Guest Artists in 2023
Anna Devin – Soprano
Irish soprano Anna Devin is widely admired for her “vocal control, artistry and musico-dramatic intelligence” (Opera News). An alumna of the Royal Opera House’s Jette Parker Young Artist programme, the Royal Irish Academy of Music, Guildhall School of Music and Drama, and the National Opera Studio, Ms Devin has gained recognition across the world for her work in the Baroque and Bel Canto repertoire.
This upcoming season Anna Devin will perform at the Royal Opera House in the role of Gretel in Hansel and Gretel, she will also appear at the English National Opera as Rosina in Il Barbiere di Seviglia and perform in concert with theOrquesta Sinfónica de Barcelona y Nacional de Cataluña in Barcelona.
In 2022-23, Anna Devin performed as Fiordiligi in Cosi fan Tutte with the Irish National Opera. She was also part of a Carmina Burana performance with the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland, the Messiah with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra and the B Minor Mass with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment.
In recent years, Anna Devin’s successes have included Elisabetta in Maria Stuarda with the Irish National Opera; Almirena in Rinaldo with Glyndebourne on tour and Michal in Saul in Paris Théâtre du Châtelet; Melissa in Amadigiwith Garsington Opera; Celia in Lucio Silla in Madrid; the title role of Semele with the Händel-Festspiele; Tusnelda in Arminio at the International Handel Festival in Göttingen; Michal in Saul at Glyndebourne and Cleopatra in Giulio Cesare for the Early Opera Company, in which her Cleopatra was described as: ‘one of the finest London has heard’ (Opera Magazine). She has sung Galatea in Acis and Galatea for Mozartwoche Salzburg; the title role in Handel’sRodelinda with the Moscow Philharmonic; Nannetta in Falstaff and Lauretta in Gianni Schicchi for Covent Garden; Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro for Welsh National Opera, Glyndebourne Tour and Scottish Opera; Sophie in Wertherand Zerlina in Don Giovanni for Scottish Opera; la bergère Louis XV and la chauve-souris in L'enfant et les sortilègesfor La Scala; Poppea in Agrippina for Opera Collective, Ireland; and Clotilde in Faramondo for Brisbane Baroque, which earned her the Best Supporting Singer in an Opera at the 2015 Helpmann Awards, Australia.
Other roles have included Governess in Turn of the Screw, la Comtesse Adèle in Le Comte Ory, Marie in La fille du Régiment, Morgana in Alcina, Gretel in Hänsel und Gretel and Ilia in Idomeneo.
A frequent concert performer throughout Europe and the USA, Ms Devin’s repertoire encompasses a vast range of sacred and secular works and she has appeared at the London Handel, Göttingen Handel, Lausanne Bach, Brighton Early Music and Belfast festivals, the BBC Proms and Carnegie Hall. She has worked with the Vienna Philharmonic, Hallé, RTÉ NSO, Ulster and Minnesota orchestras and Houston, Charlotte and Seattle symphonies, among others. Recent season highlights, Mozart Concert Arias with the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra conducted by Harry Bicket; and a concert tour performing Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater and Mozart’s Exsultate Jubilate with frequent collaborator Marc Minkowski and Les Musiciens du Louvre. Other conductors she has worked with include Sir William Christie, Laurence Cummings, Christian Curnyn, Ottavio Dantone, Ivor Bolton, Sir Colin Davis, Yannick Nézet-Séguin and Sir Antonio Pappano.
Anna Devin’s recordings include Arminio and Faramondo for Accent from the International Händel Festspiele Gottingen; Mozart in London, Il re Pastore and Mitridate, Re di Ponto with Classical Opera for Signum Classics; and ‘Arias for Benucci’ with Arcangelo for Hyperion. She was also an Associate Artist with Classical Opera, with whom she records and performs regularly.
In addition to her work on stage, Ms. Devin is proud to be an Ambassador for the British Dyslexia Association. She has also been open with the public through the media and events about growing up with dyslexia, saying: “Being different is not a bad thing. Not fitting in with the crowd is a blessing as we all have our own journey, and being forced to find your own path brings originality.” She is passionate about nurturing new talent and gives masterclasses at the Royal Irish Academy of Music, Dublin, as well as coaching at the Royal Academy Opera Course, London.
Fiona Kelly – Flute
Irish flautist Fiona Kelly has been hailed by the New York Times as a player with “impressive technique and elegant musicianship”.
Based in London, Fiona is in demand as an orchestral and chamber musician. She leads a busy freelance career performing as guest principal flute with many of the UK’s leading orchestras including the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Philharmonia, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Academy of St Martin in the Fields and the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden amongst others.
Solo and chamber music engagements have led to collaborations with ensembles and artists including the Wigmore Soloists, Antje Weithaas, Uri Caine and Håkan Hardenberger. Fiona has performed concertos at the BBC Proms, Rheingau and Heidelberg festivals. With a keen interest in new music, Fiona has premiered and recorded new works by Uri Caine, Stephan Mackey and Ian Wilson.
Fiona has a duo with her harpist sister Jean Kelly. They have performed recitals and concertos throughout the U.K. and Ireland. A recent highlight was a recital at the National Concert Hall Chamber Music Series: The Natural World, with a programme titled “Toward the Sea”. The Kelly Sisters often perform works and arrangements of Irish music by their grandfather, composer T.C Kelly.
Fiona enjoys regularly returning home to Ireland to the Irish Chamber Orchestra, where she is guest principal flute. Before relocating to London, Fiona was principal flute of the Swedish Chamber Orchestra from 2012-2016.
Beginning her studies in Cork with her mother Evelyn Grant and Sabine Ducrot, Fiona went on to complete her studies at Trinity Laban Conservatoire with Anna Noakes, and at The Juilliard School with Robert Langevin.
Fiona is a flute professor at Trinity Laban Conservatoire and gives masterclasses at music departments and colleges throughout the UK and Ireland.
Francesco Paolo Scola – Clarinet
Francesco Paolo Scola graduated with full marks “summa cum laude”, aged just 18 from the V. Bellini conservatory in Palermo.
Whilst a student he won many major international competitions, including Members of the International Federation of Geneva. After completing his studies, he started working with the Orchestra of the Opera House in Rome at the age of 19 under Maestro Riccardo Muti.
In 2010, after many valuable years with the Opera House, Francesco was appointed as Principal Solo Clarinet/Section Leader with the Ulster Orchestra, Belfast. Since then Francesco has been invited as guest principal clarinet with many leading orchestras including the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra Helsinki, Orchestre Les Dissonances Paris, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Royal Northern Sinfonia, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, The John Wilson Orchestra, and the Irish Chamber Orchestra.
A keen soloist, Francesco has performed most of the repertoire for clarinet and orchestra. He has toured worldwide and performed in some of the finest concert halls including the Royal Concertgebouw, Amsterdam; Philharmonie de Paris; Suntory Hall, Tokyo; the Royal Albert Hall, London, and many others.
Francesco frequently broadcasts live concerts on radio and television for Mezzo, RAI International, Yle Finnish radio, BBC Radio 3, BBC Radio Ulster, NPO Radio 4 and has recorded several CDs for labels such as Chandos, Naxos, Hyperon.
Very passionate about musical pedagogy, Francesco is Professor of Music Performance at Queen’s University Belfast, as well as Visiting Professor for the ARCS Clarinet Academy at Liverpool Hope University. He is frequently invited to give Masterclasses worldwide, including the Hochschule Für Musik in Karlsruhe, Germany, under the invitation of Wolfgang Meyer and Eduard Brunner, Associazione Stupor Mundi, Soni Ventorum, and Associazione Eliodoro Sollima.
Alongside these engagements, he is particularly active in a number of chamber music projects worldwide; he is a member of the Soni Ventorumensemble (Italy), the Fews Ensemble (Northern Ireland), and a regular guest with the Fidelio Trio (UK).
Most recently Francesco has been contributing to create some new compositions dedicated to him alongside some of the most exciting contemporary composers, most notably the renowned Italian cellist/composer Giovanni Sollima. These projects included two pieces for clarinet and piano: “Anphenibene – Yafu’”, Marcello Bonanno’s concerto for clarinet and strings: “In quellaparte del libro della mia memoria”, and Anselm McDonnell’s “When Aslan shakes his mane” suite for solo clarinet. All the projects were presented and broadcast by the BBC Radio 3 Classical Connections.
Jane Atkins – Viola
Jane Atkins is one of Britain’s most diverse violists with performances encompassing multiple genres including Baroque to Contemporary music, Dance and Jazz.
At the age of six Jane was awarded a scholarship to the Yehudi Menuhin School. She completed her studies with David Takeno at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama where she won the LPO/ Pioneer Young Soloist of the Year and gained second prize in the Lionel Tertis competition. Since her solo debut performing the Walton concerto with Kurt Sanderling and the London Philharmonic, Jane has appeared as a soloist throughout the UK and Europe performing with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the English and Scottish Chamber Orchestras: the Dutch and Danish Radio Orchestras and both the City of London and Northern Sinfonias. As a recitalist she has performed in most of major British Festivals including Harrogate, Spitalfields, Newbury, Cheltenham, East Neuk and Edinburgh.
After four years as Principal viola in the Chamber Orchestra of Europe Jane joined the Scottish Chamber Orchestra as Principal viola in 2008. Her more recent solo collaborations include performances of Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante with both Alexander Janiczek and Stephanie Gonley, Brahms F minor sonata with Llyr Williams and Auerbach’s Sogno di Stabat Mater with Hugo Ticciati. In the SCO’s 2015/16 season Jane performed Kurtag’s Movement with Robin Ticciati and Britten’s Lachrymae with Oliver Knussen.
Jane has always been committed to expanding the viola repertoire and has commissioned and performed many new works by Diana Burrell, Ib Norholm, John Woolrich and Andrew Toovey. Her contemporary recordings include Woolrich’s Ulysses Awakes, Burrell’s Concerto and Tavener’s Out of the Night for Viola and Tenor. Other recordings include the Telemann and the newly reconstructed Bach concertos, both recorded with the Adderbury ensemble and Rothko Chapel by Morton Feldman with James Wood and the New London Chamber Choir. The Scottish composer John McLeod wrote a viola concerto for Jane, commissioned by the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, performed in their 2018/19 season. Other projects include European, Asian and North American performances of ”˜Goldberg Variations- ternary patterns for insomnia’, with the Scottish Ensemble and Andersson Dance as well as innovative concerts with Hugo Ticciati and the O/Modernt Kammarorkester in Sweden. Jane teaches at St Mary’s School of Music and the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.
guest artists in 2022
Daire Halpin - Soprano
Daire Halpin is an Irish soprano of considerable talent.
Born and bred in Dublin, Daire comes from a musical family with many family members enjoying careers in the arts as teachers, performers, and designers.
Daire is a graduate of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama Opera Course (MMus and PGDip – Distinction), DIT Conservatory of Music and Drama, Dublin, (MMus and BMus – distinction) and Trinity College Dublin (BAMod – Music and Philosophy). She also spent a year studying voice at il Conservatorio Statale di Musica “Luigi Cherubini” in Florence, Italy and was one of only five international singers selected to study at the International Lied Masterclasses, Koninklijk Conservatorium, Brussels 2008-9.
She won numerous awards to support her studies from from the Arts Council (Ireland), the Arts Humanities Research Council, the Worshipful Company of Barbers, the Anthony Kearns Music Fund and Fenn Wright Manson. At the DIT Conservatory of Music and Drama, she was also awarded the Michael Mc Namara medal for highest marks for performance in the graduating class and the special excellence award for outstanding achievement in performance and academic studies.
Daire is in great demand as a soloist and her career has taken her to Sweden, Belgium, France, Spain, Germany, Italy, Japan and the US as well as Ireland and the UK.
Daire has sung principle roles with Irish National Opera, Theater Magdeburg, NI Opera, Opera Theatre Company, Nevill Holt Opera, Wide Open Opera, Scottish Opera, the European Opera Centre and English National Opera, among others. Roles Include: Maid (Powder Her Face), Elizabeth I, Lucia, Sophia (Heresy), Zerlina (Don Giovanni), Apollo (Il Parnasso Confuso), Lucy Lockitt (Beggar’s Opera), Proserpina (Orfeo – Monteverdi), Adina (Elisir D’Amore), Susanna (Le Nozze di Figaro), Despina (Cosi fan Tutte), Theodora (Theodora), Pamina/Papagena (Die Zauberflöte), Sylvie (La Colombe), Gabrielle (La Vie Parisienne), Diana (Orpheus and the Underworld), Belinda (Dido and Aeneas) and Amor (Orfeo – Gluck).
Daire is a regular oratorio soloist and has sung with the RTÉ Concert and Symphony Orchestras, Our Lady’s Choral Society, Tallaght Choral Society, Trinity Choral Society, Dún Laoghaire Choral Society, Eastbourne Choral Society, East Sussex Bach Choir, the Baroque Collective, Schola Cantorum Oxford and Goldsmiths Choral Union among others.
Daire is also a keen recitalist and has given many recitals at home and abroad, notably at St Martin-in-the-Fields, for Friends of Britten, at the National Portrait Gallery in London, the National Concert Hall, Dublin, the Irish Embassy, London, and at the home of the President of Ireland; Áras an Uachtaráin.
In 2007, Daire gave a recital tour of Japan with the New Crawford Piano Trio to celebrate 50 years of Irish diplomatic relations with Japan and in 2013, she appeared as a soloist on tour with the European Youth Orchestra.
Reiad Chibah - Viola
Born 1973 in London of Irish and Algerian parents viola player Reiad Chibah has had a diverse and successful career in music. After graduating from the Royal College of Music having won all the available viola prizes and the top award for ensemble playing, Reiad travelled to Israel for lessons at the Rubin Academy with the renowned violin pedagogue Maya Glizarova.
Reiad is an established and experienced performer of contemporary repertoire and has performed, recorded and broadcast regularly with new music ensembles Apartment House, Birmingham Contemporary Music Group, Jane’s Minstrels, The Composers Ensemble, The New Music Players and Lontano, appearing at the Huddersfield Contemporary Music, BBC Proms Chamber Music, Wien Modern, Ultraschall Berlin, Spitalfields, Aldeburgh, Dartington, and Ultima Oslo festivals. With these groups Reiad has been fortunate to collaborate on projects with artists such as Oliver Knussen, Thomas Ades and Peter Maxwell Davies. Reiad has also performed ‘Le Marteau sans Maître’ for the composer Pierre Boulez with The Warehouse Ensemble.
As a soloist Reiad has appeared at the Wigmore Hall, The South Bank Centre and St Martin-in-the-Fields and his interpretation of Walton Viola Concerto has been broadcast on BBC radio 3. He has also appeared as guest principal with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, The Academy of St Martin-in-the-fields, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra and Glyndebourne Touring Orchestra.
As a studio musician Reiad has also worked with some of the pop worlds most famous artists, appearing on tracks by Stevie Wonder, George Michael, Elton John, Sam Smith, Coldplay, Radiohead, Jamiroquai, Robbie Williams, Kylie Minogue and Taylor Swift. He has also appeared on numerous film soundtracks including The Avengers, Hunger Games, Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings, in the process working with legendary film composers such as James Newton Howard, Danny Elfman, James Horner and Hans Zimmer.
Reiad plays a modern viola by Melvin Goldsmith made in 2017
Reviews of Reiad on disc:
“…Brave and impressive performances” - The Gramophone
‘..impressively controlled lyrical playing to savour” - The Strad Magazine
Featured Young Artist
Mollie Wrafter - Violin
Mollie Wrafter has recently graduated with First Class Honours from the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester. During her time at RNCM, she won the Norman George Violin Competition and the Nossek Prize for Chamber Music. She was awarded the Irish Heritage Performance Bursary for her Wigmore Hall debut performance in 2019. Since completing her undergraduate study at RNCM, she has enjoyed a busy freelance career balancing solo engagements and her quartet. In April 2022, Mollie won the Aileen Gore Cup & RTE Lyric FM Award at the Feis Ceoil in Dublin. Subsequently, she was awarded the RDS Jago Award and a professional solo engagement with the RTE Concert Orchestra.
Mollie features on Manchester Collective’s debut LP, ‘The Centre is Everywhere’ and was named one of Golden Plec Magazine’s ‘PlecPicks’ in 2021. This year, she is returning to RNCM with the Treske Quartet to take part in the ‘RNCM Chamber Studio’ residency. The quartet has performed around the UK and has worked with a number of emerging composers. Most recently, Treske travelled to the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity in Canada for the Evolution: Quartet programme, an innovative artist development programme for quartets and composers who are in the early stages of career development. Here, they worked with Puerto Rican composer Gabriel Bouche Caro, and performed the premiere of his piece ‘La Candela’ in collaboration with the JACK Quartet. Mollie plays a 1714 Collingwood violin and Sartory bow.