This was a wonderful performance held during challenging times that brought tears to the eyes of both performers and audience.
This is available to watch at any time https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Ai2ka0zH-E&feature=youtu.be
Blackheath and Bramley Choral Society's delayed concert was sung by all the planned soloists with our conductor, David Condry, and a full backing orchestra, relayed through YouTube.
SOLOISTS Soprano: Alexandra Stevenson After studying at Edinburgh University, Alexandra was selected for the Associated Studios Opera Programme in London, which she completed with the generous support of the Richard Carne Trust. Alexandra now studies with Andrew Watts and has been coached by Donald Maxwell, Catherine Bott, the late John ShirleyQuirk and Sophie Daneman. Solo performances in cathedrals and concert halls throughout the UK and Europe include works of Bach (Cantata 51); Handel (Messiah); Haydn (Nelson Mass); Mozart (Mass in C Minor) and Rossini (Petite Messe Solennelle). As a recitalist, Alexandra has performed at the Guildford International Music Festival, The National Gallery in London and the Usher Hall in Edinburgh. She has also appeared as a soloist with the Band and Orchestra of HM Royal Marines. Alexandra has been featured as a soloist by Classic FM. A resident of Trinity Churchyard, Alexandra directs the Girls’ and Adults’ Choir of Holy Trinity Church, Guildford and teaches singing at Charterhouse.
Alto: Helena Culliney Helena was brought up in Worcestershire and grew up within a choral tradition that led her to take up a choral exhibition at Gonville and Caius College Cambridge under Geoffrey Webber, where she won the Rudolph Peters Prize for music in 2006. Helena has always had a passion for opera, and has performed in a huge variety of roles, however, while at the University of York she undertook doctoral study into the Gilbert and Sullivan operas, focussing on how both the writing and performance of these classically British works appealed to their audiences. Her combination of research-based practice and open-minded innovation in performance has led her to undertake leading roles across the canon in venues as diverse as the Minack Theatre in Cornwall and the Harrogate Theatre, and it was at this latter that she won the award for Best Female Performer at the International Gilbert and Sullivan Festival in 2014.
Tenor: David De Winter David was trained at the Royal Academy of Music, where he studied with Jonathan Papp and Ryland Davies, and was awarded the Stanley Picker Trust and Leverhulme Awards. He has performed extensively throughout Europe and beyond. His opera credits include his début at Glyndebourne and BAM (New York) in Britten’s Billy Budd, Monostatos The Magic Flute, Don Ottavio Don Giovanni and Goro Madam Butterfly (Regents Opera/Opera à la Carte), In concert, David has performed in some of the world’s most prestigious venues, notably making his début at the Wigmore Hall as Coridon in Acis and Galatea with Christian Curnyn and the Early Opera Company. He has also performed, amongst others, Messiah with The English Chamber Orchestra and Tenebrae at Cadogan Hall, Schumann’s Manfred with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra and Sir John Eliot Gardiner (European Tour), Bach’s Johannes Passion (Evangelist) with Collegium Musicum of LondonRecent engagements include Monteverdi’s Vespers (The King’s Consort) at the Rheingau Festival, and, the world premiere of Michael Finnissy’s Tom Fool’s Wooing at Milton Court Concert Hall with EXAUDI), Bach’s B Minor Mass at the Royal Festival Hall, and Messiah with Doha Baroque Ensemble. As a recitalist he has performed in the prestigious London English Song Festival at St George’s Hanover Square, the Henry Wood Hall, Westminster Cathedral, and at St James’ Piccadilly.
Bass: Stephen Fort Stephen read Music at Gonville & Caius College, Cambridge. In 2016 he began studying with Nicholas Powell at the Royal Northern College of Music, where he is generously supported by Help Musicians UK. Stephen is an experienced recitalist, concert soloist and opera singer. Particular highlights include singing the bass solos in Monteverdi’s Vespers with His Majesty’s Sagbutts and Cornetts, and in Handel’s Messiah with the Ars Eloquentiae. His operatic roles include Superintendent Budd Albert Herring (Cambridge University Opera Society), Sarastro Die Zauberflöte (RNCM Spotlight Performance), Pistola Falstaff (RNCM opera scenes), Tom Un ballo in maschera (cover at Grange Park Opera), and he was a member of Opera North’s Extra Chorus in Billy Budd at the Aldeburgh Festival.