At the beginning of the 2018/2019 season, after seeking advice from many trusted colleagues and coaches, Natalie made the change from soprano to mezzo-soprano.  Since then she won the “Prix de la mélodie française” in the recent finals of the Concours International de Chant Lyrique de Vivonne, that took place in October’18 at l’église Saint-Georges à Vivonne, France.  The following month, Natalie reached the finals of the Concours International Bordeaux Médoc Lyrique singing competition held in Bordeaux.

Forthcoming engagements include “Nuit de Noel” with Les Arts Florissants at the Philharmonie de Paris, a Christmas Concert in Moscow with Pratum Integrum Orchestra, “Castor et Pollux” at the Heidelberg Spring Festival, “The Golden Bride” with Opera Fuoco in Sweden and a Pergolesi/Handel programme with Orchestre Regional de Normandie.

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2018 was a year of firsts for Owain Park: Hyperion released no fewer than two CDs in his name – the first, a disc of English Motets sung by his vocal ensemble The Gesualdo Six which was praised by the jury Preis der Schallplattenkritik and the second, a disc of Owain’s own works recorded by Trinity College Choir, Cambridge. 2018 also saw Owain and The Gesualdo Six tour for the first time in Canada and in many European cities.

2019 promises to be equally busy and musically rewarding. The Gesualdo Six will begin the year in Berlin for the Deutchlandradio Debut Series followed by appearances throughout Europe. Spearheaded by Owain the ensemble will hold its second composing competition: http://www.thegesualdosix.co.uk/composition-competition/

In addition, Owain will return to the BBC Singers to conduct them at the end of 2019 for their annual carol composition competition.

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Much in demand at home in Japan, Masato Suzuki regularly conducts major orchestras such as the Japan Philharmonic, NHK Symphony, Sendai Philharmonic, Tokyo Symphony and Yomiuri Nippon Symphony.  Recently appointed Principal Conductor of Bach Collegium Japan, he directs a number of their subscription concerts each year in Tokyo and is currently in the process of  recording the Bach Harpsichord concerti as soloist and director; a Christmas album has just been released featuring Masato’s arrangements of popular carols interspersed with his performances of organ pieces from Daquin’s Nouveau livre de Noëls.

At the harpsichord, he is currently embarking on a project with Antoine Tamestit comprising the three Viola da Gamba sonatas which they have just recorded for release with Harmonia Mundi next year. They are touring the sonatas in an all Bach programme that also includes the French Suite No. 5 in G major for solo harpsichord and the Cello Suite No. 2 in D minor throughout Europe and Japan.

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New signing Jess Dandy kicked off her summer at the Händel Festspiele Halle with John Butt and the Dunedin Consort, in a performance and recording of Samson (Micah); the recording will be the first of its kind to present Handel’s work in its earliest performed version (London 1743).

Deemed “a name to watch” by The Times, Jess then opens her 2018/19 season by returning to the Oxford Lieder Festival having won the Young Artist Platform award earlier in the year, before heading to Cardiff, where on October 27th she sings in the world première of Charles Villiers Stanford’s previously unheard Mass Via Victrix with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales to commemorate the centenary of the end of World War One.  In December Jess will make her début with the Hallé Orchestra at the Bridgewater Hall in Handel’s Messiah, and the following spring, she embarks on a two-week trip to Australia to perform Bach’s St. John Passion alongside the Adelaide and Tasmanian Symphony Orchestras.

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Matilda Lloyd is a young artist of exceptional promise. Her trumpet playing demonstrates a beautiful, lyrical quality and an impressive virtuosity, all alongside a calm and poised presence on the concert stage. A young Briton, Matilda won 1^st prize in the highly prestigious Eric Aubier Trumpet Competition 2017, and makes her international debut this spring with the opera orchestra in Rouen. In the UK, she has already performed with the BBC Philharmonic at the BBC Proms, the BBC Concert Orchestra, Manchester Camerata and at Wigmore Hall.

Matilda gained a First in Music at Cambridge University before going on to a Masters at the Royal Academy in London, where she is now undertaking her final year. She is former Principal Trumpet of both NYO and EUYO, where she performed under conductors such as Bernard Haitink, Gianandrea Noseda, Vasily Petrenko and Edward Gardner.

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Rising star Nathan Meltzer is increasingly attracting attention across the international music scene. In October, the American violinist was specially selected as the next recipient of the “Ames, Totenberg” Stradivarius – an announcement which created much excitement in international circles and was widely reported in the press – and kicked off his 2018/19 season with an outstanding debut alongside the Orchestre National d’Île-de-France. Here, he performed the Khachaturian Violin Concerto under the direction of Case Scaglione, and their five-performance tour culminated with a concert at the Philharmonie de Paris. As well as numerous performances in and around his home city of New York, Nathan returns to Europe for recitals with German pianist Elisabeth Brauss in London and Heidelberg, and to the Dresden-based Moritzburg Festival next summer. He also returns to South America to perform in Santiago. Currently in his first year at Juilliard, Nathan studies with Itzhak Perlman and Li Lin. Nathan also regularly performs under the aegis of the Omega Ensemble, which showcases outstanding artists at the beginning of their careers, and where he has been a member since 2016. ​

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