This summer’s Samling Academy Opera Dido and Aeneas showed yet again that when you invest in young people, the results can be astonishing. Most of our young cast were performing in an opera for the first time and they rose to the challenge with grace and integrity.
Many of the cast will be continuing their Academy journey with us in October when we are also welcoming 12 new singers to the programme, including young people who took part in workshops as part of our Samling Singing Schools programme.
Over the past few years we have worked with Berwickshire High School, holding Samling Futures visits and inviting their students to informal concerts during our Artist Programme residencies at Marchmont House and we are delighted that one of their singers has successfully auditioned for Samling Academy. She’ll be joining singers from schools in Sunderland, Newcastle, Durham, Teesside and Cleveland and from our partner universities.
You can see our Samling Academy Singers in an afternoon concert on Sunday 26 October at The Glasshouse, when they’ll be putting into practice everything they’ve worked on over six intensive days of masterclasses and workshops.
Queen Elizabeth High School in Hexham will join our Samling Singing Schools programme this autumn. Samling Artist Miranda Wright will lead ensemble and solo classes and she will work with the school music team, sharing best practice in teaching singing to developing voices.
Our annual Samling Artist Showcase at Wigmore Hall will reflect on things earthly and heavenly. Soprano Sarah Gilford, mezzo-soprano Ellen Pearson, tenor Hugo Brady, baritone Sam Hird and pianists Jonathan Ware and Francesca Lauri form the line up, with a programme including Ludwig van Beethoven’s only song cycle An die ferne Geliebte; and selections from Gabriel Fauré’s La bonne chanson; Gustav Mahler’s Des Knaben Wunderhorn and William Bolcom’s witty Cabaret Songs. If you’re a member of our Friends scheme, you are invited to join us for a drink with the artists after the concert.
Samling Artist Headlines Proms
Our global family of Samling Artists now numbers over 425 and their impact is growing every year. This year, Louise Alder became the first Samling Artist to headline one of the world’s biggest classical music events, the Last Night of the Proms.
You can read highlights of our Samling Artists’ successes in a monthly news bulletin on our website and social media and as we approach our 30th anniversary next year, we are making plans to celebrate their achievements and build a lasting legacy.
