BARBER OF SEVILLE – CAST & CREATIVES

This production of Rossini’s “sizzling” comic opera would highlight the use of disguise as a means to find confidence, acceptance and status, and the clash of old-fashioned perceptions of femininity colliding with the modern view. The opera would be set in a psychological space, where time & locations ran rotate quickly from stifling comfortable confinement to a Barber’s shop where fresh ideas and invention proliferate.

The opera would be sung in Italian with specially adapted English sur-titles. 7 Artists would perform in 6 fully staged performances. Two pre-performance talks by the director would give an insight into the creation of the piece and contextual background.

If you would like to help ensure that this production is realised, please join our campaign to make this happen. The set and costumes are all designed, and all the singers and orchestra are ready to go.

Every little bit helps.

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Anthony Flaum – Count Almaviva

Anthony Flaum is a graduate of the Royal Academy of Music and National Opera Studio. His studies were generously supported by English National Opera and the John Wates Foundation. Operatic roles include Borsa Rigoletto (English National Opera); Macduff Macbeth (Scottish Opera); Tybalt Roméo et Juliette, Motel Fiddler on the Roof, Tchekalinsky Queen of Spades and Lensky Eugene Onegin (Grange Park Opera); Nemorino L’elisir d’amore (NI Opera and Nevill Holt Opera); Rodolfo La bohème and Pinkerton Madame Butterfly (Iford Arts); the title role in UC Opera’s production of Aroldo; and for OperaUpClose he was the first Rodolfo in their critically acclaimed production of La bohème, with subsequent roles including Lensky Eugene Onegin, Don José Carmen and Don Ottavio Don Giovanni.

In concert he has performed with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and BBC Concert Orchestra, most notably in Fiddler on the Roof at the BBC Proms.

Full Biog – https://www.anthonyflaum.co.uk

Samuel Pantcheff – Dr Bartolo

Baritone Samuel Pantcheff won the Blythe-Buesst Opera Prize whilst studying at Royal Academy Opera with Glenville Hargreaves and Audrey Hyland. Samuel currently studies with Gary Coward and is a Britten-Pears Young Artist. Operatic experience includes Pulcino BambinO (Scottish Opera), Juan Juliana (Nova Music Opera), Onegin Eugene Onegin (OperaUpClose), Leporello Don Giovanni (Head First Productions), Lumaca La scuola de gelosi (Bampton Clas- sical Opera), Sharpless Madam Butterfly (King’s Head Theatre), The King Eight Songs for a Mad King (Grimeborn Festival; Saint Petersburg Philharmonia), Pa- pageno Die Zauberflöte (Pavilion Opera), Guglielmo Cosi fan tutte (Pop-Up Opera), The Younger Gentleman Exposition of a Picture (Buxton Festival), Ae- neas Dido and Aeneas (RAO), Fiorello Il Barbiere di Siviglia (Cadogan Hall), Ben The Telephone (The Opera Box), and L’horloge comtoise/Le chat L’enfant et les sortileges (BBCSO; Barbican). Samuel is currently on the Internationales Opernstudio Gerard Mortier at the Salzburg Landestheater. Roles this season are Scherasmin Oberon, Brabantis- che Edle Lohengrin, Miles Anthropocene (Stuart Macrae), Raphael/Adam Die Schöpfung, and Simon Fuller-Bull Viva la Diva, a new version of Donizetti’s Le convenienze ed inconvenienze teatrali.

Full Biog – http://www.samuelpantcheff.com

Elsa Roux Chamoux – Rosina

Elsa Roux Chamoux is a French mezzo-soprano. She completed her Masters of Performance on the Opera Course at GSMD. She has already won awards and been a finalist in several national and international competitions (Paris, Bordeaux, Vendôme, England, Austria, Wales, Sicily, Italy, Armenia). She has performed the roles of: Dido in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas, La Regina/La Vecchietta/ La Duchessa in Respighi’s La bella dormente, Sister Edgar in Lliam Paterson’s The Angel Esmeralda, Celia in Haydn’s La Fedelta Premiata at GSMD, Ruggiero in Händel’s Alcina in Fulham, Romeo in Bellini’s I Capuleti e I Montecchi in London and Cherubino in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro in New York. However, Elsa does not have only one string to her bow: She also obtained her bachelor’s degree in Management in Paris (in e-learning), as well as being a World Champion in Rink-Hockey (roller skate) in 2012 as the goalkeeper of the French women’s team from 2010 to 2015. In 2021 Elsa is going to the Opera Studio of the National du Rhin, in Strasbourg in France.

Full Biog – https://elsarouxchamoux.com/

Jacobo Ochoa – Figaro

Colombian Baritone Jacobo Ochoa is currently studying at the GSMD with Professor Rudolf Piernay. Recent operatic roles include Belcore (L’elisir d’amore – Donizetti) with Opera de Tenerife (Opera Studio); Masetto (Don Giovanni – Mozart) with Clonter Opera, UK; Caliban cover (The Enchanted Island – Jeremy Sams) with BYO. Future engagements include reprising the role of Belcore at the Tbilisi National Theater, the Teatro Comunale di Bologna; Opera de Colombia in Bogota and Figaro in Il Barbiere di Siviglia for Clonter Opera. Later in 2020 Jacobo is due to make his debut with Festival Verdi in Parma and come back to Tenerife Opera house for a concert version of Manon by Massenet. Jacobo is grateful to be supported by The Drake Calleja Trust and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.

Full Biog – http://www.jacoboochoa.com

Timothy Edlin – Don Basilio

English Bass-Baritone, Timothy Edlin, is a member of the Opera Studio of the North Rhine Westphalia in Germany, performing roles in theatres across West Germany including; Oper Dortmund, Aalto-Musiktheater Essen, Musiktheater im Revier Gelsenkirchen and Oper Wuppertal. Having started singing as a chorister at Canterbury Cathedral, he furthered his education, first at the University of Manchester, and then The Royal College of Music in London. This season’s operatic highlights include: “Teodoro” from Paisiello’s Il Re Teodoro in Venezia (Gelsenkirchen), “Borella” from Auber’s La Muette de Portici (Dortmund) and “Sultan” for the Kinderoper Die Kinder des Sultans (Dortmund). Next season’s highlights include: “Krushina” from Smetana’s The Bartered Bride (Essen), “Ascanio Petrucci” from Donizetti’s Lucrezia Borgia (Essen), “Homonay” from Johann Strauss’ The Gypsy Baron (Gensenkirchen), as well as covering “Papagano” from Mozart’s The Magic Flute (Essen).Timothy is also an active oratorio and concert singer and has performed within numerous prestigious venues including, at the Royal Festival Hall (with players of the LPO and Foyle Future First scheme), The Wigmore Hall, King’s College Chapel, as well as live on BBC radio 3.

Faryl Smith – Berta

Faryl is currently on the postgraduate course at The Guildhall School of Music and Drama, studying with Marilyn Rees. After graduating with a first-class honours degree, Faryl was awarded the Wyburd Prize for the most accomplished performance of German Lied, and was sponsored by The Felix Mendelssohn Foundation to perform German Lied in Mendelssohn-Haus in Leipzig. Faryl is proud to be an ambassador for The Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod. At The Guildhall, Faryl has had the opportunity to work with renowned coaches and conductors such as; Kamal Khan, Brenda Hurley, Sarah Walker and Eugene Asti. She has performed in many different opera scenes, preforming roles such as Fiordiligi from Mozart’s Così fan tutte and Norina from Donizetti’s Don Pasquale and is looking forward to playing the roles of Zdenka in Arabella and Sophiein Der Rosenkavalierin The Guildhall’s opera scenes.

Full Biog – https://www.farylmusic.co.uk

George Reynolds – Fiorello

George Reynolds is a 22-year-old English Baritone currently studying as an undergraduate at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama under the tutelage of Gary Coward. George sang as the cover Figaro in Saint Paul’s Opera’s 2019 summer production of Le Nozze di Figaro. George was due to work as a Chorus member for Opera Holland Park’s productions of Eugene Onegin and Rigoletto this summer. George was due to be playing the role of Guccio and the cover role of Marco in the 2020 British Youth Opera production of Gianni Schicchi.

Paul Wingfield – Music Director & Conductor

Paul has worked and performed with most of the leading UK opera companies including Royal Opera House, Opera North, English National Opera, Opera Holland Park and Birmingham Opera Company. He was a Jette Parker Young Artist at the Royal Opera House in 2012–14. During his time at the Royal Opera House he conducted numerous productions in the Linbury Studio Theatre and on the main stage, as well as numerous concerts. He was mentored by Sir Antonio Pappano and acted as his assistant conductor on Carmen, Gloriana and Die Zauberflöte. He regularly returns to the Royal Opera House to work with both opera and ballet productions. Recent work includes critically-acclaimed performances of Turn of the Screw (Bury Court Opera), La Bohème (Opera Holland Park) and Goldilocks and The Three Pigs (The Opera Story) and as assistant conductor for The Skating Rink (Garsington Opera). He returns to Garsington in 2021 for Eugene Onegin. Paul is Head of Vocal & Operatic Studies at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire.

Full Biog – http://www.paulwingfield.com

Valeria Racco – Assistant Conductor & Italian Coach

Italian pianist, coach and conductor Valeria Racco collaborates regularly with opera companies around the UK, such as Opera North, Garsington Opera, Clonter Opera, Clonter Opera and Grange Festival and Theater Hagen (DE). She held the prestigious position of Trainee Repetiteur at English National Opera for the 2017/2018 season.

Since 2017, Valeria holds the position of Opera Role Coach at the Royal Academy of Music and works with Guildhall School of Music and Drama, Royal Birmingham Conservatoire and Leeds College of Music.

Valeria has played for numerous productions working side by side with international conductors and directors such as Karen Kamensek, Leo McFall, Martyn Brabbins, Keri-Lynn Wilson, Hilary Griffiths, Antony Hermus, Daniel Kramer, Phelim McDermott, Edward Dick, Martin Lloyd-Evans and Clive Timms.

Valeria has worked with internationally renowned singers such as Anthony Roth Costanzo, Brindley Sherratt, Michelle Young, Latonia Moore, Giselle Allen, Robert Hayward, Sarah Pring and Rafael Rojas.

She returned as pianist to ENO in the 2018/2019 season for the Olivier Award winning production of Akhnaten.

Valeria studied at Guildhall School of Music and Drama at the prestigious Opera Course under the direction of Dominic Wheeler, where she has been involved in several productions as music director and pianist.

Full Biog – http://valeriaracco.com