Back in the dark days of April 2020, St Paul’s Opera had to put plans for our Oratorio concert on hold as the country was shut down due to the Pandemic. Now we are especially delighted to return to this concert format with Sacred Voices Resound, extending SPO’s offering beyond the operatic repertoire. The date for your diary is Friday, 19th April.

We will be joined by some familiar vocal friends and are delighted to welcome new faces, too. Our line up will include sopranos Isabelle Roberts, Louisa Tee and Patricia Ninian, mezzos Alexandra Dinwiddie and Natasha Elliott, tenor Matthew Cooke and baritones Hector Bloggs, Thomas Litchev and Ashley Mercer.

The concert programme will consist of a wonderful collection of arias and ensemble from the oratorio repertoire in the first half, with the magnificent Mozart Requiem in its entirety in the second half.  Tickets are £20 online (£22 on the door, subject to availability). The concert will start at 7.30pm at our home of St Paul’s Church, Rectory Grove, SW4 0DZ. 

the programme

Dolorosa  Stabat Mater – Pergolesi
Alexandra Dinwiddie & Louisa Tee

Vergnügte ruh, beliebte Seelenlust  Cantata BWV 170 – Bach
Alexandra Dinwiddie

Gebt mir meinen Jesum wider  St. Matthew Passion – Bach
Thomas Litchev

Comfort Ye ... Every Valley  Messiah – Handel
Matthew Cooke

Oh! that I on wings could rise  Theodora – Handel
Isabella Roberts

Et incarnatus est  Mass in C minor – Mozart
Patricia Ninian

Graceful Consort  The Creation – Haydn
Ashley Mercer & Patricia Ninian

O salutaris Hostia  Petite Messe Solennelle – Rossini
Louisa Tee

Urlicht  Symphony No 2 ­– Mahler
Natasha Elliott

Confutatis maledictis  Requiem – Verdi
Ashley Mercer

As steals the morn  L'Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato – Handel
Matthew Cooke & Isabella Roberts

Lord God of Abraham  Elijah – Mendelssohn
Hector Bloggs

REQUIEM IN D MINOR - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart;  Franz Xaver Süssmayr
Introitus
Requiem aeternam
Kyrie
Sequentia
Dies irae
Tuba mirum
Rex tremendae
Recordare
Confutatis
Lacrymosa
Offertorium
Domine Jesu
Hostias
Sanctus
Benedictus
Agnus Dei
Communio
Lux aeterna
Cum sanctis tuis

PATRICIA NINIAN

Patricia began her solo career a few decades ago in Westminster Abbey, but more recently was a Morley College Opera Performance student under the expert direction of Jonathan Cocker. She founded St Paul’s Opera in 2013 and has sung the roles of Madame Goldentrill (Der Schauspieldirektor) and Nella (Gianni Schicchi),Liu (Turandot), Donna Elvira (Don Giovanni), Queen of the Night (Die Zauberflöte), Eurydice (Orpheus in the Underworld), Despina (Così fan Tutte), and Marcellina (Le Nozze di Figaro) and Miss Wordsworth (Albert Herring).

THE PERFORMERS – SOPRANOS

Mezzo-sopranos

ALEXANDRA DINWIDDIE

Alexandra is a Stockwell-bred mezzo who trained at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland following studies at the University of Bristol and Morley Opera School. An SPO favourite, Alex had performed roles including Hansel (Hänsel und Gretel) Nancy (Albert Herring), La Ciesca (Gianni Schicchi) and Armelinde (Cinderella) with SPO. Other roles include Lola/Lena in Verismo, Opera on Location’s take on Cavalleria Rusticana and Pagliacci, ensemble for Gothic Opera’s Le Loup-Garou and Le Dernier Sorcier, and Olga for ESO’s Eugene Onegin. In concert, Alex has performed the premiere of Edwin Hillier’s Dhātu at Glasgow Cathedral Festival, Elgar’s Sea Pictures at Greyfriar’s Kirk and Dvořák’s Stabat Mater at St Mary’s Cathedral, Edinburgh, and collaborated with the Tim Kliphuis Trio. Forthcoming plans include Sense and Sensibility: The Musical at the Minack Theatre, Cornwall, with Surrey Opera.

NATASHA ELLIOTT

Natasha is currently undertaking her Artist Diploma as a Morag Noble Scholar at Trinity Laban conservatoire. Last Christmas, she played the Big Bad Wolf in a modern adaptation of Cui’s Little Red Riding Hood (Little Red and the Big Bad…) for St Paul’s Opera. Other recent engagements have included off-stage chorus lead for The Opera Maker’s production of Turandot at Grimeborn, Princess Clarice (L’Amour des Trois Oranges) for Regents Opera, Florence Pike in SPO’s production of Albert Herring, Octavian (Der Rosenkavalier) for Uncovered Opera, Die Zweiter Dienerin in Fulham Opera’s (Die Ägyptische Helena).

TENOR

MATTHEW COOKE

Matthew is a British tenor currently studying towards an MA at the Royal Academy of Music and is a Leverhulme Arts Scholar and an approved artist on the Josephine Baker Trust scheme. Prior to his MA, Matthew graduated with a first-class degree in French, Italian and Business from the University of Kent having spent one year at the Université de Neuchatel in Switzerland. Having recently moved to Balham, this is Matthew’s debut with St Paul’s Opera.

BASS/BARITONES

THOMAS LITCHEV

Bulgarian-American baritone Thomas Litchev has been praised as 'gripping to watch and hear' (clevelandclassical.com) for his portrayal of the Sodbuster in Missy Mazzoli's Proving Up with Oberlin Opera Theatre. Thomas is originally from Colorado and is currently London-based while he finishes postgraduate studies at the Guildhall School of Music, where he is a Leverhulme Arts Scholar. He received his bachelor’s degree from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, where he was awarded the Louise and Marguerite Bloomberg Greenwood Prize. While at Oberlin, Thomas was also a Dannenberg Honours Recital recipient and was a soloist for the premiere of Elizabeth Ogonek’s piano concerto Where Are We Now, a recording of which was subsequently released with Oberlin Music Label in 2021. In the 2022/23 season, Thomas made his European-debut at the Trondheim Barokkfest as Adario in Rameau’s Les Indes Galantes. In the 2023/24 season, he will debut with London-based opera companies Gothic Opera and Merry Opera. In the summer of 2024, Thomas debuts with Opera Steamboat in the world premiere of Welcome to Madness by Leanna Kirchoff.

HECTOR BLOGGS

Hector is returning to St Paul’s Opera where he was last seen in costume as Grandma in last December’s production of Little Red and the Big Bad, and previously as both Betto AND Marco in the 2021 production of Gianni Schicchi, his “Operatic Debut”. He has since performed the title role of Don Giovanni, Sid in Albert Herring, and smaller (sometimes Bass) roles elsewhere. He is currently in his first year of the Opera Course at Guildhall where he finished his undergraduate with a first class and Concert Recital Diploma. This summer he will make his solo debut with West Green Opera singing the role of Fiorello in The Barber of Seville.

ASHLEY MERCER

Ashley graduated Masters with distinction from the Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance (TCM Trust Scholar & a Kathleen Roberts scholar) and was awarded the Paul Simm Opera Prize. Credits include: Max Kane - Dinner at Eight, Luka - The Bear, German Soldier - Silent Night (Wexford Festival Opera); Blackbeard - Moonfleet (Salisbury Playhouse); Morales - Carmen (St Paul’s Opera); Antonio - The Marriage of Figaro (Waterperry Opera Festival); Guglielmo - Così fan tutte (Opera in Oborne); Enrico - Lucia di Lammermoor, Maestro Spinelloccio - Gianni Schicchi (Fulham Opera), Messiah (Merry Opera).

CHORUS

JAN BRIANE ASTOM – TENOR

JB started singing in 2016 under the tutelage of Prof. Cecilia Valeña of the University of the Philippines and this generation’s premier Filipino tenor Arthur Espiritu. He has since performed in numerous concerts and operatic productions, taking special interest in art songs and sacred music repertoire. Opera credits include King Caspar in Amahl and the Night Visitors, Tinyente Guevarra in Noli Me Tangere, and Chorus member in Turandot. He is also a founding member of Pasipo, a Philippines-based vocal ensemble specialising in vocal chamber music. A keen learner, he has sung in masterclasses conducted by internationally renowned vocal coaches Nelly Miricioiu, Susan Waters, and Ronan Ferrer. He has been actively singing with The Bach Choir under the baton of David Hill MBE since 2021. He is also a passionate pianist / piano pedagogue and has served in the board of the Piano Teachers’ Guild of the Philippines Foundation, Inc. between 2014-2017. Beyond his musical pursuits, JB is a registered nurse currently working for the NHS as an EHR analyst. He is currently pursuing an MSc in Artificial Intelligence at the University of Bath.

FLORENCE CARRUTHERS-ANDREWS – MEZZO-SOPRANO

Florence is a mezzo-soprano from Brighton. She is currently studying for her Masters at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance under the tutelage of Neil Baker and Panaretos Kyriatzidis, where she is a recipient of the Kathleen Roberts Vocal Scholarship. She previously read Music at the University of Leeds and spent a year studying voice at the Académie Supérieure de Musique de Strasbourg where she specialised in Baroque Music.

MEGAN ARTEMOVA-THOMAS – SOPRANO

Megan is currently undertaking a Professional Diploma at Trinity Laban conservatoire, studying with Neil Baker and Panaretos Kyriatzidis, where she recently performed as Vitellia (La clemenza di Tito), and Dorabella (Così fan tutte) in a selection of scenes from Mozart operas. Other recent performances include chorus for the Opera Makers’ March of Progress concert, soprano soloist in the Mozart Requiem and Haydn Nelson Mass for BAFCO, and chorus for Uncovered Opera Company’s production of Macbeth.

MUSICAL DIRECTOR

JO RAMADAN

Jo began his music studies as a chorister at Chapel Royal St James Palace. After graduating from Durham University, he studied at the Royal College of Music with John Blakely and Roger Vignoles.In recent years, engagements have included Assistant Conductor at Drottningholm Festival for Handel’s Ariodante and at Grange Festival for Britten’s Midsummer Night’s Dream and assistant conductor for Grange Festival’s Yeoman of the Guard. Jo is currently Director of Music at St Vedast Foster Lane as well as being a professor of vocal repertoire at the Royal College of Music and as conductor and pianist at Oxenfoord International Summer School. He is also a coach and course leader for Samling.