Rehearsals have begun for what is undoubtedly our biggest and most exciting event of the year – the long-awaited return of Samling Academy Opera.
One of Europe’s leading period instrument ensembles, Dunedin Consort and their director John Butt will accompany this fully staged and costumed production of Henry Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas with a companion piece by Claudio Monteverdi. We are heading to an exciting new venue – The Fire Station in Sunderland – for what will be their first live opera production.
Karon Wright, Samling Institute’s Artistic and Executive Director said ‘We’re thrilled to be working with the team at The Fire Station and bringing Samling Academy Opera to their stunning auditorium. It will be a really special experience for our young singers to perform there and for anyone who has not been to the venue before, I promise you that you’re in for a treat.’
Alongside a cast of current Academy Singers, we welcome back recent singers from conservatoire who missed out on performing in a Samling Academy Opera during the pandemic and its aftermath, including Tia Radix-Callixte and Max Robbins in the title roles. The production will be directed by Samling Artist Miranda Wright with choreography by Mandy Demetriou.
Tickets are on sale now and we can’t wait to see you in Sunderland for what promises to be a very special production.
This will be our second visit to Sunderland this year. Our Samling Futures workshops began in the city at state secondary schools in Monkwearmouth and Southmoor, followed by visits to schools in Northumberland and Newcastle. We have also been working with staff, soloists and the choir at King Edward VI School in Morpeth who have joined our Singing Schools programme.
Spring is audition season and we have enjoyed meeting candidates for both of our programmes. We held Samling Academy auditions in Gateshead, Durham and Newcastle with an increasing number of singers coming from schools that we’ve visited with our Futures and Singing School programmes. Following initial recommendations and video applications, we held three days of live auditions in London and Glasgow for our upcoming Samling Artist Programme residencies.
In March, British baritone Christopher Purves joined us at Marchmont House to lead our Samling Artist Programme for the first time and later in the summer we look forward to welcoming the French soprano Véronique Gens and pianist Susan Manoff.
