Soprano Barbara Frittoli brings Italian opera star power to Marchmont House in a fascinating glimpse behind the scenes of classical music. Barbara has enjoyed a phenomenal career, singing lead roles in the world’s major opera houses, from The Metropolitan in New York to Sydney Opera House. In this afternoon of insight, discovery and playfulness she will be joined by Samling Masterclass regulars pianist Caroline Dowdle and Shakespearean actor James Garnon to guide eight young artists through a lively mixture of song and opera.
Don’t miss this chance to meet one of the world’s great operatic sopranos and hear beautiful music performed by some of the most talented singers of the next generation.
David Byrne, Edinburgh Music Review
1.30 – 4.45 Six twenty-minute masterclasses, with a 30 minute interval. Ticket includes tea, coffee and home-made cakes served during the interval.
Return transport from Berwick-upon-Tweed station is available at an additional charge and can be booked with your ticket and departs Berwick-Upon-Tweed railway station 12.30 (Meeting trains arriving 12.25 from Edinburgh and 12.21 from Newcastle) but please note, this service is available to anyone looking to come from Berwick-Upon-Tweed, and not just those travelling by train.
The return service connects with trains leaving 17.43 to Edinburgh and 17.50 to Newcastle
Previous Samling Artist Programme masterclasses at Marchmont. Above: Caroline Dowdle with Samling Artist Olivia Boen. Below: Actor James Garnon with Samling Artist Dafydd Jones.
Beatriz Volante, soprano
Ellen Pearson, mezzo-soprano
Rebecca Leggett, mezzo-soprano
Sebastian Hill, tenor
Hector Bloggs, baritone
Michael Ronan, baritone
Pierre-Nicolas Columbat, piano
Gracie Francis, piano
With staff pianist Samling Artist Jo Ramadan
Barbara Frittoli enjoys a major international career and is considered one of the greatest lyrico-spinto sopranos of her generation. Her roles include Contessa Le nozze di Figaro, Liù Turandot, Desdemona Otello, Alice Falstaff and Mimì La bohème, and she has performed regularly at The Metropolitan Opera, Teatro Alla Scala, Opéra National de Paris, Vienna Staatsoper and Royal Opera House. She sang the role of Liù in the famous performance of ‘Turandot in the Forbidden City’ with Zubin Mehta and was the soprano soloist on a Grammy-award winning performance of Verdi’s Requiem with Riccardo Muti. Other conductors she has worked with include Claudio Abbado, Lorin Maazel, Sir Colin Davis, Sir Andrew Davis, Sir Antonio Pappano, Semyon Bychkov and Riccardo Chailly.
Caroline Dowdle is Head of Opera at the Verbier Festival Atelier Lyrique. Much in demand as a pianist and vocal coach, she regularly works with singers on the Jette Parker Artists Programme at the Royal Opera House and is a member of the vocal faculty at the Royal College of Music. She has coached on the Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Programme, the Dramatic Lyric Voices course in Berlin, at the Estonian National Opera and in Beijing. She has performed widely in the UK and Europe and has long-standing partnerships with baritones Sir Thomas Allen and Sir Simon Keenlyside.
Actor James Garnon is a Globe Associate Artist and has appeared in over twenty productions at Shakespeare’s Globe. He has also frequently acted for the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Almeida and the Old Vic (most recently appearing in the political satire ‘The 47th’). He was a founder member of The Factory Theatre Company and is a member of the Higher Education Faculty for whom he has taught both actors and directors. He regularly works as a masterclass leader, including at Verbier Festival and Leeds Lieder.
Jo Ramadan, Samling Artist Staff Pianist
Jo was a chorister at Chapel Royal St James’s Palace and studied at Durham University and subsequently at the Royal College of Music with John Blakely and Roger Vignoles. Recent projects include Assistant Conductor and Chorus Master forL’elisir d’amore British Youth Opera with Southbank Sinfonia, Assistant Conductor at Drottningholm Festival for Handel Ariodante and at Grange Festival for Britten A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Jo is accompanist and professor of vocal repertoire at the Royal College of Music; Assistant Conductor with The Mozartists; Director of Music at St Vedast Foster Lane; conductor and tutor at Oxenfoord International Summer School and a regular leader at Samling Academy.
ABOUT SAMLING INSTITUTE
Samling Institute for Young Artists Northumberland-based Samling Institute for Young Artists is widely recognised as a leading global authority in the training of young voices. Since 1996, we have nurtured and inspired hundreds of young singers and pianists setting them on the road to success through programmes led by world-renowned opera singers, conductors, song specialists, accompanists, coaches and actors.
Samling Artist Programme provides intensive residential masterclass weeks, performance and professional development opportunities to early-career singers and piano accompanists. It offers a crucial bridge at what for many can be a difficult and insecure period between formal education and professional life. There are now 387 Samling Artists, from every continent, many of whom have subsequently forged impressive international careers. Frequently our Samling Artists tell us that their experience with us is often the most enduring, formative and transformative training they have received.
Our cancellation period is 14 days in advance.
We will happily offer a refund or a credit for a later date before then, please do get in touch.
Should we cancel the event for any reason you will receive a complete refund.
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