WNO welcomes the Young Artists of the National Opera School next month, for their annual residency with the Company. They will spend a week in Cardiff working with the music staff and WNO Orchestra, culminating in a performance at Hoddinott Hall in Wales Millennium Centre on Saturday 4 May.
The 12 singers and four répétiteurs will work with Director Emma Jenkins (WNO Rhondda Rips It Up!) and conductor Laurent Pillot on an operatic repertoire including pieces by Donizetti, Handel, Puccini, Mozart and Shostakovich. They will explore roles in operas including Lucia di Lammermoor, Xerxes, Hansel und Gretel and The Marriage of Figaro studying all elements of the performance, as well as working with WNO’s Stage Management, Wardrobe and Wigs departments to see how all the elements come together to create a performance.
The National Opera Studio provides intensive and bespoke professional training at the highest level for a small number of singers and répétiteurs each year, and prepares them for life on the international operatic stage. In addition to the tailored coaching programme the Young Artists work closely with leading directors, conductors and opera orchestras to prepare opera scenes for public performance, as well as working with other artists who are leaders in their field.
National Opera Studio’s Chief Executive, Emily Gottlieb, said ‘Our annual residency at Welsh National Opera is one of the highlights of the Programme, and forms a vital part of the professional training and exposure that sets us apart from all other opera training organisations in the UK. Our artists learn to adapt and flex different performance skills on platforms large and small, as they will need to do in the professional world.’
WNO has a long standing connection with the National Opera Studio, a hugely important part of our talent development programme which sees the Company offering opportunities for young people and up and coming artists. A number of NOS alumni have featured in recent opera Seasons, including Marc Le Brocq (War and Peace,From the House of the Dead), Leah-Marian Jones (War and Peace), Linda Richardson (La traviata), Heather Lowe (La cenerentola), Ben McAteer (From the House of the Dead), Justina Gringyte (Roberto Devereux), Gwyn Hughes Jones (Un ballo in maschera) and Ben Johnson (The Magic Flute). Other recent graduates include Frederick Brown, who will conduct WNO Orchestra in our two Summer Family Concerts in Birmingham and Southampton this summer; Ross Ramgobin who joins us for Carmen in Autumn 2019 and Nicola Rose who was Musical Director on Rhondda Rips It Up! which toured England and Wales in 2018.
Why not come along and see the opera stars of the future?