Festival Choir & Orchestra

Conductor  -  Michael Turvey
Leader  -  Rebecca Boyle

Soloists

Sopranos  - Rachel Ambrose Evans and Amy Carson
Alto - Briony Lambert
Tenor   -  Josh Cooter
Bass  -   Jerome Knox

Programme

The concert will be followed by a reception in the church hall

Biographies

Amy Carson was a chorister at Salisbury Cathedral and a  choral scholar at Trinity College, Cambridge.

In 2005, Amy was selected to play the role of Pamina in Kenneth Branagh’s film of The Magic Flute, conducted by James Conlon.

Her appearances on the opera stage include: Galatea in ‘Acis and Galatea’, Amy Robsart with Tete a Tete Opera in their production ‘The Cumnor Affair’, Cupid in King Arthur, Witch and Spirit in ‘Dido and Aeneas’ alongside Magdalena Kozena and in the Garsington Opera Chorus. Amy sang Musetta in a production of ‘La Boheme’ conducted by Nicholas Collon and as a soloist in Britten’s ‘Death in Venice’ conducted by Martyn Brabbins.

Amy has sung, toured and recorded with many professional ensembles including The Sixteen, the Monteverdi Choir, Tenebrae, The Gabrieli Consort and the OAE choir.

Amy's career has diversified as she is now also an English teacher. Amy continues to perform on a regular basis, particularly on the concert platform.

Rachel Ambrose Evans is a soloist and consort singer with a variety of vocal ensembles in the UK including Polyphony, Tenebrae, Arcangelo, Britten Sinfonia Voices, New London Consort, Philharmonia Voices and Temple Singers.  She appears as a soloist on recently released discs of music by Karl Jenkins (Deustche Grammophon) and Arvo Pärt (Hyperion) with Polyphony conducted by Stephen Layton.

With a particular interest in early music, which was first sparked when studying the baroque violin, her recent solo engagements have included Handel Israel in Egypt (Holst Singers/Layton), Bach St Matthew Passion and St John Passion (Israel Camerata/Biron), Monteverdi Vespers of 1610, Purcell Fairy Queen, Couperin Leçons de Ténèbres and Vivaldi Gloria with the choirs of King's and St John's Colleges in Cambridge.

A recent graduate of Pembroke College, Cambridge, where she read Music, Rachel sang with the Choir of Trinity College, Cambridge.  She appears as a soloist with the choir on recently released discs of music by Kenneth Leighton and Ēriks Ešenvalds (Hyperion).

Briony Lambert was brought up in Pinner, and now lives in Lewes, East Sussex, where she enjoys a varied musical life. She sings regularly with the Brighton Early Music Festival Consort and the Baroque Collective Singers, and is engaged by various choirs as a Mezzo and Alto soloist. Recent solo performances have included Karl Jenkins' The Armed Man, Bach's Christmas Oratorio, and (a personal highlight) Aaron Copeland's In The Beginning.

Briony recently began conducting a children's choir, and she (just about) manages to balance her commitment to music-making with working as a speech and language therapist, and bringing up her children.

Josh Cooter began his musical studies as a chorister at Chichester Cathedral before accepting a music scholarship to Eton College. Having finished his degree at King’s College London last summer, where he sang in the chapel choir under the late David Trendell, he began work as a freelance singer and now pursues a busy ensemble career, enjoying singing for some of the UK’s most prestigious consorts such as The Sixteen and Britten Sinfonia Voices as well as other upcoming groups such as Siglo de Oro and the Fieri Consort. Recent soloist highlights include singing the role of Evangelist in Bach’s ‘St. John Passion’, Jupiter in Handel’s ‘Semele’ alongside other operatic and oratorio solos. Not just content with singing, Josh also teaches the trombone and aims to complete his New Year's resolution of learning how to play the harmonica and ultimately become the one man band he’s always dreamed of...

Jerome Knox is in his final year of a Masters in Vocal Performance at the Royal College of Music, supported by a Martin Harris Award, under the tuition of Russell Smythe. Born in London, Jerome is a Classical Studies graduate from the University of Edinburgh.

Operatic roles include Don Pomponio La Gazzetta/Rossini, Le Fauteuil L'enfant et les Sortilèges/Ravel and Sprecher (cover) Die Zauberflöte/Mozart (Royal College of Music International Opera School), Masetto Don Giovanni/Mozart (Co-opera Co, London), Nick Shadow The Rake's Progress/Stravinsky, Somnus Semele/Handel, Badger and Harasta The Cunning Little Vixen/Janáček (Edinburgh Studio Opera), as well as Papageno The Magic Flute/Mozart (Schola Cantorum of Edinburgh). He created the role of WH Auden in Journeying Boys/Iain Burnside at RCM and performed the Lieutenant Yeoman of the Guard/Sullivan in Portsmouth Guildhall.