Louise Alder, who became one of our Patrons this year, continues a stellar year with the news that she has been awarded an MBE in the King’s Birthday Honours this month. She has also been granted Honorary Membership of the Royal Academy of Music, an honour which is limited to a total of just 300 outstanding musicians.
At the Edinburgh International Festival, Louisa Stuart-Smith and Francesca Lauri have been selected for the festival’s Rising Star programme, where they’ll be coached by our Patrons Louise Alder MBE and James Baillieu.
Louisa Stuart-Smith has also been selected for the finals of the biennial Neue Stimmen singing competition in Germany, taking place in October.
Benjamin Appl has been appointed vocal professor at Royal College of Music.
We regularly see reviewers praising Samling Artists and there are always too many to mention everyone, but the reception that Svetlina Stoyanova received for her house debut at Royal Ballet and Opera as Cherubino really stood out: London Theatre and Broadway World both reported that her ‘Voi che sapete’ earned ‘one of the biggest ovations of the evening’ and Dominic Lowe in Bachtrack writes that her ‘dazzling’ performance was ‘the musical highlight of the evening’.
Ahead of his appearances at the BBC Proms in Weber’s Oberon and as the Last Night soloist, Nicky Spence talks to Bachtrack about his career, dream roles and about being a ‘singing actor’.
bachtrack.com/interview-nicky-spence-singing-actor-oberon-june-2026
Opera and concert news
English Touring Opera
ETO have announced their autumn tour, with Samling Artists in title roles for all three operas. In a double bill of Ariadne by Eleanor Langer and Henry Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas Jessica Cale is Ariadne, Samantha Price is Dido and Michael Lafferty is Aeneas and in Gluck’s Orpheus and Eurydice, Galina Averina is Eurydice.
englishtouringopera.org.uk/whats-on
Opera North
Verity Wingate is Tatyana in Eugene Onegin with a performance in Newcastle on Saturday 7 November and in Don Giovanni Alexandra Lowe is Donna Elvira and Claire Lees is Zerlina – their Newcastle performance dates are 10 and 12 March 2027.
Emily Christina Loftus makes her role debut as Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro at the Da Ponte Opera Festival in Italy in September.
Barts Choir have a complete line-up of Samling soloists for their upcoming performance of Haydn’s Creation on Tuesday 14 July at Cadogan Hall – Verity Wingate, Nick Pritchard and Hector Bloggs
cadoganhall.com/whats-on/barts-choir-haydn-the-creation/
Ryedale Festival
10 July: Jessica Cale and Samuel Boden are soloists with Dunedin Consort in ‘Welcome to all the Pleasures’
13 July: upcoming Samling Artist Maryam Wocial gives a recital with pianist Audrey Hyland, ‘What the Heart Remembers’ as part of the festival’s Waverley Young Artists programme
ryedalefestival.com
Pasifika Fest
Benson Wilson is launching a new festival, Pasifika Fest UK, celebrating the culture of the Pacific across a wide range of artistic disciplines. Benson sings in the festival closing concert ‘Classical Coconuts’ with other artists from the region, which reimagines classical music through a Pacific lens.
manaartsco.com/pasifika-fest-uk-2026
Recordings
Marie Lys has released an album of Handel’s secular cantatas, ‘Inexorable Amour’ with the Orchestre de l’Opéra Royal conducted by Gaétan Jarry and recorded live in the Château de Versailles
en.live-operaversailles.fr/handel-inexorable-amour
Marie also appears in the title role in Lully’s Proserpine alongside Nick Pritchard as Mercury, with Christophe Rousset and Les Talens Lyriques, also recorded in Versailles. The album was named record of the week by BBC Radio 3 and Editor’s Choice by Gramophone magazine.
en.live-operaversailles.fr/lully-proserpine
Ed Lyon is one of the soloists on ‘Eden: The Music of Edward Picton-Turbervill’ with London Choral Sinfonia
orchidclassics.com/
