Jonathan Williams

Jonathan studied music at Clare College, Cambridge, and musical theatre at the Royal Academy of Music. He now works as a pianist, vocal coach, musical director and singer.

Musical direction credits include: Awaking Beauty (Stephen Joseph Theatre); Salt (Theatre Rites/Ruhr Triennale); Cattle Call (Phoenix Dance Theatre); The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby (Chichester Festival Theatre); Six Pictures of Lee Miller (Minerva Theatre, Chichester); Calamity Jane (national tour); Bernice Bobs her Hair (RADA) and Kiss of the Spiderwoman (Guildhall). He was assistant musical director of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying and Carousel (both Chichester Festival Theatre). As a repetiteur, Jonathan has worked for the Manchester International Festival (The Ground Beneath Her Feet); Scottish Chamber Orchestra (When the Earth Sings) and Grange Park Opera (Wonderful Town). He also worked as vocal coach on a production of The Medium by Peter Maxwell Davies (Muziektheater Transparant, Antwerp).

Performing credits as a singer include: The Voluptuous Tango (Almeida Opera); My One and Only (Chichester Festival Theatre); Me and My Girl (Alexandra Theatre, Birmingham); Jerry Springer: The Opera (Battersea Arts Centre) and Zipp! (Duchess Theatre). He has performed throughout the UK and Europe with The Shout, a sixteen-voice a cappella choir, and works regularly for the education departments of the Royal Opera House and ENO.

Dervla Ramsay

Born in Derry, N. Ireland, she studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. In 1993 she was the winner of the Ulster Bank Music Foundation Award for Young Irish Musicians (RTE, The Late Late Show), which enabled her to continue her studies in Italy with various teachers including Margarita Rinaldi and Renata Scotto.

In 1994 she won the Concorso Internazionale di Bagna di Lucca and made her debut as Volpino (Haydn’s Lo speziale). While in Italy she sang with various companies including Teatro Communale, Florence and Teatro Carlo Felice, Genoa, where she sang La Cenerentola in a televised performance of opera extracts with Renata Scotto. A member of the Royal Opera Chorus since September 1999, her solo roles have included Lolette (La Rondine, Puccini), Contess Ceprano (Rigoletto, Verdi), Trainbearer (Elektra, Strauss) and Third Page (Lohengrin, Wagner).

She sang the role of Cenerentola in the ROH Linbury Theatre production of the ‘Sixty Minute Cinderella’.

Her oratorio experience includes the mezzo roles in the Messiah (Handel), Nelson Mass (Haydn), St. Matthew Passion (Bach), Elijah (Mendellsohn), Requiem (Mozart), Gloria (Vivaldi).

Dervla has also sung with the Covent Garden Big Band at tea dance events in the Floral Hall of the Royal Opera House.

Tamsin Dalley

Born in in London where she studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.
Recent operatic roles include Mauxalinda ‘The Dragon of Wantley’ by John Lampe with the Akademie fur Alte Musik Berlin [cond. Gary Cooper], at the Potsdam Festival in Germany [Opera Restor’d], Kera ‘The Minotaur’ by Harrison Birtwistle [cond. Antonio Pappano] for The Royal Opera, Covent Garden [world premiere], The Witch ‘Hansel and Gretel’ with the BBC Concert Orchestra [cond. by Charles Hazelwood] at The Queen Elizabeth Hall and Chichester Festival, The Mayor’s Wife ‘Jenufa’ at the Endellion Festival [cond. Richard Hickox], Anna in ‘Tobias and the Angel’ by Jonathan Dove for New Sussex Opera, Prince Orlofsky ‘Die Fledermaus’ with Jose Carreras as guest artist [Switzerland/Diva Opera], Iolanthe ‘Iolanthe’ [Gilbert and Sullivan] for The D’Oyly Carte, Carmen [Riverside Opera, European Chamber Opera], Mercedes ‘Carmen’ [Opera Ireland] and die Vertraute ‘Elektra’ [BBC Prom, Albert Hall]. Tamsin has sung Third Lady ‘The Magic Flute’, Flora ‘La Traviata’ and Rosette ‘Manon’ by Massenet, Baba the Turk ‘The Rake’s Progress’ by Stravinsky for English Touring Opera. Tamsin has performed Third Lady ‘Die Zauberflote’ for London City Opera [London/US Tour], Holland Park Opera, Milan Opera Festival, Longborough Festival Opera and Garsington Opera [cover].

Other roles include The Old Prioress ‘Les Dialogues des Carmelites’ by Poulenc [Aldeburgh Festival], Madam Larina in ‘Eugene Onegin’ [Opera by Definition], Grimgerde ‘Die Walkure’ by Wagner [Newbury & Covent Garden Festivals], Third Orphan ‘Der Rosenkavalier’ [Spoleto Festival, Italy], Die Haushalterin [cover] ‘Die Schweigsame Frau’ by R Strauss [Garsington Opera], Martha ‘Patience and Sarah’ [Opera Amazons], Suor Zelatrice ‘Suor Angelica’ by Puccini and Hippolyta ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ by Britten [Broomhill Opera]. Tamsin has also sung Olga, Nicklausse, Marcellina and Fiamina in the British Premiere of Massenet’s ‘Griselidis’.

Tamsin has wide experience in oratorio, most recently singing in Bach’s St John Passion at Westminster Abbey, ‘Messiah’ at Leicester’s De Montfort Hall, the Verdi Requiem and Carl Jenkins’‘The Armed Man’ and ‘Stabat Mater’ conducted by the composer. She has devised recitals including some with poetry and English song on the life of William Wordsworth given at the poet’s house Rydal Mount in The Lake District.

Tamsin’s interest in contemporary music has taken her throughout Europe, performing works by composers such as Birtwistle, Gubailudina, Ligeti and Kantscheli. She has recorded two new works by American composers; ‘A Long Way’ a song cycle by Kevin Kasker and ‘Acts’ for mezzo and orchestra by Newton Strandberg, with the London Symphony Orchestra at EMI Studios, Abbey Road and sings Lucia on Roberto Alagna’s CD ‘Nessun Dorma’. Tamsin was also the voice behind the Fiat ‘Spirito di Punto’ advertising campaign.

Danielle Perrett & Timothy Kipling

We have been performing as a duo since 1989, and have played in many prestigious venues including  Buckingham Palace, St. James’ Palace (for Her Majesty, The Queen), Kensington Palace, The Palace of Versailles, Lancaster House (beside Buckingham Palace), the Tower of London,  St. Paul’s Cathedral, The Victoria and Albert, Natural History and British Museums, the Banqueting House in Whitehall, the Royal Academy, the National Gallery and Portrait Gallery, at the top of the “Gherkin” building and even inside The Wellington Arch at Hyde Park Corner.
We have given performances of the Mozart Concerto for flute and harp, the venues for our Recitals have included The Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, the Fairfield Halls, Croydon and Spencer House.
Our individual orchestral work includes playing with the major symphony, chamber, opera and ballet orchestras and in the West End theatres. We have appeared in, and recorded soundtracks for such films as The Phantom of the Opera, Persuasion, Emma, and Topsy-Turvy
Danielle has recorded several acclaimed solo CDs, and we have recorded works written for and dedicated to us.

Susanna Stranders

Susanna Stranders began her musical training with Harpenden Musicale. In 1998, she graduated from Exeter University with a first-class honours degree in music, having won the major performance prize. With support from the Harpenden Music Foundation, she then completed two years as a postgraduate accompanist at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, London, where she won the Accompanists’ Prize, the Schubert Lieder Prize, the John Ireland Prize and the Armourer’s and Brazier’s Prize. Susanna spent a third year at the GSMD as a répétiteur on the Opera Course.

As opera coach at the College-Conservatory of Music in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA, she was supported by the Sir Henry Richardson Award (Musicians Benevolent Fund) 2000-02 and a bursary from the Magro Foundation. She was répétiteur for Cincinnati Opera in 2002 and for San Francisco Opera’s Merola Programme in the summer of 2003. In 2003-04, she was a member of the Houston Grand Opera Studio, Texas.

Susanna was a répétiteur on the Young Artists Programme at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden between 2004-2006. Since then, she has been working regularly for the ROH, for the Glyndebourne Festival and Tour, for the Philharmonia orchestra, for the Festspiele and Landestheater, Salzburg, in masterclasses with José Cura for New Devon Opera, has accompanied Bryn Terfel in recital and has broadcast live for the BBC.

Susanna is a Senior Opera Coach at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and for the Cardiff International Academy of Voice, on the staff at Oxenfoord International Summer School and is resident pianist for the Musicale Young Artists Programme.

Anita Watson

After completing a Bachelor of Music from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music Australian soprano Anita Watson graduated with honours from the Australian Opera Studio.  She was a member of the Cologne Opera Studio 2006-7 and the Jette Parker Young Artist Programme at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden from 2007-9.

Anita was the winner of first prize and the audience prize at the 2009 ARD International Music Competition in Munich.

Anita has won prizes in many prestigious competitions amongst them The Australian Singing Competition, Queen Sonja International Music Competition in Oslo, Neue Stimmen in Germany and the 2009 Placido Domingo Operalia Competition. 

Her performed roles at the Royal Opera House included the title role in Donizetti's Rita, Flowergirl (Parsifal), First Lady (Die Zauberflöte), Naiad (Ariadne auf Naxos), Gretel and Dewfairy (Hänsel and Gretel) and Second Woman (Dido and Aeneas). She also understudied Contessa (Le Nozze di Figaro), Donna Anna (Don Giovanni) and Mimì (La Bohème).  Other roles have included the title role in Handel's Xerxes, Cleopatra in Giulio Cesare, Lucia in The Rape of Lucretia, Pedro in Don Quichotte, Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro and Micaela in Carmen for the Australian Opera Studio, Barena in Jenufa for Cologne Opera and Ann Putnam in The Crucible for IVAI.

During the years Anita has been heard in many live broadcasts including Parsifal, Don Carlo, Mavra and Hänsel und Gretel as well as solo recitals for ABC radio.

Anita has appeared with numerous concerts and recitals in Australia, in the USA, Austria, Germany, Japan, Hungary, China, Finland, Israel and the UK, Her oratorio repertoire includes Carmina Burana, Mozart's Requiem, Tippet's A Child of our Time, the Fauré Requiem, Mozart's Vesperae Solennes de Confessore, Handel's Messiah, and Gounod's Redemption. Most recently Anita performed Beethoven Symphony no. 9 with Antonio Pappano in Rome and Siena with the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia.

Elliot Goldie

Born in Hawick, Scotland, he studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama on the undergraduate and opera courses. He was the winner of the inaugural Kathleen Ferrier Bursary Award in 1996. His operatic experience includes excerpts from Billy Budd, Don Giovanni, The Rape of Lucretia, Turandot, Eugene Onegin and Fidelio. He has also sung Tiberge (Le Portrait de Manon) Ramon (La Navarraise) and Bobil (The Snow Maiden) with the GSMD. He has appeared with the Scottish Opera Chorus in Macbeth, Le Roi Arthus, Il trovatore and Ines de Castro. His concert performances include Messiah, Elijah and Bach’s Christmas Oratorio. A member of the Royal Opera Chorus, he made his solo debut with the Royal Opera in 2001 as the Notary in La sonnambula and has also sung Young Man in La rondine, Gaston de Letorieres in La traviata, Villager in I Pagliacci with Placido Domingo and Capitano in Simon Boccanegra. He has also sung the role of Starbuck in the world premier performance of Call Me Ishmael by Gary Goldschneider in the Stadschouwberg Theatre in Amsterdam. Being from Scotland Elliot has sung at various functions including many Burns Suppers and St Andrews Night Concerts. He has also compered several Scottish Tattoos including one at the Royal Albert Hall. Elliot has sung at the Scottish Proms at Glamis Castle for the past two years in both Scottish and Opera evenings.

Tony Bell

Tony Bell has been an actor for over twenty years appearing in many West End shows including A Man for all Seasons, for which he was nominated for an Evening Standard Award, A Midsummer Nights Dream, Twelfth Night, The Taming of the Shrew, The English Game and Rose Rage (based on Shakespeare’s Henry VI). He has also performed in New York, Japan, Hong Kong, India, Mexico, Indonesia, The Phillipines, Malaysia and Europe with the award-winning all-male Shakespeare company, Propeller, for whom he has played many of the leading clowns and fools including Bottom, Feste, Autolyclus and Tranio. 

Tony is also a musician, singer and compere. He is the front man and musical director for the Propeller acoustic band gigging all over the world in tandem with the shows. He toured his Memory Man Act all over the UK for corporate and private functions and was MC for corporate Christmas functions at Camden Town Hall for four years. He is also a juggler, children’s entertainer and has been an exuberant and well-padded Father Christmas for Harrods, Selfridges and Hamleys.

Tony’s television credits include Coronation Street, Holby City, Midsummer Murders, East Enders and The Bill. He is also a radio and voice over artist.

Cameron Rolls

Born Cameron Rolls Tenor was born in Somerset and studied at the Trinity College of Music. He was a principal artist with Wuppertaler Bühnen and Koblenz from 1993 to 1999. A guest artist in Hannover, Oldenburg and Gelsenkirchen. Roles in Germany include Don José Carmen, Alfred Die Fledermaus, Camille Die Lustige Witwe, Tamino Die Zauberflöte, Ernesto Don Pasquale, Rodolfo La Bohème, Rinuccio Gianni Schicchi, Alfredo La Traviata, Paco La Vida Breve, Edgardo Lucia di Lammermoor, Pinkerton Madama Butterfly, Cavaradossi Tosca and Tony West Side Story.

He has performed The Seven Deadly Sins with the Wuppertaler Tanztheater Pina Bausch in Amsterdam.

Concert work includes The Verdi Requiem, Elgar The Kingdom, Handel Messiah, Mozart Die Krönungs-messe, Dvorak Requiem, and Saint-Saens Weihnachtsoratorium. For Diva Opera he has sung Don José, Nemorino L’elisir d’amore, Alfred, Cavaradossi, Alfredo, Basilio Le Nozze di Figaro, Tonio La Fille du Régiment, Duke Rigoletto, Rodolfo, Edgardo, Tamino and Rinuccio Gianni Schicchi.

He recently toured internationally with Opera Interludes singing Alfredo and Cavaradossi and sang Ernesto for Opera a la Carte in London. Forthcoming engagements include concert tours with Diva Opera and Opera Interludes and the role of Lensky Eugene Onegin for Haddo House Opera in Scotland.

Karin Thyselius

Born in Stockholm, Sweden, has undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in solo vocal performance from Guildhall School of Music and Drama, London. She is currently learning with Janice Chapman and coaching with Ludmilla Andrews.

In 2004 Karin was a finalist in the Robert Schumann International Singing Competition in Germany, and prior to that had successes in the Schubert Lieder Competition and the Susan Longfield Competition at the GSMD, and was awarded third prize in the Bromsgrove Young Musicians’ Platform 2002.

She has performed throughout the United Kingdom in works such as the Brahms Requiem, Fauré Requiem, Mozart Requiem, Mozart C minor Mass (in King’s College Chapel, Cambridge), Poulenc Gloria, Vivaldi Gloria, and in recital with Eugene Asti. Around Europe her performances have included Schubert Masses in A flat and B flat (The Netherlands), recitals with Tobias Krampen and Alice Turner - both broadcast on Dutch National Radio, and recitals and oratorio performances in her native Sweden.

Karin’s roles in opera have included Despina (Così fan tutte), First Boy and Papagena (Die Zauberflöte), Virtù (L’Incoronazione di Poppea), and Frasquita (Carmen). She has sung with Diva Opera, Grange Park Opera and Clonter Opera.

During autumn 2007, Karin made her critically acclaimed Scottish Opera debut as Berta in their production of Il Barbiere di Siviglia directed by Sir Thomas Allen and conducted by Sergio La Stella. (Read her reviews here.)She was also featured performer in Scottish Opera’s Aria Adventures at Glasgow’s Merchant City Festival in September 2007.

In autumn 2007 she gave a recital for The London Song Festival. Karin is very happy to have been invited to appear again in the 2008 festival, taking place in November in St John’s Smith Square and St George Hanover Square, and will act as an adjucator for the master class auditions. She has also been asked to sing at the memorial concert for the composer Francis James Brown.