Clonter is absolutely delighted to be able to FINALLY present all those that enjoyed the online concert in June 2020, with the two artists – John Ieuan Jones and Naomi Rogers – that put this show together, but now LIVE in the Ramsey Room at Clonter, with a real live accompanist, Robin Humphreys.

This increasingly popular Clonter event consists of afternoon tea, followed by an hour of songs from musicals. The tea itself includes smoked salmon, cream cheese and cucumber, and egg mayonnaise sandwiches, with the crusts cut off, followed by a tiered cake stand presented to your table with an assortment of goodies, which include a freshly baked scone with whipped cream and strawberry jam (the Devon way), orange and walnut flapjack, chocolate cake, and a very juicy strawberry. Accompanied by an all important cup of tea or fresh coffee, served in rosebud china and ceramic teapots. This is then followed by an hour of songs from the shows, presented by two singers and a pianist, under the swagged red organza and brass chandelier, cabaret style in the intimacy of the Ramsey Room at Clonter.
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Tea with… Songs from the Shows – Promo
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Anything You Can Do
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People Will Say We’re In Love
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We’ll Meet Again
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John leuan Jones – Baritone

Originally from the Welsh coastal town of Rhos-on-Sea, John Ieuan Jones recently graduated from the masters course at the Royal Northern College of Music with distinction, where he studied with Matthew Best. His studies were generously supported by the Drapers’ Company, the D’Oyly Carte Trust, George Henry Peters Scholarship and the Gwilym Gwalchmai Jones Award. During his time at the college, he sang several principle roles including Harry Easter in Street Scene, Pandolfe in Cendrillon, Lord Ellington in La Vie Parisienne and Watchful in The Pilgrim’s Progress. Whilst at college, he also worked at Buxton Festival Opera and Longborough Festival Opera, and since graduating has sung the title role in Krása’s Brundibar for Welsh National Opera and a Flemish Deputy in Don Carlo for Grange Park Opera. Ieuan is a busy and in demand concert singer having performed throughout the UK, in Europe and the USA. Recent highlights have included an Opera Gala at The Bridgewater Hall, making his solo debut at The Royal Albert Hall at the London Welsh Festival of Male Choirs, guest soloist at the North America Festival of Wales in Washington DC and last year shared the stage with Sir Bryn Terfel at the Wales Millennium Centre in the opening concert of the National Eisteddfod of Wales. His many awards and scholarships including the Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation Scholarship, the Help Musicians UK Sybil Tutton Award, the Manchester Welsh Society Award, the RNCM James Martin Oncken Song Prize, Second Prize in the Elizabeth Harwood Memorial Prize at the RNCM and the Dunraven Singer of the Year competition. Ieuan has also had countless successes at National and International Eisteddfodau in Wales, having won the prestigious Osborne Roberts Memorial Prize, the Wilbert Lloyd Roberts Memorial Scholarship, and last year winning the major prize at the National Eisteddfod, the W Towyn Roberts Memorial Scholarship. He is a familiar face on Welsh television channel S4C, frequently appearing and performing on programmes such as ‘Noson Lawen’ and ‘Heno’ and his recordings include Harry Sherwood in Cellier’s Dorothy with Victorian Opera conducted by Richard Bonynge, now available on Naxos CD. Ieuan is also an accomplished harpist, having performed for the Prime Minister and members of the Royal family.
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Naomi Rogers – Mezzo Soprano

Naomi is a mezzo-soprano from Suffolk with a Master of Music in Performance degree and a Bachelor of Music degree from the Royal Northern College of Music. She studies under the tutelage of Louise Winter, is a part of the Opera North Mentor Scheme and is an Associate Artist for SoundUp Opera. Last year she was a Bursary Recipient for the Opera Awards Foundation and has received a number of other awards.  Naomi’s most recent operatic performances at the RNCM include: Poulenc’s Dialogues des carmélites (Soeur Martha), Vaughan William’s The Pilgrim’s Progress (Madam Bubble), Puccini’s Suor Angelica (Maestra della Novizie), Offenbach’s La Vie Parisienne (Clara), Kurt Weill’s Street Scene (Cameo role) and Benjamin Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Peaseblossom). Last summer Naomi performed for Buxton’s International Opera Festival in the operas Georgiana (multiple composers) covering the role of Grey, and in the chorus of both Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin and Caldara’s Lucio Papirio Dittatore. She also premiered the brand new opera Dotter Of Her Father’s Eyes by Gary Lloyd, singing the title role, at the Dublin 2019 WorldCon, held in the Convention Centre Dublin and has just finished working with Opera North on their production of Turn of the Screw by Britten. Naomi has just finished a project with Clonter, which she is very proud of and is working on a new commission with Gary Lloyd which is set to perform in the Chester Storyhouse and the Lunbury Theatre (ROH).  As a regular concert performer, Naomi’s highlights are performing as guest soloist at the International Opera Awards 2019 (Sadler’s Wells Theatre in London), singing Mozart repertoire with the Hallé Orchestra  (Bridgewater Hall), and performing a solo recital for Buxton Opera House. In 2019, Naomi was a finalist in the prestigious Frederic Cox competition at the RNCM and in the same month made her recording debut as soloist in Sullivan Songs alongside David Owen Norris.
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Robin Humphreys – Accompanist

Robin Humphreys is a graduate of the University of Birmingham and a holder of the prestigious Diploma in Professional Performance from the Royal Northern College of Music, where he studied piano accompaniment with David Lloyd. Appearing in concert both as a soloist and an accompanist for over 35 years, he now pursues a successful career as an accompanist and répétiteur, the breadth of his repertoire being reflected in television and radio broadcasts ranging from BBC Radio 3 to Emmerdale! At the RNCM, Robin is a senior music coach within the School of Vocal Studies, for whom he was also chief répétiteur on the majority of college productions from the late 1990s until 2013. He has appeared with the Manchester Camerata in the world premiere of “A Feast of Fables” by Paul Reade, has been Musical Director for Feelgood Theatre Productions and, from 1990-2000, Opera & Concert Productions (Worldwide) Ltd with whom he toured throughout the Gulf, the Indian sub-continent and the Far East. Robin has a particularly close association with Clonter Opera Theatre in Cheshire, where he regularly works as Assistant Musical Director and Accompanist. He is also an accompanist member of the British & International Federation of Festivals.
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Ticket Pricing & Covid Safety Measures

Whilst the government have lifted all restrictions, further to our Customer Confidence Survey, and feedback from our Summer Opera Production, we have decided to maintain the policy adopted for the last 3 performances of the opera, which was that masks be worn at all times when moving around the foyer and other common parts, maintaining a 2 metre distance, where possible, and hand sanitising on entry, but once seated for a show masks may be removed. In addition we will still be leaving one seat empty between bubbles/groups. This latter measure will still mean that the capacity of the performance spaces (auditorium and Ramsey room) is reduced significantly. Whilst we did not quadruple (pre 19th July) and double (post 19th July) the ticket prices for the Barber of Seville, in order to have a sporting chance of being able to present a programme for 2022, it is necessary for us to consequently increase the price of the tickets for the remaining events planned for this year. We very much hope that this will not preclude you from attending this event. We pledge to review this in 2022, and restore the Early Bird and Group Discounts. We thank you in advance for your understanding, and very much hope you may be able to attend this event, and thereby help secure a future for Clonter.
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Tickets £42.50 (Ramsey Room), £35 (Foyer) includes both the afternoon tea and concert

Tea Served 3.30pm

Performance 4 – 5pm
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The booking period for this event closed at 4pm on Friday, 10th September.
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