Artists
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Actor Christopher Kent has appeared on stage, screen and radio in a wide range of roles from Shakespeare to contemporary drama. His live performances of epic story-telling and poetry in partnership with leading musicians have been widely acclaimed and he is also one of the UK's leading voice actors.
Pianist Gamal Khamis has performed at Carnegie Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall and Sage Gateshead, as well as all over Europe, North America, Australia and New Zealand. He is a professor at the Royal College of Music, and he is also a member of the award-winning Lipatti Piano Quartet.
The Recorder Consort, coached by specialist professor María Martínez Ayerza, offers works by Giovanni Coprario, John Dowland, Alfonso Ferrabosco II, James Harding, Robert Johnson and others. Larli Davies, Luca Imperiale, Joseph Page and Ana Walker play on different sets of renaissance recorders made by Adriana Breukink and Monika Musch, showcasing a whole spectrum of registers and musical characters.
The Consort made their debut in November 2024 at the King’s Gallery in Buckingham Palace performing music by Gabrieli and Merula. For the rest of this season, they have focused on English consort music, particularly from the Jacobean and Elizabethan eras - repertoire full of beauty, fantasy and artistry which is very well-suited to the instruments. Their first full-length concert programme is being premiered at the Festival of Shakespeare in Music.
The Linarol Consort of Renaissance Viols draws together players who are leading exponents of the viol as both a consort and solo instrument, and focuses uniquely on their love of the instrument’s very earliest sound and repertoire. The Consort takes its name from the maker of the original viol on which the instruments they play are modelled: all are copies of one surviving viol by the Venetian maker Francesco Linarol, who was active throughout the 16th century and currently displayed in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna.
Jonathan French was born in Stockport, Manchester and studied Piano at Chetham’s school of Music prior to commencing his degree studies at Birmingham Conservatoire.
Following successful studies at RBC under Professor Malcolm Wilson, Jonathan went on to give many solo recitals and concerto performances at prestigious venues in Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester, Glasgow and London, and is very much in demand as both a soloist and accompanist. He has given many solo recitals at important musical events, including the Warwick and Stratford music festivals.
As an accompanist Jonathan has worked with numerous international soloists in the U.K and abroad. He is currently combining a busy performing career with his full-time position as Head of Accompaniment in Vocal Studies at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, where he has recently been given an honorary B.C. award.
Ella Blair is a Soprano, currently studying under Amanda Roocroft at Birmingham Conservatoire. A Genesis Sixteen Young Artist in 2023/2024, she was also a prize-winner in last year’s Edward Brooks Lieder Competition. She has worked with leading conductors Harry Christophers and Eamonn Dougan and, pursuing an interest is musical theatre, she has performed with the National Youth Music Theatre and in Birmingham recently played Mother Abbess in The Sound of Music.
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Oliver Barker is a recent graduate of the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire (RBC), achieving a first-class degree in Vocal and Operatic studies in the summer of 2024. Taught by Christopher Turner, Oliver has performed numerous operatic roles for RBC, including Pandolfe in Massenet's Cendrillon, Father in Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel and Harasta in Janacek's Cunning Little Vixen. Oliver is singer with the Josephine Baker Trust, a 2024 Waterperry Young Artist and will soon join the National Opera Studio in their inaugural year of the 'NOS Academy'.
Oliver enjoys concert, choral and recitalist work, joining with celebrated companies such as the Royal Birmingham Ballet, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (CBSO), Buxton Opera Festival and the Leicester Symphony Orchestra. Next September, he will be moving to London, studying towards his master's degree at the Royal College of Music, generously supported with scholarship.
Wells Madrigal Singers
There are five members of the Wells Madrigal Singers. Iain Mcloud-Jones (tenor) and Laurence Whitehead (bass) were both Vicars Choral in Wells Cathedral choir for a number of years, and Naomi Mcloud-Jones (soprano) was a singing pupil of Laurence at Wells Cathedral School as well as a chorister at the Cathedral. Andrew O'Sullivan (countertenor) is now - like Laurence - a regular deputy in the Wells choir, and Amelia Monaghan (soprano) joins them from Trinity College, Cambridge. All have a deep love of consort singing and madrigals.
Mark Padmore was born in London and studied at King’s College, Cambridge, and is one of the leading tenors of his generation. He has established an international career in opera, concert, recitals and recordings. Equally at home with small and large scale roles, Mark regularly performs with the world's leading orchestras and his work exploring both the Bach St John and St Matthew Passions without conductor has attracted worldwide acclaim.
Elizabeth Kenny is one of Europe's leading lute players. She has played with many of the world's best period instrument groups and has an extensive discography of collaborations with ensembles across Europe and the USA, and her own repertoire interests have led to critically acclaimed recordings of solo music from the ML Lute Book, and songs by Lawes, Purcell and Dowland.
Clive Francis
Clive Francis has a rich stage career, with appearances in over twenty West End plays since he started in 1966. Among two dozen other theatre credits he played in Troilus and Cressida with the RSC, in The Tempest at Nottingham Playhouse, and as Sir Toby Belch in Twelfth Night at the Orange Tree Theatre. Plenty of recent TV and film roles have made his face known to a wider public, and he has also adapted several books for the stage. And as a caricaturist, his work can also be seen hanging in the Gielgud Theatre, Coward Theatre and The Sondheim.
Four ‘scholar singers’ from VOCES8 will feature in the Festival. VOCES8 has performed at many notable venues since its inception in 2005. Touring globally, the group performs an extensive repertory both in its a cappella concerts and in collaborations with leading musicians, orchestras, conductors and soloists. Versatility and a celebration of diverse musical expression are central to the ensemble’s performance and education ethos. VOCES8 is passionate about music education and is the flagship ensemble of music charity the VOCES8 Foundation which actively promotes ‘Music Education For All’. The Foundation runs an annual programme of workshops and masterclasses at the VOCES8 Centre at St Anne & St Agnes Church, London.
The Orchestra of the Swan was founded in 1995 and is based at the Warwick Schools Foundation (WSF). Under the Artistic Direction of David Le Page, the Orchestra has established close partnerships with local organisations in the Midlands, and its musicians are passionate about audience inclusivity, as exemplified by the adventurous and accessible programming, and pioneering work undertaken within the community. The Orchestra of the Swan strives to captivate audiences through a blend of experimentation with both classical and non-classical music, embracing the role of storytellers.
John Macfarlane obtained his clarinet diplomas from the Royal College of Music. He has organized chamber music groups in several countries. Current musical activities include teaching, composing, arranging, playing, and conducting. Recent works include a book on the clarinet repertoire, an orchestration of Hugo Wolf’s The Italian Songbook and an arrangement of Roger Quilter’s Shakespeare Songs for voice and string ensemble.
Singing Shakespeare. Katy Hamilton explores the rich legacy of Shakespearean song settings over the past few centuries, from German-language Lieder and French mélodies to music from Britain and America. How much do these songs reveal about the plays from which they are taken? And how much do the settings tell us about the composers who made them.
William Drakett studied singing under Prof. Konrad Jarnot at the Robert Schumann Conservatoire in Düsseldorf, following organ and harpsichord studies at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire. His vocal studies have been further enriched by masterclasses with artists including Brigitte Fassbaender, Juliane Banse, Hans Eijsackers, Neal Davies, Eric Schneider, Christianne Stotijn & Henk Neven.
William has a particular love of the art song repertoire, and enjoys collaborating with pianists including Hans Eijsackers, Benjamin Mead, Edward Picton-Turbervill, Simon Carrey & Reinild Mees. He now lives in Wells where he is a Vicar Choral in the choir of Wells Cathedral, and continues his vocal studies privately with John Evans.
For over 30 years the Stratford Chamber Choir has performed concerts and services in its home town, UK cathedrals and around the world. It has also been featured on BBC TV and Radio 3 programmes. Under its conductor, Stephen Dodsworth, it aims for high standards and regularly receives critical acclaim.