News & Views

Member Spotlight: Erin Rosales - mezzo-soprano

Audition Oracle – Wed 11 Sep 2024 @ 6:29

This week we are delighted to welcome from across the pond American mezzo-soprano Erin Rosales

1. How do you describe yourself as an artist?

Bold - I’m not afraid to take risks or to make the first move.

2. What other skills or passions do you have that help shape you as an artist?

I love writing which is another expansion of storytelling. To me, good storytelling is at the root of what we do as artists. It’s my passion to tell stories in order to foster connection and make others feel less alone in the world.

3. What has been the most memorable and rewarding experience you have had as an artist?

I perform regularly at nursing homes in NYC as a way of giving back to my community and on one occasion, towards the end of the concert, I started singing “If I loved you” from Carousel. While I was performing, an older gentleman got up, walked to the front of the stage and sang the song with me as a duet! This special moment was a testament to how music touches our lives and brings us all closer together.

4. What role, company or performing situation would be a dream come true for you as an artist?

Singing at the Metropolitan Opera in NYC!

5. What do you like most about being a creative artist?

Whether it’s working on a new technical aspect, learning about history, or conquering a difficult foreign language like Russian, I love that I am constantly being challenged and inspired to become a better artist!

6. If you could go back in time and give your younger self one piece of advice, what would it be?

Don’t be afraid to fail because through failure, you will learn resilience and gain wisdom.

7. Three words that are the pillars you shape your career by:

Curiosity, Expansion, Resilience.

8. Where can our followers support you next?

Up next, I’ll be entering into my villainess era with role debuts as Mother & Witch in Hansel & Gretel at Opera Modesto. Other exciting projects for next season are yet to be announced, so keep an eye on my website! https://www.erinrosalesmezzo.com

Opera Modesto

Mother & Witch in Hansel & Gretel

https://thestate.org/events/opera-modesto-presents-hansel-and-gretel-012025/

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Member Spotlight: Quirina Lechmann - Soprano

Audition Oracle – Thu 5 Sep 2024 @ 0:08

We continue our hop round the globe to welcome this week's Member Spotlight Swiss and Belgian soprano Quirina Lechmann.

1. How do you describe yourself as an artist?

Coloratura soprano, performance artist and video artist, who likes producing own musical dramas, going from classical to contemporary opera to own compositions, enjoying new spaces and places as well as incorporating them into her work.

2. What other skills or passions do you have that help shape you as an artist?

Enthusiastic reader that likes creating new and strange spaces, times, stories, sounds, experiences.

3. What has been the most memorable and rewarding experience you have had as an artist?

"Ende Gelände": art interventions and an opera created especially for a venue to be torn down. For the art interventions I invited various artists from the region; in the opera we included a bulldozer tearing down a prepared building.

4. What role, company or performing situation would be a dream come true for you as an artist?

My dream would be a combination of being the writer/producer of new ideas combined with singing a few productions a year somewhere else. I would love to finally sing the queen of the night in a production.

5. What do you like most about being a creative artist?

Make ideas come true.

6. If you could go back in time and give your younger self one piece of advice, what would it be?

Work harder sooner.

7. Three words that are the pillars you shape your career by:

Craziness, Craft, Inspiration

8. Where can our followers support you next?

I have an interesting project on 31st December: "Surservela". It’s a music/art performance at "Cularta" in Laax, an idyllic village in the mountains in Switzerland, with me performing a poem in the language of Romansh (the 4th language of Switzerland) I wrote , put to music by Milica Ilić, combined with raising the flag "Surservela" and grilling servela (a kind of sausage). The flag’s artist is Gianin Conrad.

I‘m also working on a new idea: a performance between opera and art, clothing design and real life. I’m working with a sculptor and a designer. We will hopefully perform it next spring in Frankfurt.

You can enjoy Quirina Lechmann's performances for free. Visit https://quirinalechmann.com and Audition Oracle Profile to find out where and when to catch her next.

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Company Spotlight: Regents Opera

Audition Oracle – Sun 1 Sep 2024 @ 8:54

Today we are delighted to welcome conductor and pianist Ben Woodward to shine our latest Company Spotlight on Regents Opera.

Ben Woodward setup Regents Opera (formerly Fulham Opera) over ten years ago and in the last decade he and his dedicated team have taken this company from strength to strength. 

1. How do you describe Regents Opera?

I'd like to think that we're now the leaders of fringe opera in the UK, whatever fringe opera actually is!

2. What is the ethos of Regents Opera?

Professionalism certainly, but we also try to promote/push people who perhaps haven't been "found" by the industry so far.  We also have something of a motto/history of "big operas in an intimate setting", which I quite like.

3. What has been one of the most memorable and rewarding experiences for Regents Opera?

I think the most rewarding experience has actually been our growth over the past ten years.  We did a Ring with piano and a few instruments in 2014 and now we're doing another one with orchestra, gaining national press coverage.  I'm really pleased with how it's gone up in people's estimations.

4. What dream project would you most like to achieve in future?

Well, we have yet to achieve this upcoming Ring Cycle!  I would like it to be artisitcally and financially successful, for it to inspire participants and audience members alike, and I would also like it to act as a springboard for the careers of our cast, oh, and me!

5. What do you like most about Regents Opera?

Every show we do really feels like we are a family in it together.

6. If you could give one piece of advice to creatives starting out, what would it be?

Don't take "no" or "that's impossible" as acceptable answers.  Also, make sure you have a good team around you, especially someone who is good with money. 

7. Three pillars you shape your company by!

Wagner, Verdi, Strauss.  If you're not into them, then you're probably not going to feel at home in our company.

8. Where can our followers support Regent's Opera next? 

Well, we're about to do a big symphony concert at St John's Smith Square, which is a bit of a departure for us, as there will be no singers!  It's going to be really exciting to do some symphonic repertoire as part of our fundraising and marketing efforts for the Ring.  Tickets for that are available here:  https://linktr.ee/RegentsAlpine  

But, that said, the Ring, obviously!  York Hall, Bethnal Green, starting on 9th February 2025.  Tickets from www.ticketsource.co.uk/regents-opera.

We've also got our last Don Giovanni show on 10th November as part of the Wimbledon Festival.  You can get tickets for that here: https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/whats-on/london/trinity-united-reform-church/mozart-don-giovanni/2024-11-10/19:00/t-eamkjpy

About the Don Giovanni:

"As small-scale opera goes, few reach this level of quality across the board.  I look forward to more future Regents Opera productions."

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Member Spotlight: Phil Wilcox - Baritone

Audition Oracle – Mon 26 Aug 2024 @ 9:38

This week's Member Spotlight is giving a very warm welcome to British baritone Phil Wilcox.

1. How do you describe yourself as an artist?

2. What other skills or passions do you have that help shape you as an artist?

3. What has been the most memorable and rewarding experience you have had as an artist?

4. What role, company or performing situation would be a dream come true for you as an artist?

5. What do you like most about being a creative artist?

6. If you could go back in time and give your younger self one piece of advice, what would it be?

7. Three words that are the pillars you shape your career by:

8. Where can our followers support you next?

Ticket links:

English Touring Opera - Autumn Tour

Opera Brava - La Boheme - Colline - Corfu

Baroquestock -Hampstead

Licence to Ceilidh

Fleet Singers - Musical Director

Chanctonbury Chorus - The Creation - Soloist

Celtic Christmas

Phil Wilcox website

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Member Spotlight: Caroline Taylor - soprano

Audition Oracle – Thu 22 Aug 2024 @ 12:28

This week we are thrilled to announce British soprano Caroline Taylor for our Member Spotlight

1. How do you describe yourself as an artist?

Freelance classical soprano.

2. What other skills or passions do you have that help shape you as an artist?

Meditation, pilates, sleep hygiene...and Spotify Smart Shuffle. I do also love wild swimming and think it must be good for the lung capacity!

3. What has been the most memorable and rewarding experience you have had as an artist?

During my RNCM studies, I created the role of Sara in Ben Kaye and Adam Gorb's opera 'The Path to Heaven'. Ben's libretto was composed using real correspondence from the Holocaust, telling hugely important stories through Adam's one-of-a-kind music. I felt honoured to be a part of it and will treasure the memories.

4. What role, company or performing situation would be a dream come true for you as an artist?

Vixen Sharp-Ears in the National Theatre in Brno, Czechia. Sharp-Ears has become a part of me and nothing would be more amazing than performing her on the Janáčkovo divadlo stage!

5. What do you like most about being a creative artist?

No two performances are ever the same. Each one has a different energy, or different colleagues or ensembles, or venue, or a different way that voices or instruments align in different works; all of these things shape the way things unfold on the day. Being a creative artist means that you can quite literally live in the moment - and I think that is something so unique to this craft. That is the stuff of goosebumps.

6. If you could go back in time and give your younger self one piece of advice, what would it be?

Find a healthy and productive daily routine and stick to it like glue. That includes days off.

7. Three words that are the pillars you shape your career by:

Kindness, Exploration, Devotion

8. When and where can our members support your performances?

At the end of August, I am heading to Austria for the opening rounds of the International Cesti Competition for Baroque Opera. It's my first international competition and I have had so much fun exploring arias out of the mainstream, so I am really excited to take part! I am also driving there from London, which will be exciting in a different way...

Keep up with Caroline's latest news, visit her website https://carolinetaylorsoprano.com. Wishing Caroline every success at the International Cesti Competition for Baroque Opera. Tickets are available here https://www.altemusik.at/en/cesti.

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