a lake. Anthony and Joseph De Rocher emerge from the shadows and assault the teens. The girl’s screaming makes the men panic. She is stabbed repeatedly to shut her up, and her boyfriend is shot dead when he tries to intervene.
Hope House
At her mission in New Orleans, Sister Helen, along with Sister Rose and other colleagues, leads the children in a song. As the children leave, Helen reveals she has received a letter from a death row inmate with whom she has been corresponding. He now wants her to visit him. Sister Rose cautions her, but Helen is determined to provide what support she can.
The drive to Angola
On the road to Louisiana State Penitentiary (known as Angola), Sister Helen reflects on the path her life has taken. Distracted, she gets a ticket for speeding before completing her journey, anxious about what, and who, she will encounter.
Outside the prison
Helen is met in the car park by Father Grenville, the prison chaplain. He walks her past the prisoners, and tries to suggest to her that she should just turn around and head straight home, that she is in ‘way over her head’. Provoked by his dismissiveness, Helen asserts that however inexperienced she may be, her mission is one of hope.
The Warden’s office
Father Grenville, rather testily, leaves Sister Helen with the Warden who explains that he believes De Rocher will ask her to become his Spiritual Advisor – an official role created to support convicts who face the death penalty. He describes the role to her, warning her how deceitful men on death row can be. She states clearly that she doesn’t believe in the death penalty.
The walk through death row
Helen is lead past the death row prisoners to the visiting room.
The death row visiting room
Helen meets Joseph De Rocher for the first time. Their conversation is difficult, but De Rocher eventually gets round to asking sister Helen to be his Spiritual Advisor, and to represent him at the Pardon Board.
The Pardon Board
This is the last official hearing which has the power to commute the death sentence. Members of the victims’ families hear testimony from Mrs De Rocher, Joseph’s mother. Her two other sons, half brothers of Joseph, look on as their mother struggles to speak.
Outside the prison
As families of both convict and victims wait outside the death block for the verdict, Sister Helen approaches Owen Hart, father of the murdered girl. He condemns her lack of interest in their loss, and is joined by the other parents who accuse her of not understanding their pain.
The decision of the Pardon Board is read out: the death penalty stands. The only way De Rocher can avoid execution now is if the state governor intercedes on grounds of clemency. Sister Helen is distraught, her sense of simple human duty torn between concern for De Rocher and the searing indictment of the victims’ parents.
The death row visiting room
Sister Helen is late, leaving Joseph feeling abandoned and angry. She urges him to speak frankly about his crime, that the truth will in some way set him free. The guards rush De Rocher away.
Rocked by her encounter with Joseph, Sister Helen tries to get a drink from the vending machine, but she has no change. She hasn’t eaten all day, and her head spins as the clamouring voices of everyone affected by the case scream in her mind. The Warden comes to tell her that the governor has refused clemency, and that a date has been set for De Rocher’s execution. He gives her some money for the machine, but the voices in her head start again, and she collapses.
INTERVAL
Act II
De Rocher’s cell
The guard tells De Rocher that the date for his execution has been set for August 4th. De Rocher reflects on his fate, and, even though he is troubled by memories of his crime, vows never to confess to the authorities.
Sister Helen’s bedroom
Sister Helen’s troubled nightmares have woken up Sister Rose. She urges Helen to stop visiting De Rocher, pointing out that, perhaps, she has not yet found it in herself to forgive him, and this may be the source of her sleeplessness. Rose leaves Helen praying by her bedside for the capacity to forgive.
De Rocher’s cell, August 4th early evening
It is the evening of De Rocher’s execution. Helen and Joseph discover a shared passion for Elvis Presley. She tries again to get him to tell the truth about his crimes, but again he refuses. They are interrupted by the guard who tells De Rocher his family are here to see him. “The beginning of the end” says De Rocher…
The death row visiting room, August 4th late evening
Mrs De Rocher and her sons have come to pay Joe their last visit. He seems to want to talk openly with her, but she clings to her belief that he is innocent. She asks Sister Helen to take a photo of her with her family, reminiscing about when he was a ‘good little boy’. When the guards take De Rocher away to prepare him, she breaks down, calling after him. She thanks Helen for the care she has shown them all and leaves.
Sister Helen is profoundly affected by Mrs De Rocher’s outburst and asks who will support her in the coming hours.
Outside the death house, August 4th 11.30pm
The victims’ parents are gathered for the execution. As they are called in by the guard, Owen Hart hangs back to talk to Sister Helen. He describes himself as a broken man, unable to find any peace since his daughter was murdered, and is less sure than he was about De Rocher’s death bringing any sort of closure. He reveals that he and his wife have separated. While not quite friends, they agree to meet soon, and part as “fellow victims of Joseph De Rocher”.
The holding cell, August 4th 11.45pm
Final preparations are made before the execution. Sister Helen is left alone for the last time with De Rocher, and for the last time she begs him to speak the truth. Finally, he breaks, and tells her the story of the assault and double murder. She urges him to keep his eyes on her, that she will be the face of love for him. He thanks her ‘for loving me’.
The Warden and guards walk De Rocher to the death chamber while Father Grenville recites the Lord’s prayer. We hear voices outside, voices of protesters, of Sister Helen’s colleagues, of the parents and of Joseph’s fellow inmates.
The death chamber
Witnessed by the victims’ parents, Sister Helen and Father Grenville, Joseph is strapped on to the gurney, and the tube from the injection machine is connected to the canula in his arm. The Warden asks De Rocher if he has any final words. Joseph asks for the parents’ forgiveness.
The Warden gives the signal for the execution to proceed, and Joseph dies.
Synopsis by Martin Lloyd-Evans
The Death Penalty
Globally
579 executions were undertaken in 2021 across 18 countries. This excludes China for which confirmed statistics are unavailable. Best estimates are around 1,000.
Of these 579 confirmed executions, 24 (4%) were women.
The US sits eighth on the table listed by number of executions.
In the US
31 US states have the death penalty on their statutes, with 5 still actively pursuing execution.
In 1976, the Supreme Court in Gregg v. Georgia ruled that the death penalty under certain mitigating and aggravating circumstances was constitutional. For the first time since 1968 executions took place.
1564 executions (17 of which were women) have taken place in the US since 1976. 22 defendants have been executed for offences committed as juveniles. A minimum of 191 (over 12%) of those executed have since been proved innocent , largely through improvements in DNA forensics.
In Texas (by far the most prolific state for executions), a death penalty case costs an average of $2.3 million, about three times the cost of imprisoning someone in a single cell at the highest security level for 40 years.
The Penal System
The US has the highest rate of incarceration in the world. It has over 2 million prisoners, 1 in 7 of whom are serving life sentences.
Black youth are over four times as likely to be detained or committed in juvenile facilities as their white peers.
Louisiana State Penitentiary is the largest in the US with a population of 6,300 inmates and 1800 staff. It covers an area 25% larger than Manhattan and has its own airstrip.
It is built on the site of a plantation and has the nickname ‘Angola’ because the vast majority of the slaves who worked the plantation came from Angola.
Black defendants are around 3.5 times more likely to receive the death sentence than equivalent white defendants.
Where the victims of the crime are white, the death penalty is 3 times more likely to be imposed than where the victims are black.
The death sentence is a penalty for the poor. Over 95% of defendants on death row come from disadvantaged economic backgrounds.
There is no measurable deterrent to violent crime. The vast majority of violent crime in the US happens in states who support the death penalty.
The process
11 executions took place in the US in 2021, 20 in 2022.
Of these 20, 7 (35%) were visibly problematic, either through executioner incompetence, failure to follow protocols or problems with the protocols themselves.
The law requires attendance of medical personnel at all executions. Paradoxically, to assist in an execution is a broach of the Hippocratic oath. States often struggle to find appropriately trained medical personnel. A recent case in Arizona saw the medical staff making several attempts over an hour to find a viable vein site for the canula. The prisoner was returned to his cell covered in wounds until the following day.
Lethal injection usually involves the automatic administering of three drugs: an anaesthetic, a muscle relaxant and finally a drug which is intended to stop the heart. Death ultimately is caused by cardiac arrest.
Due to drug shortages and bans, however, many states are using substitute chemicals that have led to protracted executions lasting from 5 minutes to 2 hours.
There is a telephone in the death chamber. The last hope for a stay of execution is on the grounds of clemency. Only the state governor has this power.
Sources
Amnesty International
Nbc news
DPIC – Death Penalty Information Centre
Sentencingproject.org
Worldcoalition.org
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Cast
Sister Helen
Alexandra Meier (27 February & 3 March)
Alexandra Achillea Pouta (1 & 6 March)
Sister Rose
Lorna McLean (27 February & 3 March)
Faryl Smith (1 & 6 March)
Joseph de Rocher
Michael Lafferty-Smith (27 February & 3 March)
Patrick Dow (1 & 6 March)
Joseph’s Mother
Nancy Holt
Father Grenville
Mark Christian Bautista (27 February & 3 March)
Jack Dolan (1 & 6 March)
Kitty
Louisa Stirland (27 February & 3 March)
Inguna Morozova (1 & 6 March)
Sister Catherine
Inguna Morozova (27 February & 3 March)
Louisa Stirland (1 & 6 March)
Sister Lilliane
Lorna McLean (27 February & 3 March)
Faryl Smith (1 & 6 March)
Owen
Jonathan Eyers
Jade
Rachel Roper
Howard
Jack Dolan (27 February & 3 March)
Mark Christian Bautista (1 & 6 March)
Prison Warden
Alaric Green
Guard 1
Emyr Lloyd Jones
Guard 2
Jacob Harrison
Motorcycle Cop
Jack Dolan (27 February & 3 March)
Mark Christian Bautista (1 & 6 March)
First Mother
Zoë Jackson
Mrs Charlton
Florence Cain
Younger Son
Charles Secombe
Older Son
Jacob Cole
Five solo inmates
Tom Lidgley
Hector Bloggs
Robert Lydon
Alex Harpum
Ed Birchinall
Teenage Girl
Maud Niklas
Teenage Boy
Charles Secombe
Anthony De Rocher
Ed Birchinall
Paralegal
Cecilia Cole
Jinny
Julia Guix-Estrada
Chorus
Cecilia Cole
Florence Cain
Amanda Frisendahl
Zoë Jackson
Andrea Manuel
Maud Niklas
Honor Wines
Jacob Cole
Ed Birchinall
Hector Bloggs
Alexander Harpum
Thomas Lidgley
Robert Lydon
Charles Secombe
Children’s Chorus
Molly Baker
Izzy Dawson
Júlia Guix-Estrada
Bori Gunyits
Lily McNeill
Tabitha Jane Smart
Sophie Whelan
Production Team
Production Arts Students
Production Management
Production Manager
Jamie Hulme
Production Assistant & Automation Operator
Charlotte Munro
Production Assistant
Nick Dyne
Stage Management
Stage Manager
Beri Valentine
Deputy Stage Manager
Qian Yan Tan
Stage Management Props Supervisor
Rylee McDaniel
Assistant Stage Manager
Eva Gaidoni
Assistant Stage Manager
El Harper
Rehearsal Assistant Stage Manager
Pete Reavey
Stage Crew
Amy Jacobs
Zara Kinkade
Brook Richardson
Dallas Thompson
Technical Management
Technical Manager
Finley Wellspring
Technical Assistant
Charlotte Munro
Technical Assistant
Nick Dyne
Lighting
Production Electrician
Oliver Brown
Lighting Programmer/Operator
Stanley Olden
Lighting Programmer/Operator
David Csogor
Sound
Production Sound Engineer
Dan Robinson
Construction
Construction Manager
Fran Johnson
Assistant Scenic Carpenter
Emily Cave
Assistant Scenic Carpenter
Georgie Sunter
Props
Props Coordinator
Issy Jordan
Assistant Prop Maker
Aleyna Feran
Assistant Prop Maker
Abbie Hardcastle
Scenic Art
Scenic Art Co-ordinator
Ema Soares Da Cunha
Assistant Scenic Artist
Shaunna Cheriton
Assistant Scenic Artist
Katie Ranson
Costume
Dressers
EJ Fosuhene
Agatha Giannini
Wigs, Hair and Makeup
Wigs, Hair and Makeup
Debbie Purkiss
Wigs, Hair and Makeup
Lucia Mameli
Supertitle operators
Jan Robotycki
Bekah Tunnell
Additional Staff
Production Management Staff Supervisor
Julia Bermingham
Technical Management Staff Supervisor
Alastair Pullan
Stage Management Staff Supervisor
Caroline Moores
Assistant Stage Manager
Juliet Hague
Lighting Supervisor
Nick Peel
Lighting Supervisor
Jon Armstrong
Theatre Technology Assistant
Ben Collins
Sound Supervisor
Andy Taylor
Construction Staff Supervisor
Matthew Farley
Prop Making Lecturer
Aurelie Clark
Scenic Art Lecturer
Vanessa Cass
Wardrobe Supervisor
Alice Dearman
Costume Supervisor
Evelien Van Camp
Costume Assistant
Chloe Ivey-Ray
Wigs, Hair and Makeup
Debbie Purkiss
Wigs, Hair and Makeup
Lucia Mameli
Accent coach
Paula Anglin
Opera Department Manager
Steven Gietzen
Vocal Department Manager
Michael Wardell
Music Concert Programmes Administrator
Lindsey Eastham
Guildhall School Production Arts Department
Vice-Principal & Director of Production Arts
Andy Lavender
Programme Leader
Gill Allen
Programme Leader, BA Digital Design & Production (formerly BA Video Design for Live Performance); Head of Theatre Technology
Andy Taylor
Programme Leader, MA Collaborative Theatre Production & Design
Emily Orley
Head of Costume
Rachel Young
Head of Design Realisation
Vanessa Cass
Head of Stage Management
Helen Barratt
Associate Producer
Stuart Calder
Outreach Manager (Production Arts)
Jon Hare
A full list of Production Arts teaching staff and technicians can be found on our website.
Orchestra
Violin I
Maris Pilgrim*
Maja Uzarska
Ludwika Borowska
Malena Benavent
Rowan Dymott
Maria Jimenez Valles
Evan Lawrence
Violin II
Madeleine Dawson*
Ola Lenkiewicz
Sofía Muñiz Mejuto
Damian Dimitrov
Nia Lecheva
Laura Hussey
Viola
Hugo Haag*
Jake Montgomery-Smith
Sirma Baramova
Sean Lee
Cello
Nia Williams*
Harry Everitt
Josh Lucas
Daniel Mihailiuc
Double Bass
Georgia Lloyd*
Gabriel MacIel Rodrigues
Melisande Lochak
Flute
Lucy Walsh*
Stratty Ryan (piccolo)
Oboe
Stefani Trandafilova*
Theo Chapple (cor anglais)
Clarinet
Jonny Ainscough*
Lily Payne (bass clarinet)
Bassoon
Paddy Kearney*
Maria O’Dea (contrabassoon)
Horn
Jack Reilly*
Sarah Pennington
Trumpet
Lucas Houldcroft*
Seb Carpenter
Trombone
James Bruce
Bass Trombone
Ben Pritchard
Timpani
Lauren Bye
Percussion
Reuben Hesser*
Ava Kinninmonth
Harp
Heather Brooks
Piano
27 February & 3 March:
Alistair Burton
1 March & 6 March:
Michael Rose
Ensembles, Programming & Instrument Manager
Phil Sizer
Orchestra Librarian
Anthony Wilson
Music Stage Supervisors
Shakeel Mohammed
Louis Baily
* Denotes section principal
Biographies
Dominic Wheeler
conductor
Operatic credits Das Rheingold, Siegfried, War and Peace, The Trojans and The Turk in Italy (ENO); The Barber of Seville (ENO and ON); L’elisir d’amore (ON); Don Giovanni (ON, SO and Batignano Festival); Alceste (SO and Opera de Nice); Manon (New Zealand Opera); A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Hungarian State Opera); Il tabarro and Gianni Schicchi (New National Theatre, Tokyo); Curlew River (Geidai Arts, Tokyo); Echo and Narcissus by Stuart Macrae and Gentle Giant by Stephen McNeff (ROH2 at the Linbury - both world premieres); The Sofa/The Departure by Maconchy (Independent Opera at Sadler’s Wells); recordings for Chandos Pelléas et Mélisande (shortlisted for RPS Opera Award); productions for RAO, ETO, OHP, Chelsea Opera Group and Batignano Festival.
Guildhall School productions The Angel Esmeralda (world premiere), A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Così fan tutte, The Long Christmas Dinner, A Dinner Engagement, Dialogues des Carmélites, The Tale of Januarie (world premiere), Mavra and Iolanta, The Rape of Lucretia, The Cunning Peasant, The Adventures of Pinocchio, The Little Green Swallow Dove (UK premiere), Le nozze di Figaro and Owen Wingrave with the Banff Centre (Canadian premiere).
Orchestral and choral credits Philharmonia Orchestra, BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, RPO, BSO and Chorus, BBC Concert Orchestra, BBC Proms 2014, BBC Singers, ECO, London Mozart Players, Northern Sinfonia, City of London Sinfonia, Sinfonia Viva, Orchestre de l’Opera National de Bordeaux, Tokyo Mozart Players, EUYO, Hong Kong Sinfonietta.
Future plans concerts at Lichfield and Three Choirs Festivals, National Children’s Orchestra and London Schools Symphony Orchestra. Opera engagements in Florence and South Africa.
Martin Lloyd-Evans
director
Guildhall School productions Miss Fortune, The Little Green Swallow, The Angel Esmeralda (world premiere), A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Dialogues des Carmélites, The Tale of Januarie (world premiere) and Capriccio and The Aspern Papers (UK premiere and RPS Award nominee).
Other Credits Le nozze di Figaro, Andrea Chénier, The Queen of Spades, La Wally, Gianni Schicchi, Zanetto, I gioielli della Madonna, Adriana Lecouvreur, Il tabaroo, Die Fledermaus, La rondine and Isabeau (Opera Holland Park); The Rape of Lucretia, Flight (British Youth Opera); The Grange Festival, Clonter Opera, Scottish Opera, Holland Opera, Operosa, Classical Opera Company at Sadler’s Wells, Garden Opera and Penang State Festival. Theatrical credits include The Russian Doctor, The Articulate Hand, Wellcome Trust and TEDMED; Wallace and Gromit: Alive on Stage.
Anna Reid
designer
Guildhall School productions Miss Fortune, The Telephone, The Little Green Swallow (associate to Dick Bird), Opera Scenes Autumn 2019 and 2020 for the Opera Department. Jackal Run, All Your Houses for the Drama Department.
Other design credits For Black Boys Who Have Considered Suicide When The Hue Gets Too Heavy (Apollo Theatre/Royal Court Theatre); Accidental Death of An Anarchist (Lyric Hammersmith/Sheffield Crucible); The Memory of Water, Cash Cow, Paradise, The Hoes (Hampstead Theatre); The Ministry of Lesbian Affairs, SESSIONS, Soft Animals, Fury (Soho Theatre); Dust (New York Theatre Workshop); Four Minutes Twelve Seconds, The Kitchen Sink, Jumpers for Goalposts (Oldham Coliseum); Our Country's Good, A Midsummer Night's Dream (Tobacco Factory Theatres). She has also designed productions for Wilton’s Music Hall; Jermyn Street Theatre; Southwark Playhouse; Finborough Theatre; The Bunker; Park Theatre; Trafalgar Studios and Live Theatre Newcastle.
In 2017 Anna was selected to represent the UK as an emerging designer at World Stage Design in Taipei.
Anthony Doran
lighting designer
Design credits The Telephone and Miss Fortune (Guildhall); Not the End of the World, Orlando, Shaddows (Eurydice Speaks) (Schaubühne); The Malady of Death (Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord); Bluets and The Cherry Orchard (Schauspielhaus); Norma Jeane Baker of Troy (The Shed); Scrounger and Late Night Staring at High Res Pixels (The Finborough Theatre); Killing It (Ameena Hamid Productions); A Colder Water (The Vaults); Asymptote (Jack Philp Dance).
Associate credits Kubla Khan (Oily Cart); The Greatest Play (Tara Finney Productions); Forbidden Zone (Schaubühne).
Andy Taylor
sound designer
Guildhall School Head of Theatre Technology and Programme Leader for the BA (Hons) Digital Design & Production.
Compositions include Magna Carta (GLE, 2015); Great Expectations (dir. Christian Burgess, 2016); Shakespeare 400 (GLE, 2016) and Love & Information (dir. Pooja Ghai, 2021).
Sound Design credits include The hour we knew nothing of each other (dir. Sue Lefton, 2013); Machinal (dir. Edd Dick, 2015); Who Do We Think We Are (dir. Sue Lefton 2017) and Gut (dir. Kate Budgen, 2020).
Additional experience working in various music recording studios (including CTS, Lansdowne, Strongroom, Whitfield Street and Abbey Road) recording a variety of film and TV scores with composers such as Hans Zimmer, Trevor Jones and Alan Silvestri; and albums with artists such as Stan Tracey, Tina May, Anthony Newley, The Muppets and Shirley Bassey.
Aoife Moran
chief music coach
Guildhall School Fellow
Répétiteur experience Der Zar lässt sich Photografieren, Miss Fortune, The Telephone (Guildhall School); Sir John in Love (British Youth Opera), Acis and Galatea (TU Dublin Operatic Society).
Future plans Guildhall School opera summer 2023; Wexford Festival Opera Young Artist Programme 2023.
Edie Bailey
assistant director
Guildhall School Fellow
Operatic experience as assistant director and stage manager includes Il barbiere di Siviglia (King’s College London); Gianni Schicchi (Bridewell Theatre, the King’s Head Theatre); Le Nozze di Figaro (Saluzzo Opera Academy, dir. Nina Brazier); and two terms of opera scenes at Morley Opera Academy working with Ashley Dean and Gidon Saks. While studying at university Edie also directed a production of Die Zauberflöte.
Future plans Guildhall Opera Makers production summer 2023.
Anne Sutton
assistant director
Guildhall Assistant Director Fellow
Directing credits A Copper Complication and the Opera by American Women Workshop (Royal Academy of Music); Patience (University of Maryland) and The Tomb of Beauty (Peabody Conservatory New Work Festival, Covid-19). She has worked as an assistant director at the Berlin Opera Academy, the Halifax Summer Opera Festival, the Maryland Opera Studio, and the Royal Academy of Music.
Future plans The Elixir of Love at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge (director); Guildhall Summer Opera (assistant director).
Edwin Spark
assistant conductor
Guildhall Artist Masters Performance – Répétiteur (second year).
Scholarships: The Mortimer Furber Prize, Ryall Family Trust grant.
Operatic credits as assistant conductor/chorus master: Le Portrait de Manon Massenet, Fête Galante Smyth, I due timidi Rota (Guildhall School); as repetiteur: Le docteur Miracle Bizet, Cendrillon Viardot, Il combattimento Monteverdi (Guildhall School); as conductor: The Consul, Sāvitrī Holst, Orfeo ed Euridice Gluck , Iphigénie en Tauride, Tosca (The CoOPERAtive); as assistant conductor/répétiteur: Patience, The Pirates of Penzance, Ruddigore, The Mikado (G&S Opera Sydney); and The Medium, Dido and Aeneas, Teseo (Miami Music Festival).
Kyra Coppini
associate designer
Guildhall School BA (Hons) Production Arts – Design Realisation (third year).
Scholarships Guildhall General Award, Malta Arts Scholarship, Janatha Stubbs Foundation Bursary.
Guildhall School productions Construction Manager Autumn Opera Triple Bill (des. Simon Corder); Assistant Scenic Carpenter Pilgrims (des. Cory Shipp); Assistant Scenic Artist Urinetown, The Musical (des. Libby Watson); Assistant Scenic Artist Miss Fortune & The Telephone (des. Anna Reid); Props Maker Anna Karenina (des. Amy Jane Cook); Props Maker Opera Scenes (des. Caitlin Abbot); Costume Assistant Julius Caesar (des. Clara Goodman).
Placement work Assistant Painter, ROH Rusalka (des. Chloe Lamford); Assistant Carpenter; ROH Rusalka (des. Chloe Lamford).
Ros Chase
associate lighting designer
Guildhall School BA (Hons) Production Arts, Theatre Technology (third year).
Scholarships Herbert & Theresie Lowit Memorial Scholarship.
Lighting Design credits For a Palestinian (Camden People’s Theatre and Bristol Old Vic); Rapture (Pleasance Theatre and Vault Festival 2023); SHE (UK Tour); Shake the City (Leeds Playhouse and Greenwich Theatre); TuckShop’s Dick Whittington (Phoenix Theatre); In the Heat of That Night (Space Theatre) and Hyde & Seek (Guildhall).
Other credits Production Electrician Emilia (Milton Court Theatre at Guildhall); Video Engineer Pilgrims (Silk Street Theatre at Guildhall); Scenic Artist Dennis of Penge (Silk Street Theatre at Guildhall); work placement as Assistant Lighting Designer Ocean at the End of the Lane (UK Tour).
Alistair Burton
répétiteur
Guildhall School Répétiteur Course (first year)
Scholarships Guildhall General Award Holder.
Répétiteur experience Autumn Opera Scenes (Guildhall School); Così fan tutte (Cumbria Opera Group); various student productions including Le nozze di Figaro, Acis and Galatea, second UK performance of Denis and Katya by Philip Venables (Cambridge University Opera Society).
Future plans Staged production of Bach’s St John Passion (Cumbria Opera Group); Don Giovanni (Cumbria Opera Group) and Opera Makers (Guildhall School).
Michael Rose
répétiteur
Guildhall School Répétiteur Course (first year) studying with Bretton Brown.
Scholarships The Jack Irons Repetiteur Scholar: David Family Foundation.
Répétiteur experience Trouble in Tahiti Bernstein, A Hand of Bridge Barber (Cumbria Opera Group); Banished Mcneff, Coraline Turnage, Les Art Florissants Charpentier (Royal Birmingham Conservatoire) and The Decision Eisler (Birmingham Opera Company).
Future plans Guildhall Opera Makers production summer 2023.
Mark Christian Bautista
Guildhall School Opera Course (second year) studying with Susan Waters.
Scholarships The Herbert & Theresie Lowit Memorial Scholarship, The Sally Cohen Opera Scholarship, The Dow Clewer Foundation Scholarship, The Elizabeth Sweeting Award, Choral Scholarship of the St. Leonard’s Church, The Kathleen Trust Grant, The Guildhall Trust Grant, Ann Driver Trust Scholar.
Competitions First prize Dean and Chadlington Summer Music Festival 2019; Dvořák Society for Czech and Slovak Music Prize for Emmy Destinn Young Singers Award 2019; Second prize Pendine International Voice of the Future of the Llangollen International Musical Eistedfodd 2018, Finalist Guildhall School English Song Competition 2020.
Operatic experience Father Grenville, Howard Boucher, Motorcycle Cop Dead Man Walking, Tiberge Le Portrait de Manon, Harlequin Fête galante, Raimondo I due timidi, Der Gehilfe Der Zar lässt sich photographieren, Le Comte Barigoule (cover) Cendrillon, Nerone L’incoronazione di poppea and scenes from La Rondine, Roméo et Juliette, L’elisir d’amore, L’heure espagnole, Die tote Stadt, Midsummer Night’s Dream, Il barbiere di Siviglia (Guildhall School); Rodolfo La boheme (North Wales Opera Studio); Chorus Porgy and Bess (Grange Park Opera); Tom Rakewell (cover) and Chorus Rake’s Progress (British Youth Opera).
Future plans Glyndebourne Festival Chorus 2023.
Ed Birchinall
Guildhall Artist Masters (second year) studying with John Evans.
Scholarships: Guildhall School Scholarship; Anne Wyburd Prize for Lieder.
Competitions: Margaret Fletcher Prize (2018) First Prize; Edinburgh University Tovey Memorial Award (2019) First Prize.
Previous roles Boy Spirit The Magic Flute (ENO); Simone Gianni Schicchi, Alfio Cavalleria Rusticana (Edinburgh Studio Opera); Pistol (cover) and Chorus Sir John in Love (British Youth Opera), Zweite Kriminalbeamter Der Zar lässt sich photographieren and scenes from Cosí fan tutte, La Bohème, Billy Budd, Il barbiere di Siviglia (Guildhall School).
Future plans: St John Passion Bach (St Giles Cathedral); Creation Haydn (Spelthorne Choral Society).
Hector Bloggs
Guildhall School undergraduate Classical Vocal Studies (fourth year) studying with John Evans.
Competitions First place in the Courtney Kenny 2021 from the Association of English Singers and Speakers.
Previous roles Don Giovanni Don Giovanni (Saluzzo Opera Academy), Sid Albert Herring, Chorus La Bella Dormente Nel Bosco and Dido and Aeneas, scenes from Pelléas et Mélisande and Die Fledermaus (Guildhall School); Bartolo Le Nozze di Figaro (Saluzzo Opera Academy, Hampstead Garden Opera); Betto and Marco Gianni Schicchi (St Pauls Opera); Cacambo, Pangloss and Voltaire Candide (Southgate Youth Opera); Chorus in Gods of the Game (Grange Park Opera) .
Future plans Silvio (Cover) and Chorus Pagliacci and Cavalleria Rusticana (Westgreen Opera), 2023-25 Guildhall School operas.
Florence Cain
Guildhall School of Music and Drama undergraduate (fourth year) studying with Marilyn Rees.
Scholarships Chris Treglown Award.
Competitions The Chris Treglown Award 2019; RIBI National Young Musician of the Year (vocal) 2019; BBC Young Chorister of the Year 2016; RIBI Young Musician of the Year, National Finalist 2015; Banbury Young Musician of the Year 2014; Alcester Young Musician of the Year 2013.
Operatic experience Miss Wordsworth Albert Herring (Guildhall Vocal Opera 2022); Sandrina‘La Finta Giardiniera’ (Guildhall opera scenes 2022); Suzanna Le Nozze di Figaro (Hewletts Opera, September 2020 and December 2021); Chorus in Double bill Digital Opera Production - Dido and Aeneas and La Bella Dormente nel Bosco (Guildhall School 2020); Digital Opera Scene, The Cunning Little Vixen, Youth Choir, Sang and assisted in production (Longborough Festival Opera, Summer 2020); Chorus for Die Zauberflöte (Longborough Festival Opera 2017).
Future plans Royal College of Music, Masters Course, in September 2023.
Jacob Cole
Guildhall School undergraduate course (fourth year) studying with Sarah Pring and Adrian Thompson.
Previous roles Albert Herring Albert Herring Britten (Guildhall School); Little Bat Susannah Carlisle Floyd, Bel Fiore La Finta Giardiniera Mozart (Guildhall School Opera Scenes); choir for Il Prigioneri Dallapicolla at Barbican Hall with Sir Antonio Pappano (Guildhall Chamber Choir).
Future plans Guildhall School Master’s Course.
Jack Dolan
Guildhall School of Music and Drama Opera Course (second year) studying under Sarah Pring and Adrian Thompson.
Scholarships Baroness de Turckheim Scholar, supported by the Drapers’ Company. Dow Clewer Foundation Scholar.
Previous roles Don Curzio Le nozze di Figaro, Raoul de Gardefeu La Vie Parisienne, Tamino Die Zauberflöte, Henry Crawford Mansfield Park (Royal Birmingham Conservatoire); Aeneas Dido and Aeneas (Strada Stretta Concept); Peppe Rita (Opera South 2021, If Opera 2022); Bill A Hand of Bridge, Ferrando Così fan tutte (Cumbria Opera Group), Der Anfürer Der Zar lässt sich Phographieren, Tiberge Le Portrait de Manon, The Lover Fête Galante, Dottore Sinisgalli I due timidi (Guildhall School).
Future plans Judas (Arias) Johannes Passion (Staged by Cumbria Opera Group, April 2023); Garsington Alvarez Young Artist Programme 2023, covering Jenik The Bartered Bride and Marzio Mitridate, re di Ponto; Don Ottavio Don Giovanni (Cumbria Opera Group).
Patrick Dow
Guildhall School of Music and Drama Opera Course (second year) studying with Robert Dean; MA from the Royal Academy of Music (Vocal Performance); BA from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (Music).
Scholarships Gwen Catley Scholarship.
Competitions First prize in Blyth-Buesst Competition 2020, commended in Blyth-Buesst Competition 2019.
Operatic experience Des Grieux Le portrait de Manon, The King Fête Galante, Un Pensionante I Due Timidi, Ben Upthegrove The Telephone (cover), scenes from Midsummer Night’s Dream, Don Giovanni, Così fan tutte, Owen Wingrave, l’heure espagnole and Iolanta (Guildhall School); Chorus Le Nozze di Figaro (New Generation Festival); Melisso Alcina, The Teacher Der Jasager (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill).
Future plans Glyndebourne Festival Chrous 2023.
Jonathan Eyers
Guildhall School Opera Course (Junior fellow) studying with Robert Dean.
Scholarships Guildhall School Scholarship; Help Musicians ‘Sybil Tutton’ Opera Award.
Previous roles Ernie (cover) It’s a Wonderful Life Heggie (ENO); Bonafede Fool Moon (ll mondo della luna) Haydn (Bampton Classical Opera); Pierrot Fête galante Smyth, Der Zar Der Zar lässt sich photographieren Weill, Tancredi Il combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda Monteverdi, Simon Miss Fortune Weir, and Ben The Telephone Menotti (Guildhall School); Derek Stevens Sane and Sound Matt Geer (World Premiere - Grimeborn Festival); Crook Candide Bernstein (LSO); Schaunard La bohème Puccini (Berlin Italian Opera); Billy Brass Poppies (world premiere) Ross Harris, Malatesta Don Pasquale Donizetti, Belcore L’elisir d’amore Donizetti (NZ Opera).
Future plans Harlekin (cover) and Perückenmacher Ariadne auf Naxos Strauss; Fiorello (cover) Il barbiere di Siviglia Rossini (Garsington Opera); City Music Foundation Artist; Oxford Lieder Young Artist.
Alaric Green
Guildhall School Opera Course (first year) studying with Robert Dean and Stephen Loges.
Scholarships Henry Oldfield Trust, Countess of Munster Trust, Sophie’s Silver Lining Fund, Buddy Baxter and John Hosier Music Trust, Fishmongers Music Scholar.
Competitions First place Chartered Surveyors Prize, Kathleen Ferrier Awards semi-finalist.
Alex Harpum
Guildhall School undergraduate course (fourth year) studying with John Evans.
Previous roles Superintended Budd Albert Herring Britten; Scenes from La Finta Giardiniera Mozart, Die Fledermaus J. Strauss, The Consul Menotti (Guildhall School).
Future plans Guildhall School Master’s Course.
Jacob Harrison
Sponsorships The Behrens Foundation, Help Musicians Sybil Tutton Opera Award.
Competitions The Wyburd Prize for German Lieder 2021; Keith Bonnington Prize 2022; Weston Award 2022.
Previous roles Figaro Le Nozze di Figaro (University of Exeter Opera Society); Scenes from Cosi fan Tutte, La Sonnambula (Staircase Opera Company); Scenes from Don Giovanni, Il Barbiere di Sivilgia, Le Docteur Miracle, Die Zauberflöte, Pelléas et Mélisande (Guildhall School); Le Baron de Pictordu (cover) Cendrillon, Lord Fortune Miss Fortune, Der Begleiter des Zaren Der Zar läßt sich photographieren (Guildhall School).
Future plans Guildhall School summer opera 2023.
Nancy Holt
Guildhall School Opera Course (second year) studying with John Evans.
Scholarships Help Musicians Sybil Tutton Opera Award Holder, The Countess of Munster, Dyers’ Scholar: The Worshipful Company of Dyers , Walter Hyde Memorial Prize.
Competitions Basil A Turner Award for British Youth Opera 2022, Paul Hamburger Prize for Voice 2019.
Operatic experience Mistress Quickly Sir John in Love, Prospero (cover) The Enchanted Island (British Youth Opera); Jean de Moncerf Le Portrait de Manon, Lisa I due timidi (Guildhall Opera Course); Glyndebourne Festival Chorus 2020 (cancelled due to COVID-19); Opera Holland Park chorus 2019; Solo Alto Chorus Acis and Galatea (Vache Baroque Festival); Prima for Zefiro torna, Hippolyta (cover) A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Armelinde (cover) Cendrillon (Guildhall Opera Course). Scenes from Der Rosenkavalier, Il Barbiere di Siviglia, La Cenerentola, Idomeneo, Cendrillon, Albert Herring and Béatrice et Bénédict (Guildhall School).
Future plans Nevill Holt Opera Associate Artist 2023 playing the role of Tisbe in La Cenerentola, La Ciesca in Gianni Schicchi and Chorus in Pagliacci.
Zoë Jackson
Guildhall School BMus Vocal Studies (fourth year) studying with Janice Chapman and Marcus van den Akker.
Scholarships Guildhall School Scholarship.
Previous roles Lady Billows Albert Herring (Guildhall School); Venus Venus and Adonis (Samling Academy); Dido Dido and Aeneas (Riding Mill Festival) and Scenes from Susannah and La finta gardinera (Guildhall School).
Future plans Guildhall School Masters Course autumn 2023.
Emyr Lloyd Jones
Guildhall School Opera Course (first year) studying with Susan Waters.
Scholarships Horners’ Becker Scholarship; The Worshipful Company of Tobacco Pipe Makers Scholarship.
Previous roles Hugh Evans Sir John in Love Ralph Vaughan Williams (BYO); Il Conte di Almaviva Le Nozze di Figaro Mozart, Musiklehrer Ariadne auf Naxos Strauss, Forester The Cunning Little Vixen Janáček; Edmund Bertram Mansfield Park Jonathan Dove (RNCM).
Future plans St John Passion (Sheffield Oratorio Chorus and Buxton Musical Society); Guildhall School summer opera 2023.
Michael Lafferty-Smith
Guildhall School Opera Course (Second Year) studying with David Pollard.
Scholarships The Behrens Foundation (Guildhall School Opera Course scholarship); Drake Calleja Trust; Countess of Munster Musical Trust.
Competitions Concours Musical International de Montréal, Andre Bachand Prize for best Canadian work; first prize AESS English Song competition; first prize Guildhall English Song competition; third prize and audience prize Mozart Singing Competition; finalist Kathleen Ferrier Awards.
Previous roles Black Black, el Payaso Sarozábal (Spanish Theatre Company, Grimeborn Festival); Guglielmo (cover) Così fan tutte Mozart (Nevill Holt Opera); Excerpts from Roberto Devereux, Pelléas et Mélisande, Albert Herring, Il Barbiere di Siviglia and Die Tote Stadt (Guildhall School); Tarquinius The Rape of Lucretia Britten (Trinity Laban Opera); Dr. Falke Die Fledermaus Strauss (Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler Musiktheaterwerkstatt).
Future plans Officer Dialogue des Carmelites Poulenc (Glyndebourne Festival 2023); Guildhall School Gold Medal Award Final
Tom Lidgley
Guildhall School BMus Vocal Studies (fourth year) studying with Adrian Thompson.
Operatic experience Mayor Upfold Albert Herring Britten (Guildhall School); Robert Shallow (cover) & chorus Sir John in Love Vaughan Williams (British Youth Opera); Youth company member Silver Birch Panufnik (Garsington Opera) and scenes from La finta giardiniera Mozart and Susannah Floyd (Guildhall School).
Future plans Mediterranean Opera Studio and Festival.
Robert Lydon
Guildhall Artist Masters (first year) studying with Janice Chapman and Marcus van den Akker.
Scholarships Guildhall School Scholarship award and the Clemence Trust award.
Previous roles Raimondo (cover) I due timidi Nino Rota, Harlequin (cover) Fete Galante Ethel Smyth (Guildhall School); Leon La mère coupable Milhaud, Mr Dorrit A Christmas Carol Musgrave, Chorus Lamento della Ninfa Monteverdi (Trinity Laban); First Shepherd Venus & Adonis John Blow, Chorus La belle Hélène Jacques Offenbach (Blackheath Halls Opera).
Lorna McLean
Guildhall School Opera Course (second year) studying under Janice Chapman and Marcus van den Akker; MPerf (Distinction), awarded the Recital Diploma for an outstanding final recital and BMus (Hons) (1:1) from Guildhall School.
Scholarships Help Musicians Sybil Tutton Opera Award and Girdler’s Company Scholar.
Competitions Guildhall School Gold Medal Award finalist.
Operatic Experience Mariuccia I due timidi Rota, Angélè Der Zar lässt sich photographieren Weill (Guildhall School); Mother Hansel and Gretel Humperdinck (British Youth Opera and Silent Opera at Opera Holland Park); Erste Dame Der Zauberflöte Mozart; Mimí La Bohème Puccini; and scenes from Anna Bolena, Der Rosenkavalier, Arabella, Owen Wingrave, Albert Herring, Don Giovanni, Idomeneo, Die Tote Stadt, La Gioconda, Der Freischütz and Cavalleria rusticana (Guildhall School).
Future plans Guildhall School summer opera 2023; American Wagner Project; Institute for Young Dramatic Voices, Emerging Artist.
Alexandra Meier
Guildhall School Opera Course (second year) studying with John Evans.
Scholarships The Herbert and Theresie Lowit Memorial Scholarship.
Operatic experience Jean de Moncerf Le Portrait de Manon, La Madre di Mariucca I Due Timidi, Der falsche Boy Der Zar lässt sich photographieren, Third Apple Little Green Swallow, Second Witch Dido and Aeneas (Guildhall School); Der Trommler Der Kaiser von Atlantis, Anneli Der Goldkäfer (Theater Basel); Hänsel Hänsel und Gretel (semi-staged concert, Südwestdeutsche Philharmonie Konstanz); 2021 Alvarez young artist at Garsington Opera and 2022/23 Britten Pears Young Artist.
Future plans Guildhall School summer opera 2023; recitals at Aldeburgh Festival 2023.
Inguna Morozova
Guildhall School Opera Course (second year) studying with Sarah Pring.
Scholarships The Gita de la Fuente Prize.
Competitions Clonter Opera Prize 2023.
Operatic experience Euridice Orfeo ed Euridice (The Yorke Trust); Giulietta I Capuletti e I Montecchi, Helena Midsummer Night's Dream, Clorinda Il Combatimento di Tancredi e Clorinda, Juliette Romeo et Juliette, Poppea Il Coronazione di Poppea, Melisande Pelleas et Melisande, Zerlina (cover) Don Giovanni, Colombine Fete Galante, Aurore Le Portrait de Manon, Sifare Mitridate, Juliette Die Tote Stadt, Maria I dui timidi, Musetta La Boheme (Guildhall School); Josephine Baker Trust artist.
Future plans Dialogues des Carmelites; L'Elisir d'Amore (Glyndebourne 2023).
Alexandra Achillea Pouta
Guildhall School Opera Course (second year) studying with Samantha Malk.
Scholarships The Athena Scholarship; The Jane Adès Ingenuity Scholarship; Help Musicians Sybil Tutton Opera Award; The Dow Clewer Foundation Scholarship.
Competitions Maria Callas Foundation Competition 2020 and 2021 Finalist.
Previous roles Signora Guidotti I due timidi, The Queen Fête Galante, Nicole Lucid, Dahlia Samhain Bloom, Ottavia L’ incoronazione di Poppea; chorus member A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Judicium Salomonis and Eintänzer; scenes from Così fan tutte, Béatrice et Bénédict, Roberto Devereux, L’ heure espagnole, The Handmaid’s Tale, Die tote Stadt, Carmen and I Capuleti e I Montecchi (Guildhall School). Lead singer of Idrîsî Ensemble.
Future plans Glyndebourne Festival Chorus 2023; Guildhall School Gold Medal Award Final; Artist Residency at VOCE Centre of Pigna, Corsica with Idrîsî Ensemble.
Rachel Roper
Guildhall School Opera Course (first year) studying with John Evans.
Scholarships Marianne Falk Award.
Competitions MOCSA Young Welsh Singer of the Year 2022; Kathleen Ferrier Bursary for Young Singers Joyce Budd Second Prize 2018.
Operatic experience Jewish Child A Child in Striped Pyjamas (Echo Ensemble); Mistress Ford Sir John in Love (British Youth Opera); Dritte Knabe Die Zauberflöte (Bloomsbury Opera); Chorus La Bohème (Nevill Holt Opera); Chorus Fairy A Midsummer Night’s Dream; Ottavia L’incoronazione di Poppea and excerpts from Il Barbiere di Siviglia, La Calisto, Alcina, Cosi Fan Tutte, Madama Butterfly, Jenůfa, Chérubin and Albert Herring (Guildhall School).
Future plans Guildhall School spring opera scenes and summer opera 2023.
Charles Secombe
Guildhall School BMus Vocal Studies (fourth year) studying with John Evans.
Previous roles Chorus Der Zar lässt sich photographieren Weill, Albert Herring Albert Herring Britten, and scenes as Vašek The Bartered Bride Smetana, and Eisenstein Die Fledermaus Strauss (Guildhall School).
Faryl Smith
Guildhall School Opera Course (second year) studying with Marilyn Rees.
Scholarships Haberdashers’ Opera Scholar, Help Musicians Sybil Tutton Opera Award, The Ann Wyburd Prize for Lieder.
Operatic experience Berta Il barbiere di Siviglia (Clonter Opera); Kathleen Bloody Murder (Guildhall School Opera Makers); Mariuccia I due timidi and scenes from Così fan tutte, War and Peace, Don Giovanni, The Cunning Little Vixen, L’elisir d’amore, Owen Wingrave, La rondine (Guildhall School); Samling Young Artist 2021.
Future plans Glyndebourne Festival Opera Chorus 2023.
Louisa Stirland
Guildhall School Opera Course (second year) studying with Yvonne Kenny.
Scholarships Guildhall School Gita de la Fuente Prize, Dow-Clewer foundation.
Previous roles Aurore Le Portrait de Manon, Columbine Fete Galante, Lucia I due timidi, Clorinda il combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda, Lisette La Rondine, Sophie Werther, Sophie Der Rosenkavlier, Aspasia Mitridate, Armida Rinaldo, Despina Cosi fan Tutte, Ilia Idomeneo and Puck A Midsummer Night's Dream (Guildhall School); created the role of Lucia in Lucid, a new opera performed for Guildhall's Opera Makers.
Future plans Queen of the Night The Magic Flute (Clonter Opera, July 2023); Guildhall summer opera 2023.
Learn more
Guildhall Opera department was delighted to recently host a special online Q&A with composer Jake Heggie and nun Sister Helen Prejean – two key figures behind the opera Dead Man Walking.
This exciting hour-long event offered Guildhall students and staff the chance to ask questions directly to both speakers, providing an invaluable opportunity to learn more about the remarkable real-life experience of Sister Helen, and how her story formed the inspiration for Jake’s composition.
Click on the button below to watch clips from their conversation, and find out more on the News pages of our website.
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Guildhall School of Music & Drama
Founded in 1880 by the City of London Corporation
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Graham Packham
Principal
Professor Jonathan Vaughan
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Armin Zanner
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Andy Lavender
Head of Opera Studies
Dominic Wheeler
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