Our November newsletter has just been published, and it is a terrific read! I have never received so much response actually - so I’m glad to see we (the Pinchgut team) are not the only one’s excited. With only 4 weeks to go until opening night, there is much to do…
In this edition, we are thrilled to announce the extremely talented people who will be joining us in the chorus and orchestra this year. Haydn’s stunning opera calls for a full classical orchestra and a considerably bigger group of players than last year. Here they are (from the newsletter):-
Cantillation – the chorus
One of the big drawcards of L’anima del filosofo is the chorus. The chorus has much of the best writing, and participates in every part of the opera. This year we are delighted to have a number of new choristers with us; and the singers are travelling from as far afield as the UK, Hong Kong and Newcastle to be a part of this. The sopranos are Sarah Jones, Lindy Montgomery, Alison Morgan, Anna Sandstrom and Liz Scott. The mezzos are Jo Burton, Jenny Duck-Chong, Judy Herskovits Natalie Shea and Nicole Smeulders. The tenors are Phil Chu, Andrei Laptev, John Pitman, Koen van Stade and Dan Walker; and the baritones/basses are Chris Allan, Craig Everingham, Ashley Giles, Robin Hilliard and Richard Mitchell.
Orchestra of the Antipodes – the orchestra
The orchestra for this is a full classical orchestra – which includes two of all the woodwind; horns, trumpets, trombones and timpani. There are also a couple of unusual inclusions – with the harp (to be played by the lovely Genevieve Lang) and two cor anglais. No-one now has classical cor anglais, so these parts will be played by our very versatile classical clarinet players Craig Hill and Ashley Sutherland. The whole orchestra will be led by Alice Evans, with Julia Fredersdorff leading the seconds. Danny Yeadon will be the principal continuo cello and Erin Helyard is playing the fortepiano. The other string principals are Nicole Forsyth (viola) and Kirsty McCahon (bass). The other violinists are Matt Bruce, Myee Clohessy, Sarah Dunn, Matt Greco, Miranda Hutton, Brendan Joyce, Skye McIntosh, Lizzie Pogson. The other viola players are Tom Chawner and Tara Hashambhoy, and the other cellists James Beck and Edi Cordingley. The flutes are Melissa Farrow and Mikaela Oberg, the oboists are Kirsten Barry and Adam Masters, and bassoons Simon Rickard and Lisa Goldberg. Darryl Poulsen and Lisa Wynne-Allen are on horn, Leanne Sullivan and Helen Gill on trumpet, Ros Jorgensen and Nigel Crocker on trombone and Brian Nixon on timps. So some new faces here, and travelling from as far away as the Netherlands, Belgium and New Zealand to take part.
So ALL of us looks forward to presenting this wonderful music to you – LIVE. Tickets are going great guns, and we always sell a large number of tickets in the final week - so if you really want to see the sweat from the team above, I suggest you book now.
Anna
Photo: Orchestra of the Antipodes in last year’s L’Ormindo. Photo by Simon Hodgson
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