Così fan tutte - Cast and Creative Team

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Janet Haney is a much sought-after accompanist, repetiteur, vocal coach and music director. She has appeared in recital with international artists, works regularly for Wexford Festival Opera and other major companies and is on the coaching staff of The Royal College of Music. Her music directorships have included Wexford Festival Opera in Ireland, Söngskólinn i Reykjaviki in Iceland and five years for the Birmingham Conservatoire Opera Scenes in the UK. Her work with young singers has incorporated coaching at Dennis O’Neill’s Welsh International Academy of Voice, The National Opera Studio, Leeds College of Music and the Kiri Te Kanawa Foundation.

Ptolemy Christie has many years of experience working in opera and has directed Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Cosi fan tutte, La traviata (Nevill Holt /Pimlico Opera), ‘The Tales of Hoffmann’ (Nationale Reisopera), La traviata (Winslow Hall Opera) and Sondheim’s Assassins in two British prisons using a cast of inmates (Pimlico Opera). Assistant Director credits include Die Walküre, Götterdämmerung (Tiroler Festspiele), Pelléas et Mélisande (Glyndebourne Festival Opera), Jenůfa (Opera Zuid / Hannover), and he has assisted John Cox on numerous productions including Rake’s Progress (Glyndebourne, San Francisco and Opera Australia), Die Frau ohne Schatten (Royal Opera House and Melbourne Festival) Capriccio and Albert Herring (Opera Australia).

JANET HANEY

PTOLEMY CHRISTIE

Music Director

Stage Director

Leah Sams is a set and costume designer, technical draughtsman and scenic artist based in London. She has designed shows from fringe productions such at ‘Trash’ (Rosemary Branch Theatre) to medium scaled shows such as ‘Broadway Showtunes’ (Bournemouth Pavilion). Her roles in the West End includes design associate on ‘Cirque Berserk’ (UK Tour 2017), technical draughtsman on ‘Three Little Pigs’ (Palace Theatre), scenic artist on ‘American Idiot’ (The Arts) and the breakdown artist for costumes on ‘The War Of The Worlds’ (Dominion Theatre). Work on an international platform includes set and costume designer for ‘Father Christmas’ which was performed in Singapore (SOTA Theatre), and the technical draughtsman on productions such as ‘My Little Pony’ (Asian Tour) and Three Little Pigs (International Tour). She has also designed for Opera and Film, work includes design for 'Carmen' (Dulwich Opera Company), 'Nabucco' (Brent Opera), and ‘Canal’ (film in post-production). Leah is also a graphic designer whose clients includes Avex Classics International and Imperial College.

Nigel has been lighting the stage for over 30 years, he is a professional designer with the Association of Lighting Designers, the resident lecturer in theatre lighting design at the London College of Music - University of West London, and course leader in theatre production arts at Kingston College. Much of Nigel’s work is opera based, although he works in all genre of stage performance. Nigel is resident lighting designer to Artists Theatre School, directed by Amanda Redman MBE. Nigel is author of several published articles and contributes to theatre periodicals. Nigel is also director of LX Designs Limited, a lighting design and hire company based in London. www.lxdl.co.uk

LEAH SAMS

Designer

NIGEL A LEWIS

Lighting Designer

Australian tenor Robert Barbaro studied with soprano Mirella Freni in Modena, Italy. With sponsorship from international trusts such as ‘The Acclaim Awards’, ‘The Dame Nellie Melba Opera Trust’ and the ‘European Fund’, he is currently pursuing his career on the European operatic stage. Roles include Gherardo and Rinuccio (Gianni Schicchi) for the Teatro Comunale Luciano Pavarotti, Alfredo (La traviata), Rodolfo (La Bohème), Pinkerton (Madama Butterfly), Nadir (The Pearl Fishers), Raoul (The Merry Widow) and Fenton (Falstaff) for the Teatro Regio di Parma. Equally at home on the concert platform, he has performed Schumann’s Dichterliebe, Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Rossini’s Petite Messe Solennelle, Carmina Burana, as well as in recital for the international Festival Verdi 2017. Ferrando marks Robert’s operatic debut in the United Kingdom.

David read music at the University of York, where he enjoyed a busy performing schedule. David now studies with Raymond Connell. Roles have included Guglielmo, Così fan tutte, Leporello Don Giovanni, Figaro Le nozze di Figaro, Schaunard La bohème, Yakusidé Madama Butterfly, Montano (cover) Otello and Moralès (cover) Carmen, Fiorello The Barber of Seville, Cox Cox and Box, The Page Amahl and the Night Visitors, Strephon Iolanthe, and Giuseppe The Gondoliers. David has sung in the chorus with Winlsow Hall Opera, the Nederlandse Reisopera and Opera Holland Park. David is also a regular concert performer, having given recitals featuring Schubert's Die Schöne Müllerin, Schumann’s Dichterliebe, Beethoven’s An die ferne Geliebte, and Vaughan Williams’ Songs of Travel.

ROBERT BARBARO

Ferrando

DAVID FLETCHER

Guglielmo

James Williams has enjoyed an active performing career in the UK and Europe, with operatic roles including Figaro (Barbiere and Nozze), Don Giovanni, Il Conte d’Almaviva, Schaunard and Papageno. He has received training from eminent artists, such as Richard Bonynge, Simon Keenlyside and John Shirley-Quirk, and has served as Musical Director of Brent Opera, overseeing their productions of Macbeth, Nabucco and Martha. In oratorio, James has covered early masterpieces, from Handel’s Messiah to Bach’s Weihnachtsoratorium, while exploring more contemporary pieces in collaboration with the composers, Jonathan Rathbone and Howard Goodall, in their respective works, A Christmas Truce and Eternal Light: A Requiem.

Loretta Hopkins studied music at The University of Edinburgh and Birmingham Conservatoire, where she gained a postgraduate diploma, generously supported by The South Square Trust, and continues to train with Raymond Connell. In competition, Loretta was a finalist in Birmingham Conservatoire’s Mario Lanza Prize and Vienna Conservatoire's Internationale Sommerakademie opera prize. Opera roles include Violetta (cover) La traviata, Donna Anna (cover) Don Giovanni (Winslow Hall Opera); Lisa The Queen of Spades (Park Opera); Adina, L’Elisir d’Amore (Midland Opera); Micaëla, Carmen (Opera at Bearwood); Kate Pinkerton, Madama Butterfly (Lambeth Orchestra); Greta Fiorentino, Street Scene and Fox (cover), The Cunning Little Vixen, (Birmingham Conservatoire); a Sprite Fantastic Mr Fox and The Aunt Madama Butterfly (Opera Holland Park). For Dulwich Opera Company, Mimi La bohème, Fiordiligi Così fan tutte, Donna Anna Don Giovanni, and Countess Le nozze di Figaro.

JAMES WILLIAMS

Don Alfonso

LORETTA HOPKINS

Fiordiligi

Phillipa Thomas studied music at the University of York, winning the York University Concerto Prize and, following her MA, continued her vocal training at Birmingham Conservatoire where she was a finalist in competitions and winner of the Birmingham Conservatoire Singing Prize. In 2016 Phillipa performed the roles of Dorabella (Così fan tutte, Dulwich Opera Company), Giovanna (Rigoletto, Nevill Holt Opera) and Orlofsky (Die Fledermaus, Fulham Opera Young Artist). Past operatic credits include Carmen, Cherubino, Dido, Mercedes and Olga, among others. Recent solo engagements include Bach's Cantata No.48 (RPO under Ben Pope), Mahler’s Symphony No.2 (Kings College Cambridge under Stephen Cleobury), Duruflé's Requiem (Bristol Choral Society under Hilary Campbell); as well as Bach's Weihnachtsoratorium, Dvořak’s Mass in D, Handel’s Messiah and Mozart’s Requiem for other UK choral societies. Phillipa is currently recording solos for numerous oratorios as part of an ongoing project with the professional ensemble Blossom Street Singers.

British/Iranian Soprano, Honey Rouhani graduated in Vocal and Opera studies from the Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance kindly supported by the Leverhulme Trust. She continues to study with Alison Wells. ​ A versatile and much sought-after soprano, she recently made her West End opera debut to critical acclaim as Musetta in a radical new production of Puccini’s La Bohème at the Trafalgar Studios (Olivier Award Nominee). Critics described her as a “an utter revelation”, “a supremely entitled and manipulative Musetta”, “The most memorable part of the opera”. In 2016 Honey made her Barbican debut in as soloist in premiering ‘Love & Peace Quotes’ (UNICEF Commissioned) with the Docklands Sinfonia (composer Mehran Rouhani). Other recent performances include: Soprano, Verdi Requiem (Docklands Sinfonia), Musetta, La Bohème (King’s Head Theatre); Carlotta, Phantom of the Opera (LMTO); Phyllis, Iolanthe (ESCS); Musetta, La Boheme (Dulwich Opera); Sandman and Dew Fairy, Hansel and Gretel (Opera in Space); Recital soloist (Debut Opera). Future engagements include soloist in Brahms Requiem (Taunton Choral Society June 2018), recital and Opera gala in Dubai (2018/19). Honey is excited to be returning to the brilliant Dulwich Opera Company, debuting one of her favourite roles. www.honeyrouhani.co.uk

PHILLIPA THOMAS

Dorabella

HONEY ROUHANI

Despina