Joining the City of Carlisle Orchestra for their second concert of the season are two exciting young classical singers on the threshold of their careers.
Organisers promise a unique opportunity to enjoy a programme that includes operatic arias, with full orchestral accompaniment, alongside performances of overtures and suites, including Carmen, Eugene Onegin and Die Fledermaus.
Both singers are graduates of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, the orchestra’s ongoing links with the institution providing some exceptional musicians to enhance performances.
French coloratura soprano Marie Cayeux recently debuted at Opéra de Monte-Carlo and as a guest artist at the international Festival Lyrique-en-Mer, among many other acclaimed performances.
A highlight of 2023 was her appearance at the world-renowned Bayreuth Festival. A member of the Alexander Gibson Opera School at RCS for the seasons 2021-2023 she received the Sybil Tutton Opera Award and the Hamilton Duval Music Foundation Scholarship.
A committed performer of contemporary music, Marie received the Tracey Chadwell Memorial Award for the Best Performance of a New Work for Voice during the 2021 Wigmore Voiceworks. Marie is also an alumna of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and holds a bachelor’s in law from Paris Descartes University.
Dutch mezzo-soprano Hanna de Bruin graduated last with a Master of Music Vocal Performance from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (RCS). In 2023, Hanna performed lead roles in Glasgow University Opera Society’s production of Orpheus & Eurydice, and Fife Opera’s performance of Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi. She has also sung in Le Nozze di Figaro and Le Roi de Lahore with the Dorset Opera Festival, and L’étoile with the RCS.
Hanna has a deep interest in the music of Richard Wagner and performed a selection of songs from his Wesendonck Lieder with the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland Lab Orchestra. In 2023, she received the Wagner Society of Scotland Bayreuth Stipendium, enabling her to attend the Bayreuther Festspiele, culminating in a lecture-recital for the society.
Oliver Cope is the musical director/conductor for this concert, and he is currently studying MMus conducting at the RCS, having graduated with Scholarship and First Class Honours from Clare College, Cambridge. He has worked with orchestras and opera companies across the UK and has studied with prominent conductors including Ryan Bancroft (musical director City of Carlisle Orchestra for the 2014/15 season), Jonathan Heyward, Ryan Wigglesworth and Antony Hermus.
He started studying on the Masters Programme at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland under Martyn Brabbins in 2022, having been awarded the ABRSM Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Award.
Oliver’s studies in Glasgow have led him to conduct a number of professional ensembles, including the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Orchestra of Scottish Opera, Red Note Ensemble, and the RCS Symphony Orchestra.
Marie and Hanna will perform a selection of arias and duets including Lakmé’s Flower Duet, brought to the attention of non-opera goers through the British Airways advert in 1989. The orchestra will also present a varied programme of overtures and suites from well-known operas to complete the evening.
The concert is in St John’s Church, London Road, Carlisle on Saturday March 23, beginning at 7.30pm.
Tickets, available from orchestra members, Bookcase in Castle Street and The Tourist Information Centre in The Old Town Hall, are £10 in advance, £12 at the door; under-18s free.
