Ben Segal - Tenor

The young British tenor Benjamin Segal trained at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama where he was awarded the Harold Rosenthal Prize - continuing his studies at the National Opera Studio where his roles included Ferrando Cosi Fan Tutte, Belmonte/Pedrillo Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Tamino Die Zauberflote Oronte Alcina, Tom Rakewell The Rake's Progress, Lensky Eugene Onegin, Le Mari Les Mamelles de Tirésias and Laërte Mignon.  He is a recipient of a Samling Foundation Scholarship and was a participant in the Britten-Pears Young Artist Program at the Aldeburgh Festival, for which he sang the role of Mr Upfold Albert Herring. He participated in the Summer Program at the Salzburg Mozarteum, receiving tuition from Maestro Walter Berry.

Benjamin has performed at many renowned Opera Houses and Concert Halls including Glyndebounre Festival Opera House where he sang Monostatos (Die Zauberflöte) under the baton of Sir Charles Mackerras . Other roles include Alfred (Die Fledermaus) for Scottish Opera, Bogdanovic (Merry Widow) and Spoletta (Tosca) for Opera Holland Park, Snout/Lysander (A Midsummer Night's Dream) for British Youth Opera, Don Ottavio (Don Giovanni) and Nathanial/Spalanzani/Franz (The Tales of Hoffmann) for Mid Wales Opera. He has also covered roles at Opera North, Scottish Opera and Garsington Festival Opera.

Benjamin Segal's concert engagements include performances at the Wigmore Hall, Kings Place, the Royal Opera House Crush Bar, Birmingham Symphony Hall, Colston Hall, St John Smith's Square, St James' Piccadilly and the Sage Gateshead; with performances of Missa Solemnis; The City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra with Adrian Partington and Bristol/Birmingham Choral Society, The Serenade for Music at the Edinburgh Festival; Bach B minor Mass under the direction of Maasaki Suzuki at the Aldeburgh Festival, The Evangelist in St John Passion at Dorchester Abbey and a world premiere of 'Child' by Benjamin Wallfisch at Cadogan Hall, Sloane Square and most recently Britten's Seranade for Tenor, Horn and Strings at KIngs place with the Orchestra of St John conducted by John Lubbock.

Recent operatic engagements include the title role in Orpheus in the Underworld, Count Almaviva, (Il Barbiere di Sivighia) and  Don Basilio, Don Cuzio, (The Marriage of Figaro) with Mid Wales Opera.

 Damian Thantrey - Bass

Damian Thantrey read law at Cambridge University before training at the Royal College of Music with Margaret Kingsley.... On leaving the Royal College of Music, Damian received the Tagore Gold Medal and held the Mills Williams Junior Fellowship. He is continuing his studies with Paul Farrington.

Damianﾼs recent operatic roles have included Chau Lin A Night at the Chinese Opera and Eisenstein Die Fledermaus for Scottish Opera, The English Clerk Death in Venice at the Aldeburgh and Bregenz Festivals and, in 2009, at the Opéra de Lyon, Pastore Orfeo for Opera North, Blazes in Maxwell Davies The Lighthouse for Psappha at the Orkney and Buxton Festivals, The Duke of Rothsay La Jolie Fille de Perth for Chelsea Opera Group, Gong Gong Confucius Says for the Hackney Music Development Trust, and Toby The Cumnor Affair and a series of roles in Blind Date for new music specialists Tete -a-Tete.

Damianﾼs other most recent operatic roles have been Marullo Rigoletto at the Royal Opera House, Flemish Deputy Don Carlos for Welsh National Opera, the Traveller Roles Death in Venice at the Theatre de Metz, Shaunard La Boheme for Scotttish Opera, and Sadik Der Stein der Weisen and Nardo La Finta Giardiniera for Garsington Opera.

He has also sung Maximillian Candide for Graham Vickﾼs City of Birmingham Opera, Baritone 1 The Martyrdom of St. Magnus and a concert performance of Dido & Aeneas at the Oslo Kammermusik Festival, Zurga Les Pecheurs des Perles for Chelsea Opera Group, The Messenger in Stravinskyﾼs Oedipus Rex for Opera North and Count Almaviva The Marriage of Figaro for Raymond Gubbayﾼs Savoy Opera. Damian has premiered over thirty new works, both operatic and in concert, including six roles in Tete-a- Teteﾼs tour of Six Pack, five baritone roles in Shorts also for Tete-a-Tete, The Young Man Babetteﾼs Feast Linbury Studio/ROH 2 and John in the Almeida Operaﾼs production of Deidre Gribbinﾼs Hey Persephone! at the Aldeburgh Festival.

Damian has a wide solo concert repertoire, most recently Belshazzarﾼs Feast at the Cadogan Hall, Dewi Sant for Harrow Choral Society, Messiah for the English Symphony Orchestra, and Mahlerﾼs Ruckertlieder with the Salomon Orchestra. Other major performances have included Vaughan Williamsﾼ Five Tudor Portraits with Vernon Handley/Royal Liverpool Philharmonic (live broadcast on Radio 3), The Messiah at the Royal Albert Hall with Sir David Willcocks, Bachﾼs Weinachtsoratorium at Kingﾼs College, Cambridge and St. John Passion at St. Johnﾼs Smith Square. He has also sung concerts of John Adamsﾼ The Wound Dresser with Camerata Scotland in Glasgow and at the Deal and Haddington Festivals.

Karl Harper - Bass

Kate Valentine studied at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music & Drama and the National Opera Studio. A Samling Foundation Alumna, her awards include the Glyndebourne Anne Wood/Joanna Peters Award, a Sybil Tutton Award, a Susan Chilcott scholarship and Scottish Opera's John Scott Award.

Operatic Roles include Donna Anna Don Giovanni, Second Women Dido & Aeneas, Rosalinde Die Fledermaus and Countess Le nozze di Figaro.

Concert repertory includes Handel's Messiah, Dixit Dominus, Solomon, Serenade to Music, Requiem, Elijah, The Creation & Exsultate Jubilate.

Marie Elliott - Contralto

Marie was born in Devon. She studied at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama and on the Royal Academy Opera Course where she was awarded a Dip RAM, their most prestigous acolade.

In 2004 she was awarded the Erich Vietheer Memorial Award, given annually to a promising young singer from the Glyndebourne Chorus.

Opera roles include, Mistress Quickly, Florence Pike, Figaro, Theodora & Rodelinda.