Saturday 8 May 2021 7pm

Gold Medal 2021

Finalists

Thando Mjandana Laura Lolita Perešivana Olivia Boen Tom Mole

Guildhall Symphony OrchestraNatalie Murray Beale conductor

Guildhall School of Music & DramaFounded in 1880 by the City of London Corporation

Chairman of the Board of Governors Vivienne Littlechild

Principal Lynne Williams am

Vice Principal & Director of Music Professor Jonathan Vaughan

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Gold Medal 2021

Saturday 8 May 2021 7pm

The Gold Medal, Guildhall School’s most prestigious award for musicians, was founded and endowed in 1915 by Sir H. Dixon Kimber Bt MA

Finalists

Thando Mjandana tenor Laura Lolita Perešivana soprano Olivia Boen soprano Tom Mole baritone

The Jury

Jordan de Souza Huw Humphreys Natalie Murray Beale Gweneth Ann Rand Professor Jonathan Vaughan (chair)

Guildhall Symphony Orchestra Natalie Murray Beale conductor

Performed at the Barbican Hall on Thursday 6 May 2021 and recorded and produced live by Guildhall School’s Recording & Audio Visual department.

Gold Medal winners since 1915

Singers

1915 Lilian Stiles-Allen1916 Rene Maxwell1917 Dora Labbette1918 Percy Kemp1919 Arnold Stoker1921 Marjorie Claridge1922 Marion Browne1923 Esther Coleman1924 Linda Seymour1925 John Turner1927 Marie Fisher1927 Agostino Pellegrini1928 Stanley Pope1929 Elsie Learner1930 Doreen Bristoll1932 Charles Mayhew1933 Joyce Newton1934 Martin Boddey1934 Margaret Tann Williams1935 Norman Walker1936 Louise Hayward1936 Arthur Reckless1937 Gwen Catley1937 David Lloyd1938 Gordon Holdom1939 Rose Hill1940 John Nesden1941 Sylvia Roth1942 Owen Brannigan1943 Vera Mogg1944 George Hummerston1945 Beryl Hatt1946 Ethel Giles1947 Pamela Woolmore1949 Richard Standen1951 William McAlpine1953 Margaret Kilbey1955 Daniel McCoshan1957 Iona Jones1959 Josephine W Allen1961 Edgar Thomas1963 Benjamin Luxon1965 Verity-Ann Bates1967 Wynford Evans1969 Charles Corp1971 David Fieldsend1973 Graham Trew1975 Ian Kennedy

1977 Clive Birch1979 Patricia Rozario1981 Susan Bickley1983 Carol Smith1985 Peter Rose1987 Juliet Booth1989 Bryn Terfel1991 William Dazeley1993 Nathan Berg1995 Jane Stevenson1997 Konrad Jarnot1999 Natasha Jouhl2001 Sarah Redgwick2003 Susanna Andersson2005 Anna Stéphany2007 Katherine Broderick2009 Gary Griffiths2011 Natalya Romaniw2013 Magdalena Molendowska2015 Marta Fontanals-Simmons

& Jennifer Witton2017 Josep-Ramon Olivé2019 Samantha Clarke

Instrumentalists

1915 Margaret Harrison1916 Antoinette Trydell1917 Margaret Fairless1918 Frank Laffitte1919 Marie Dare1920 Horace Somerville1922 William Primrose1923 Walter Nunn1924 Sidney Harrison1926 Sidney Bowman1928 Allen Ford1929 Roger Briggs1930 Daphne Serre1931 Katherine L J Mapple1931 Max Jaffa1933 Joshua Glazier1934 Ursula Kantrovich1935 Vera Kantrovich1935 Phyllis Simons1936 Lois Turner1937 Kenneth Moore1939 Carmen Hill1940 Marie Bass

1941 Pauline Sedgrove1942 Joan Goossens1946 Brenda Farrow1947 Mary O White1948 Jeremy White1948 Susanne Rozsa1950 Leonard Friedman1952 Alfred Wheatcroft1954 Joyce Lewis1956 Joan Cohen1958 Michael Davis1960 Jacqueline du Pré1962 Robert Bell1964 Sharon McKinley1966 Anthony Pleeth1968 David Loukes1970 Jeremy Painter1972 Gillian Spragg1974 Charles Renwick1976 James Shenton1978 Iain King1980 Julian Tear1982 Simon Emes1984 Kyoko Kimura1986 Tasmin Little1988 Simon Smith1990 Eryl Lloyd-Williams1992 Katharine Gowers1994 Richard Jenkinson1996 Stephen de Pledge1998 Alexander Somov2000 Maxim Rysanov2002 David Cohen2004 Boris Brovtsyn2006 Anna-Liisa Bezrodny2008 Sasha Grynyuk2010 Martyna Jatkauskaite2012 Ashley Fripp2014 Michael Petrov2016 Oliver Wass2018 Joon Yoon2020 Soohong Park

Gold Medal 2021

Voice and piano

Thando Mjandana accompanied by Josh Ridley Laura Lolita Perešivana accompanied by Toby Hession Olivia Boen accompanied by Toby Hession Tom Mole accompanied by Inês Costa

INTERVAL

Verdi La forza del destino: Overture

Voice and orchestra

Thando Mjandana Laura Lolita Perešivana Olivia Boen Tom Mole

The presentation of the Gold Medal will take place after the final performance and adjudication.

Welcome

Welcome to Guildhall School’s 2021 Gold Medal.

This is the 106th consecutive year that the competition has taken place. It has continued through two world wars and last year’s COVID-19 lockdown without hesitation, repetition or deviation!

Last year we achieved great global success with our adventure into low latency broadcasting. Despite this monumental achievement in multi-venue synchronicity by our AV team, it is, nevertheless, a real joy to be back in one single live venue, the Barbican Hall, albeit with no audience.

I am delighted to welcome our panel of expert judges: Huw Humphreys, Gweneth Ann Rand, Jordan de Souza and Natalie Murray Beale. Natalie will also be conducting tonight’s performance.

We have a mouth-watering prospect in store from our four wonderful finalists this evening who will be taking us on a whistle-stop tour of the vocal and operatic repertoire.

Thank you to all of our supporters. In a year of such financial difficulty for so many families, your help has never been more essential or more appreciated. My heartfelt thanks to all of our individual givers, trusts and foundations, livery companies and the City of London who all help to support our students and the School.

I hope you enjoy this evening’s performance.

Professor Jonathan Vaughan Vice Principal & Director of Music

Dedication to Adrian Thorne

This year’s Gold Medal performance is dedicated to Adrian Thorne, who sadly passed away suddenly in December 2020.

For over 50 years, Adrian was a most highly regarded and much-loved teacher, colleague and member of Guildhall School’s community. The son of Gordon Thorne, Principal of Guildhall School from 1959 to 1965, Adrian graduated from Guildhall School as a postgraduate student in piano, musical analysis and conducting in 1969, and immediately took up a teaching position, initially as a tutor at Guildhall, and then in 1970 becoming a professor of Academic Music. He was awarded a Fellowship in 1976.

From then on, he was hugely valued as a dedicated, collegiate and supportive member of the Academic Studies department, bringing legendary insights and perspectives into his musical analysis and history teaching, aural training, keyboard skills and stylistic-composition lessons. A man of great musical passion, skill and expertise, we remember his teaching for his imaginative and individual methods that would nurture and develop students’ musical knowledge and confidence through the integration of musical skills. He possessed a life-long professional and pedagogical commitment to strip the musical discourse of overly rigid theoretical constructs (of which he was, nevertheless, an avid and expert reader), instead directing students’ (and colleagues’) attention to music as practice and music as experience. With him, there always was a sense of wonder and discovery in how close attention to small musical details would generate and ground the richest and most rewarding subjective experience, illuminating the way music works as a powerful artistic practice. In doing this, he has significantly influenced and inspired several generations of students, and has given colleagues over the years valuable and generous advice, and a legacy to uphold.

Alessandro Timossi Head of Music Programmes & Head of Academic Studies

Thando Mjandana

Voice and piano

Vincenzo Bellini La ricordanza – Recollection

Bellini used this melody again in his opera I puritani. The lover begs his beloved for mercy; she places his hand on her heart and assures him that she loves him alone. After this supreme moment of bliss, it would be wonderful to die.

Mbeki ‘Dikela’ Mbali Buya – Come back to me

Born in South Africa, Mbeki Mbali draws on the resources of Zulu folk song. The singer longs for the return of his beloved Nomvula, remembering how happy they once were. He calls on the mountains that stand between them to fall so that he can see her again.

Leoncavallo Mattinata – Morning

The dawn, dressed in white, opens the door to the sun and caresses the flowers; but you do not appear, and I am longing to sing to you. Put on your white dress and open the door to your singer! Where you are not, there is no light; where you are, love is born.

Voice and orchestra

Gaetano Donizetti Una furtiva lagrima (L’elisir d’amore)

Shy young Nemorino is in love with the unattainable Adina, whom he attempts to win with the aid of a magic ‘elixir’ (actually red wine). She appears to resist his advances, but he has noticed a furtive tear in her eye – a sure sign that she loves him. Now there is nothing more he could wish for, and he could die happy.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Se di lauri il crine adorno (Mitridate, re di Ponto)

Mitridate was Mozart’s first operatic triumph, written when he was only 14. Mithridates, king of Pontus on the Black Sea, has been defeated by the Roman general Pompey. ‘Though I do not return home crowned with laurel, yet I am not disgraced. Even in defeat I still bring you a great heart.’

Gaetano Donizetti Ah! mes amis (La fille du régiment)

Tonio is in jubilant mood: not only has he enlisted in the army, but he has also been promised the hand of

Marie – the ‘daughter of the regiment’ – in marriage. ‘My friends, what a day to celebrate! Here I am, a soldier and a husband.’

Thando Mjandana tenor b. South Africa

Training University of Cape Town; Cape Town Opera; currently second year Guildhall School Opera Course studying with Adrian Thompson.

Scholarships Lesley Ferguson Scholarship; Oppenheimer Memorial Trust.

Competitions 2nd runner up and Song Prize, Voices of South Africa International Singing Competition.

Experience Haydn Creation, KwaZulu Natal Philharmonic Orchestra; Mozart Requiem, Johannesburg Philharmonic Orchestra; Rossini Petite messe solennelle, North London Chorus. Operatic experience: Renzo The Little Green Swallow, Peppe Rita, Guildhall School; Nelson Porgy and Bess, ENO; Ariodante, Royal Opera House; Porgy and Bess, Dutch National Opera; Il viaggio a Reims, La traviata, Le nozze di Figaro, Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Carmen, Rigoletto, Mandela Trilogy, Porgy and Bess, Sibusiso Njeza’s Blood of Mine, Angelique Mouyis’s The Blue-Eyed Xhosa, University of Cape Town; Tamino Die Zauberflöte, Cape Town Opera; Count Almaviva Il barbiere di Sivilglia, Royal Opera House (Jette Parker Young Artists Summer Performance 2019).

Future plans Beginnings: New and Early Opera, Guildhall School; Nemorino L’elisir d’amore, Waterperry Opera, August 2021; Jette Parker Young Artists Programme 2021/2022.

Laura Lolita Perešivana

Voice and piano

Jake Heggie Animal Passion (Natural Selection)

American composer Jake Heggie is best known for his operas, including Dead Man Walking, but has also written some 250 songs. ‘Natural Selection’ is a song cycle composed in 1997 tracing a young girl’s search for identity; ‘Animal Passion’ depicts the first wild stirrings of her sexuality – ‘Fierce as a bobcat’s spring...’

Robert Schumann Heiss' mich nicht reden – Don't ask me to speak (Lieder und Gesänge aus Wilhelm Meister, Op 98a No 5)

Don’t ask me to speak, ask me to be silent; I’d like to reveal my hidden feelings, but fate has sworn me to secrecy. In due time, the sun will dispel the darkness and the earth will open her springs. Others may pour out their hearts in the arms of a friend; but my lips are sealed, and only a god may open them.

J zeps V tols Zaku m te – Mother rabbit (Songs for Children, Op 58 No 11)

Latvian composer J zeps V tols studied at the St

Petersburg Conservatory with Rimsky-Korsakov and became Professor of Composition there. Later he conducted the Latvian National Opera and founded the first Latvian Academy of Music. ‘I have so many children – three girls, two boys. Five mouths to feed, and my lazy old husband does nothing to help... Oh no, we need to run! Here come the shepherds with their dog.’

Sergei Rachmaninov Zdes khorosho – How lovely it is here (Op 21 No 7)

How lovely it is here! The river is ablaze with gold, the meadows are carpeted in colour, the clouds are pure white. In the silence there is no one here but God and myself, with the flowers, the old pine tree – and you, my dream.

Alexander Alyabyev Solovey The nightingale

Loved by Tchaikovsky, arranged and transcribed by Glinka, Balakirev and Liszt, Alyabyev’s most famous composition has acquired almost the status of a Russian folk song. ‘My sweet-voiced nightingale, where will you sing all

night? Will someone else be listening to you in tears? Though you may fly over every land and every village, you will not find anyone more unhappy than I am.’

Voice and orchestra

George Frideric Handel Dunque i lacci... Ah, crudel (Rinaldo)

Rejected by the knight Rinaldo, the sorceress Armida is tormented by conflicting emotions. ‘Could not the charms of my face, the promise of bliss, or the terrors of Hell hold him? Yet I love him... No, let my anger awaken, let him fall dead at my feet. But no, he is too handsome! Cruel man, let my tears move you to pity. Faithless man, you will taste the cruelty of my desire.’

Gioachino Rossini Bel raggio lusinghier (Semiramide)

Semiramis, Queen of Babylon, awaits the arrival of Prince Arsace, whom she believes is in love with her. ‘A bright ray of hope shines on me at last; Arsace has returned and my sufferings are over. After my torment, how precious will be this moment of peace and love.’

Laura Lolita Perešivana soprano b. Riga, Latvia

Training BMus (1 and 2), Royal Academy of Music; BMus (Hons) in Vocal Studies, Guildhall School; currently second year Guildhall School Opera course studying with Janice Chapman.

Scholarships Derek Butler Trust Scholarship; City of London Scholarship; Mercers’ Scholarship.

Competitions Extraordinary Prize, Tenor Viñas International Singing Competition; Very Highly Commended, London Song Festival Schubert Prize.

Experience Wigmore Hall lunchtime concert; Pushkin House Russian Music Festival. Operatic experience: Barbarina The Little Green Swallow, Rita Rita, The Princess La bella dormente nel bosco, Guildhall School; Zerlina Don Giovanni, British Youth Opera; Pamina Die Zauberflöte, Berlin Opera Academy; Lauretta Gianni Schicchi, Latvian National Opera; First Knabe Die Zauberflöte, Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet Theatre; Georg Solti Accademia 2020.

Future plans Beginnings: New and Early Opera, Guildhall School; Berenice L’occasione fa il ladro, British Youth Opera.

Olivia Boen

Voice and piano

Olivier Messiaen Résurrection (Chants de terre et de ciel)

Alleluia! The Lord Jesus is the first-born of the dead. Seven stars of love, put on your garment of light! I have risen again, I sing Alleluia for Thee, my Father, my God. An angel sits on the stone... We have touched Him and seen Him, a stream of life in His side. He breaks the bread and their eyes are opened. Wash yourselves in Truth.

Joseph Marx Selige Nacht – Blissful night

The late-Romantic Austrian composer Joseph Marx wrote over 200 songs. ‘In the arms of love we fell blissfully asleep. Listening at the open window, the summer wind carried our peaceful breaths out into the moonlit night. From the garden, the scent of roses came to our bed of love, giving us wonderful ecstatic dreams filled with yearning.’

Elizabeth Maconchy Sun, Moon and Stars

This comes from a song cycle written in 1978 for Jane Manning and Richard Rodney Bennett, to words

by Thomas Traherne. A newborn child marvels at the wonders of the glorious world around him, with himself ‘the cream and crown of all’.

Joseph Marx Hat dich die Liebe berührt

If love has touched you, you walk in a golden cloud amid the noisy throng, led safely by God. Gazing around you, you do not begrudge others their happiness; you have only one desire. Withdrawn into yourself, you vainly try to hide the crown of life that radiantly adorns your brow.

Sergei Rachmaninov Eti letniye nochi –These summer nights (Op 14 No 5)

How lovely are these moonlit summer nights! They awaken restless feelings of love. The pain of life is forgotten, bounteous happiness unfolds; inspired by love, we open our hearts to each other.

Voice and orchestra

Ruggero Leoncavallo Qual fiamma... Stridono lassù (Pagliacci)

Nedda is frightened by her husband’s angry suspicion

that she might have a lover. Hearing birdsong, she looks up and sees a flock of birds.Unlike her, they are free to follow their desires; the ‘gypsies of the sky’ follow a mysterious force which drives them onward.

Richard Strauss O wie gerne blieb ich bei dir (Daphne)

In Greek mythology, Daphne escaped the amorous intentions of the god Apollo by turning into a laurel. Here she addresses a beloved tree: she would gladly stay close to it when the sun of Apollo has set, seeking its shelter in the darkness and caressing its branches.

Carlisle Floyd Ain’t it a pretty night (Susannah)

Carlisle Floyd’s 1955 opera re-tells the Biblical tale of ‘Susanna and the Elders’ as the story of a young girl from Tennessee. In this aria, Susannah is with her friend, Little Bat, looking at the stars and wondering what it would be like to leave her home town and travel beyond the mountains.

Olivia Boen soprano b. Chicago, USA

Training BMus, Oberlin Conservatory of Music; Masters (Distinction) in Vocal Studies, Guildhall School; currently second year Guildhall School Opera Course studying with Samantha Malk.

Scholarships Walter Hyde Memorial Prize; Innholders’ Scholarship; Tracy Chadwell Memorial Prize; The Frank Huntington Beebe Fund for Musicians grant recipient.

Competitions Winning Duo, London Song Festival British Art Song Competition 2019; Third Place, Hurn Court Opera Singing Competition 2019; Semi-finalist, International Hilde Zadek Singing Competition 2019; Winner, Musicians Club of Women 2018; Second Place, North Shore Choral Society 2018.

Experience Performances at London Song Festival, LSO St Luke's, Wigmore Hall and Preston Bradley Hall; masterclasses with Renée Fleming, Marilyn Horne, Dame Felicity Lott, Thomas Hampson, Roderick Williams and Kate Royal; performances of Shostakovich Symphony No 14, Rossini Petite messe solennelle, Brahms Ein Deutsches Requiem, Handel Messiah; training at Verbier Festival (2019) and Ravinia Steans Music Institute (2018). Operatic experience: Queen Mother The Little Green Swallow, Countess Susanna Il segreto di Susanna; Attendant/Second Woman Dido and Aeneas, Peaseblossom A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Guildhall School; Erste Dame Die Zauberflöte, Die Stimme des Falken Die Frau ohne Schatten, Verbier Festival; Alcina Alcina, Thérèse Les Mamelles de Tirésias, Oberlin Opera Theater; Lauretta Gianni Schicchi, Norina Don Pasquale, Romilda Serse, Oberlin in Italy.

Future plans Beginnings: New and Early Opera, Guildhall School; Donna Anna (cover) Don Giovanni, Nevill Holt Opera Young Artist; French Song Exchange, Wigmore Hall; Samling Institute; recital with Hurn Court Opera, June 2021.

Tom Mole

Voice and piano

Sergei Rachmaninov V molchanyi nochi taynoy – In the silence of the secret night (Op 4 No 3)

In the silence of the secret night I’ll try to banish thoughts of your chatter, your smile, your hair... I’ll whisper the words I once spoke to you, and, drunk with love, I’ll awaken the night with your beloved name.

Hugo Wolf Abschied – Farewell (Mörike-Lieder, No 53)

A critic arrives, unannounced: ‘Just look at your nose: it's a monstrosity!’ ‘Well I never, so it is!’ As we stood on the stairs, I gave him just a little kick from behind. I’ve never seen someone go downstairs in such a hurry!

Hugo Wolf Schon streckt’ ich aus im Bett die müden Glieder – I had already stretched out my weary limbs in bed (Italienisches Liederbuch, No 27)

The singer was already in bed when he had a vision of his beloved. He leaps out of bed, puts on his shoes, grabs his lute and goes out into

the streets, singing. Many a maiden is moved by his serenade, but he passes by and his singing is lost on the wind.

Gerald Finzi The Phantom (Earth and Air and Rain, Op 15)

The poem is by Thomas Hardy. A man gazes intently at something by the sea shore; it is a phantom from his past – a ‘ghost-girl-rider’ who, unlike him, never grows old.

Katie Moss The Floral Dance

Written in 1911 and first recorded by Peter Dawson in 1912, this song evokes the sights and sounds of the traditional ‘Furry Dance’, performed in May every year in the Cornish town of Helston.

Voice and orchestra

Igor Stravinsky I was never saner... Come, master (The Rake’s Progress)

Tom Rakewell has inherited a fortune. His mysterious servant, Nick Shadow, employs some spurious philosophical reasoning to persuade Tom that he will be happy if he exercises his ‘free will’ by marrying Baba the Turk, the notorious Bearded Lady.

Giuseppe Verdi Perfidi! All’anglo contro me v’unite... Pietà, rispetto, amore (Macbeth)

Believing that no man ‘of woman born’ can harm him, Macbeth is confident of victory in the coming battle. But he realises that in his murderous quest for power he has alienated his former friends and supporters; there will be no compassion, respect or love to comfort him in his declining years, and no one will mourn his death.

Georges Bizet Votre toast, je peux vous le rendre (Toreador’s Song) (Carmen)

To an admiring audience of soldiers and gypsy girls, Escamillo the Toreador vividly describes a bullfight – the excitement of the crowd, a sudden silence as the bull charges out of the pen; a picador is brought down, there’s blood everywhere. Now it’s the turn of the Toreador to deliver the death blow. As he fights, a dark eye is watching from the crowd: love awaits...

Tom Mole baritone b. UK

Training BMus (1st class Hons) in Vocal Studies, Guildhall School; currently second year Guildhall School Opera Course studying with John Evans.

Scholarships Carpenters’ Company Henry Osborne Award Scholarship.

Experience King Tartaglia/Calmon The Little Green Swallow, Count Gil Il segreto di Susanna, Pimp Zanetto, Aeneas Dido and Aeneas, Snug A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Guildhall School; Count Horn Un ballo in Maschera, Opera Holland Park Young Artists 2019; Alidoro La Cenerentola, British Youth Opera.

Future plans Kuligin Káta Kabanová, chorus Luisa Miller, Glyndebourne Festival (2021 Jerwood Young Artist); Vaughan Williams Songs of Travel, Philharmonia Orchestra (opening night of Three Choirs Festival, conducted by Samuel Hudson).

Programme notes by Jonathan Burton © 2021

Pianists

Inês Costa b. Portugal

Training BMus (Hons) Royal College of Music; Masters in Performance (Guildhall Artist) and Artist Diploma, Guildhall School, studying with Charles Owen, Martin Roscoe and Ronan O’Hora.

Scholarships Guildhall Scholarship; Countess of Munster Musical Trust; Help Musicians UK; Leverhulme Trust; Royal College of Music Scholar.

Competitions Verão Clássico Prize; Musical Odyssey Summer Masterclasses Winner; Merit prize of the Ministry of Education; Dra. Manuela Carvalho prize; Centro de Cultura Musical Prize.

Experience Steinway Hall; Elgar Room, Royal Albert Hall; St Martin-in-the-Fields; St James’s Piccadilly; Cambridge University; Metropolitan Orchestra, Lisbon (tour of Mozart’s Piano Concerto No 21); Centro Cultural de Belém and Terreiro do Paço (broadcast as part of the Eurovision Festival 2018); Coliseum, Oporto; Quinta das Lágrimas, Coimbra; Auditório da Casa da Música, Óbidos; Pavilhão Paz e Amizade, Loures; Centro Cultural e de Congressos, Caldas da Rainha; Portuguese Music Museum, Estoril; Vouleftikon, Nafplio; St Spyridon Square, Corfu; Thessaloniki Concert Hall; Berlin Konzerthaus, Wiesbaden and Grafenegg, Austria (European Union Youth Orchestra).

Future plans Solo recital at St Anne's Church, Kew, as part of their Summer Series 2021.

Toby Hession b. UK

Training Chetham’s School of Music (piano and composition); BA (Music) and MPhil (Composition), Clare College, Cambridge; currently Répétiteur Fellow, Guildhall School.

Scholarships Goldsmiths’ Scholarship; Help Musicians UK.

Competitions First Prize (2017) and Accompanist Prize (2019), Clare Song Competition.

Courses Georg Solti Accademia 2020; Saluzzo Opera Academy 2021.

Experience as assistant conductor and/or répétiteur Il segreto di Susanna, Zanetto, Rita, Dido and Aeneas, Opera Makers 2020 (world premiere), The Angel Esmeralda (world premiere), Autumn Opera Scenes 2019, Spring Opera Scenes 2021, Guildhall School.

Future plans Beginnings: New and Early Opera, Guildhall School; Falstaff, Scottish Opera (Emerging Artist Répétiteur June 2021 to July 2022); Le nozze di Figaro, Saluzzo Opera Academy.

Josh Ridley b. UK

Training BA (Music), University of Durham, currently Répétiteur Fellow, Guildhall School.

Scholarships The Jack Irons Répétiteur Scholarship; Guildhall Scholarship.

Courses Performance Arts Lab 2019.

Experience as assistant conductor and/or répétiteur Il segreto di Susanna, Zanetto, Rita, La bella dormente nel bosco, The Angel Esmeralda (world premiere), The Magic Flute, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Carmen, Mansfield Park, Todd’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Guildhall School.

Future plans Beginnings: New and Early Opera, Guildhall School.

Guildhall School Scholarships Fund

“Every day I think of how fortunate I am to be given this opportunity, and this inspires me to work as hard as I possibly can.”Sadie Roach, BMus Jazz Piano Every year donations to the Scholarships Fund make it possible for over 450 young musicians, actors and theatre technicians to take up their hard-won places or continue their studies at Guildhall School. Contact the Development Office on 020 7382 7179, visit our website gsmd.ac.uk/support or mail development@gsmd.ac.uk and find out more about how you can support our talented students.

The Guildhall School Trust is a Registered Charity No. 1082472

Natalie Murray Beale Conductor

Conductor Natalie Murray Beale is a graduate of Guildhall School of Music & Drama, Sydney Conservatorium and National Opera Studio. She was an Associate Artist at Welsh National Opera and studied with conductor Jorma Panula before beginning her conducting career as Assistant to Esa-Pekka Salonen and Ingo Metzmacher at Opéra National de Paris, the Royal Swedish Opera and Festival d’Aix-en-Provence.

As Guest Conductor, Murray Beale has appeared internationally with the Philharmonia Orchestra, Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, the Beethoven Orchester Bonn, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Malta Philharmonic, Britten Sinfonia, BBC Concert Orchestra, Orquestra Sinfónica Portuguesa, Symphony Nova Scotia, the Presidential Orchestra of Turkey, Royal Northern Sinfonia, and the Chamber Orchestra of London. She has also worked with the orchestras of Teatro Comunale di Bologna, Luxembourg Philharmonic and Bergen Philharmonic.

A passionate opera conductor, in 2020 Murray Beale made a striking Royal Opera House mainstage debut – “expertly conducted” (Financial Times), “the excellent conductor” (The Daily Telegraph) – collaborating with Stage Director Katie Mitchell. Further engagements include operas for Theater Bonn, the Croatian National Theatre, the Royal Opera House (Mumbai), Opera Holland Park, the Royal College of Music and contemporary opera group Tête à Tête.

Murray Beale is known for her inspirational work with singers, as Creative Director of Independent Opera at Sadler’s Wells and Professor at the Royal College of Music (Opera). She was a Jury Member for the Wigmore Hall International Singing Competition (2019) and former Guest Chorus Director of London Symphony Chorus, where she collaborated with Valery Gergiev, Sir Colin Davis, Marin Alsop and Daniele Gatti.

Murray Beale’s accolades include a Royal Philharmonic Society Award (2012) for the opera We Are Shadows, a BBC Performing Arts Fellowship (2015) and a BAFTA nomination (music category) for the video game score Alien: Isolation (2015). Her performance of John Adams’ A Flowering Tree was recognised as one of Limelight Magazine’s ‘Top Shows of 2019’.

Guildhall Symphony Orchestra

Violin 1

Hana Mizuta-Spencer* Cathryn Cowell Giulia Lussoso Ella Ronson Sonja Tuomela Amelia Harding Leona Gogolicynova Laia Francés Pont Ivelina Ivanova Pedro Marques Rodrigues Gosia PodlinskaMario Gutiérrez Gorría

Violin 2

Sabine Sergejeva* Laura Pastor Rocamora Victoria Farrell-Reed Joana Praça Tiago Costa Reonel Rafols Olivia Danielewicz Pak Ho Hong Nina Lim Eliza Burkitt Abbie James

Viola

Kate Correia de Campos* Samuel Watkin Freya Hicks Isobel Doncaster Carlos David Contreras Gálvez Aleksandra Lipke Benedict Baily Ami-Louise Johnsson

Cello

Lavinnia Rae* Benedict Swindells Patrick Moriarty Anna Ryland-Jones Christopher Hedges Anna White Natalie Alfille-Cook

Double bass

Suliac Maheu* David Domínguez Vargas Sophie Walker Gabriel Abad VarelaMax Salisbury Chiu Yung Chan

Flute

Rebecca Rouch* (piccolo) Isobel Doughty (piccolo) Nicola Stevenson (piccolo)

Oboe

Sam Willsmore* Katherine Farnden (cor anglais)

Clarinet

Fresca David* José Hita García Andy Mellor (bass clarinet)

Bassoon

Michael Madigan* Daria Phillips Ruby Collins

Horn

Zac Hayward* Alex Grinyer Leonardo Pinho Fran Gordon

Trumpet

Adam Meyer* Patrick Wilson

Trombone

Jake Jones* Josh Barber

Bass trombone

Sam Clough

Tuba

Charlie Jones

Timpani

Hristiyan Hristov

Percussion

Charlie Hodge* Francisco Negreiros

Harp

Caroline Breman* Heather Brooks*

Harpsichord

Matthew Brown

Ensembles, Programming & Instrument Manager

Phil Sizer

Orchestra Librarian

Anthony Wilson

Orchestra Stage Manager

Bill Bannerman

Guest Tutors

David Alberman (Violins and Tutti) Clare Duckworth (Tutti Strings) Daniel Jemison (Woodwind and Wind,

Brass, Percussion, Harps & Harpsichord)

Dudley Bright (Brass & Percussion) David Corkhill (Timpani & Percussion) Bryn Lewis (Harp)

*denotes section principal.

The Jury

Professor Jonathan Vaughan (Chair)

After studying at the Royal College of Music Jonathan spent ten years as a member of the London Symphony Orchestra. He became Chairman of the LSO in 1999 before becoming Director of the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain, a post he held for five years. He took up his current role as Vice-Principal & Director of Music at Guildhall School in 2007.

Jonathan is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, a Fellow of Guildhall School and was conferred the title of Professor of Music at Guildhall School in 2021. He is currently studying for a PhD and is researching the training of Artistic Citizenship in international music conservatoires.

Huw Humphreys

Huw Humphreys is currently the Head of Music at London’s Barbican Centre, the largest multi-arts centre in Europe, where he has been in post since September 2014. This appointment brought him back to the UK after nine years as Director of Artistic Planning of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, a position he held following six years with renowned artist management agency Askonas Holt (Harold Holt until 1998) and four years as General Manager of the European Union Youth Orchestra. Huw holds a Masters in Music from Oxford University, and spends most of his non-music related life religiously following the Welsh rugby and England cricket teams, and improving his golf swing.

Jordan de Souza

Hailed by The New York Times as part of “the new generation leading Berlin’s classical music scene”, Canadian conductor Jordan de Souza earned this distinction whilst serving as First Kapellmeister of the Komische Oper Berlin from 2017 to 2020. Whilst there, he collaborated with renowned director Barrie Kosky on four critically acclaimed new productions: Pelléas et Mélisande, La Bohème, Weinberger’s Frühlingsstürme, and Candide. Debuts in the 2020/21 season include Die Zauberflöte at the Bayerische Staatsoper (Munich) and Garsington Opera with the Philharmonia Orchestra in a new staging of Strauss Der Rosenkavalier. Symphonic concerts included a debut with the Orchestre Symphonique de Québec in a programme of Tchaikovsky and Zemlinsky.

Recent highlights have included debuts with the Adelaide Symphony, Auckland Philharmonia, Houston Grand Opera, the Hannover Staatsorchester, and a reinvitation to conduct the Orchestre Métropolitain. In 2017–18, Jordan conducted 28 performances of Carmen with the Vienna Symphony Orchestra in a highly successful production at the Bregenzer Festspiele. His repertoire at the Komische Oper included Don Giovanni, La Traviata, Petrushka, L’Enfant et les sortilèges, Eugene Onegin, Il barbiere di Siviglia, Mussorgsky’s Sorochintsy Fair, and a broad range of concerts including lesser known works by Franz Schreker, Kurt Weill, Fazil Say and William Grant Still.

Born in Toronto, Jordan attended McGill University in Montreal. He made his conducting debut at age 20 with Bach’s St John Passion, and following graduation, he joined the McGill music faculty from 2011 to 2015. During these years, he conducted several oratorios including the St Matthew Passion, Christmas Oratorio, Mass in B Minor, and the Requiems of Verdi, Mozart and Fauré. Jordan made his debut with the Canadian Opera Company in 2015, conducting their Claus Guth production of Le nozze di Figaro, and he also served as Conductor in Residence of Tapestry Opera in Toronto.

Future seasons include debuts with Opernhaus Zürich, Chicago Lyric Opera and, following his debut with the London Philharmonic Orchestra in the Glyndebourne Cup Competition in 2020, an invitation to conduct a new production at the 2022 Glyndebourne Festival.

Gweneth Ann Rand

Gweneth Ann Rand trained at the University of Exeter, Goldsmith’s College and Guildhall School of Music & Drama. During her training, she received the Maggie Teyte, Ian Fleming and Sybil Tutton Awards. She was a Vilar Young Artist at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, and in 2001 represented England at BBC Cardiff Singer of the World.

Highlights in recent seasons include acclaimed performances of 4.48 Psychosis for The Royal Opera/Lyric Hammersmith, Prototype Festival in New York and Opéra national du Rhin Serena in English National Opera’s lavish new production of Porgy and Bess; Mother Hansel and Gretel for ENO at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre; Mrs Grose in a new filmed version of The Turn of the Screw for OperaGlass Works; and acclaimed recitals at Wigmore Hall and the Oxford Lieder Festival.

Her operatic engagements include Aida for English National Opera, Theater Bremen, Oper Kiel, Finnish National Opera, Macedonian Opera, Opera Poznan and Oldenburgisches Staatstheater; Senta in Der fliegende Holländer for London Lyric Opera/Barbican; Leonora in La forza del destino for Oper Köln; Leonora in Il trovatore for Welsh National Opera; Amelia in Un ballo in maschera and Margherita/Helena in Mefistofele for Theater Erfurt; Tosca for Teatro Nacional de São Carlos; Gutrune in Götterdämmerung at the BBC Proms; and Aida, Santuzza, La Gioconda, La Wally and Leonora La forza del destino for Opera Holland Park.

Gweneth Ann is widely known for her acclaimed interpretations of Messiaen’s song cycles Harawi (including Wigmore Hall, Oxford Lieder Festival and for Opera North) and Poèmes pour Mi (Gürzenich Orchester Köln, Tonhalle Orchester Zürich and BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra all under Jun Märkl). She also performed Harawi as part of the Southbank Centre’s composer centenary celebrations From the Canyons to the Stars and at the BBC Proms.

With thanks to Richard Hetherington, Head of Music of The Royal Opera, for adjudicating the preliminary rounds of the competition.

We are very grateful to everyone who has made a financial contribution to Guildhall School of Music & Drama.

Exceptional Giving (£100,000+)The late Mme Gita de la FuenteThe Leverhulme Trust

Founding Corporate PartnerEversheds Sutherland

Leadership Giving (£25,000+)Anonymous in memory of Jane AdesThe Amar-Franses & Foster-Jenkins TrustCity of London Education BoardThe late Sally CohenThe Fishmongers’ CompanyNorman Gee FoundationThe Goldsmiths’ Company CharityThe Leathersellers’ CompanyThe Wolfson FoundationHenry Wood Accommodation Trust

Major Benefactors (£10,000+)Rose Ades in memory of her sisterThe Behrens FoundationMs Elmira DarvarovaMark Dixon & Giulia NobiliThe D’Oyly Carte Charitable TrustThe Drapers’ CompanyThe Albert & Eugenie Frost Music Trust CIOThe Girdlers’ Company Charitable TrustThe Haberdashers’ CompanyMr Peter & Mrs Pauline HallidayThe Josephine Hart Poetry FoundationThe Headley TrustThe late Mr George LawLondon Symphony OrchestraThe late Ms Anne NaysmithNinety One

The Sidney Perry FoundationThe late Mr Irving Stanley RappaportThe Rothschild FoundationMitzi Scott RabinowitzDr Michael Shipley and Mr Philip RudgeThe Skinners’ Company – Lawrence

Atwell’s CharityThe South Square TrustThe Worshipful Company of CarpentersThe Worshipful Company of CordwainersThe Worshipful Company of GrocersThe Worshipful Company of HornersThe Worshipful Company of InnholdersThe Worshipful Company of Tobacco

Pipe MakersThe Worshipful Company of Weavers

Benefactors (£5,000+)AnonymousThe Anglo-Swedish SocietyThe Athena ScholarshipThe William Brake Charitable TrustThe John S Cohen FoundationThe Noël Coward FoundationJohn Ford (HonFGS) & Amy FordMs Lesley FergusonThe Fortisure FoundationDr Madeleine GantleyProfessor Sir Barry Ife and Dr Trudi DarbyThe Ironmongers’ CompanyMs Gillian LaidlawMr Damian Lewis, OBE, FGSAlison Love – In memory of Barry

MacDonaldMme Marina MartinDr Rex MelvilleThe Mercers’ CompanyMerchant Taylors’ CompanyThe Noswad CharityMr Ken Ollerton and Miss Jane Rigler

Our supporters

The Salters’ CompanyThe Edward Selwyn Memorial FundSteinway & SonsThe Sutasoma TrustThe Thompson Educational TrustUniversity College London Hospitals

CharityMr Hugh VanstoneThe Worshipful Company of BarbersThe Worshipful Company of Chartered

SurveyorsThe Worshipful Company of DyersThe Worshipful Company of Gold and

Silver Wyre DrawersThe Worshipful Company of MusiciansThe Worshipful Company of Tallow

ChandlersThe Worshipful Company of Wax

Chandlers

Supporters (£1,000+)Mr Ray BarkerThe Classical RoadshowMr John L CrockattThe Ann Driver TrustFriends of University College London

HospitalsThe Guild of Freemen of the City of LondonMr Antony HigginsonMr Peter Johnson-BoothMr Stephen Kramer and Mrs Miriam

KramerLord and Lady Lurgan TrustHarriet and Michael MaunselMr Martin MooreThe Murray-Smith Charitable TrustMr Graham PackhamAndrew & Cindy PeckMr Tim PethybridgeMr Gerald Powell, HonFGS

Miss Sarah SkeltonSophie’s Silver Lining FundThe Michael Tippett Musical FoundationProfessor John UffThe Vintners’ CompanyThe Worshipful Company of BakersThe Worshipful Company of Builders

MerchantsThe Worshipful Company of Glass SellersThe Worshipful Company of PattenmakersThe Worshipful Company of PaviorsThe Worshipful Company of PlumbersThe Worshipful Company of Tin Plate alias

Wire WorkersThe Worshipful Company of Tylers and

BricklayersMrs Anne Wyburd

For further information about supporting Guildhall School and its students, please contact the Development Office on 020 7382 7179 or email development@gsmd.ac.uk

We have done our utmost to ensure the information listed here is accurate. If there is anything you would like us to amend please get in touch.

The Guildhall School Trust is a Registered Charity, No. 1082472

Head of Music AdministrationJames Alexander

Deputy Head of Music Administration (Planning)Sophie Hills

Deputy Head of Music Administration (Admissions & Assessment)Jen Pitkin

Concert Piano TechniciansJP WilliamsPatrick Symes

ASIMUT & Music Timetable Manager Graeme Booth

External Engagements Manager Jo Cooper

Student Compliance & ASIMUT Performance and Events Systems ManagerJoão Costa

Strings & Music Therapy ManagerLiam Donegan

Opera Department ManagerSteven Gietzen

Vocal Department ManagerMartha Hartman

Music Programmes AdministratorMiranda Humphreys

UG Academic Studies, Composition & Keyboard Departments Manager Brendan Macdonald

WBP & Historical Performance Manager Michal Rogalski

PG Music Studies & Chamber Music ManagerNora Salmon

Jazz & Supplementary Studies ManagerCorinna Sanett

Ensembles, Programming & Instrument ManagerPhil Sizer

Senior Music Office Administrator & EA to the Director of Music & Head of Music AdministrationPeter Smith

Jazz Ensembles & Equipment Manager Adam Williams

Deputy Director of Music & Head of Vocal StudiesArmin Zanner

Deputy Head of Vocal StudiesSamantha Malk

Head of Opera StudiesDominic Wheeler

Guildhall School Recording & Audio Visual Department

ProducerJulian Hepple EditorSam Ziajka Vision MixerIzziiee Jewell Camera OperatorsAnnie SmithMimi HemchauoiMaisie Roberts Camera CallerDaniel Davis Sound EngineerJohn Brown Broadcast ManagerDylan Bate

Guildhall School Music Administration

Join the Guildhall PatronsEmpower our students to light up stages and concert halls around the world

Your support will safeguard the School’s specialist training of international musicians, actors and production artists and provide expert masterclasses, strands of specialist teaching and the equipment essential to maintaining the Guildhall School as a world-leading conservatoire.

As a Patron you will be richly rewarded with performances across the breadth of the School’s artistic disciplines. We invite you to witness artists in training and enjoy a fulfilling rapport with Guildhall staff, students and fellow supporters.

For more information about becoming a Patron, please contact: Emily McNeillis, Development Officer (Individuals), emily.mcneillis@gsmd.ac.uk

Gold Medal 2022

Next year’s Gold Medal, celebrating outstanding Guildhall School instrumentalists, will be held on 10 May 2022.

Beginnings: New and Early Opera

Crankshaw/Best The ApothecaryCarissimi Judicium SalomonisO’Grady/Sullivan EintänzerÁbel M.G.E./Lavender I’m Cleaning, I’m CleaningCharpentier Orphée descendant aux enfers

Conducted by Chad Kelly Directed by John Ramster

28 May – 7 June Free to watch at gsmd.ac.uk