Events

Opera Gala at St Fagans
 

The Elizabeth Evans Trust are delighted and grateful to have been invited by The Everyman Festival to present a fundraising gala evening at St Fagans National History Museum in Cardiff.

The evening will include some of  Wales’ finest opera singers, who are giving of their time in aid of the Elizabeth Evans Trust.
Confirmed to date are:

Rebecca Evans,  Sara Fulgoni, Gwyn Hughes Jones, David Kempster, Wynne Evans, Mark Evans.

Plus past recipients of the trust Elizabeth Donovan, Gary Griffiths and Gwawr Edwards.

On Sunday 12th July 2009 at 6:30pm, St Fagans National Museum of Wales

They will be accompanied by international accompanist Michael Pollock

Tickets are limited so please click here to book online.

While you’re booking why not book to see all the Everyman shows by visiting their website?  Their season this year has something for everyone; Gilbert and Sullivan’s Venetian classic THE GONDOLIERS,  Shakespeare’s tragedy KING LEAR and A A Milne’s TOAD OF TOAD HALL, perfect for young and old alike.

 

BUY TICKETS FOR THE OPERA GALA HERE

 
 
Rebecca Evans was born in Wales and studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.
She has performed at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, A regular guest at the Bayerische Staatsoper, Munich, Deutsche Staatsoper, Berlin; Netherlands Opera and Opera de Lausanne and ENO. She is also a  favourite at the WNO.
She has also established a major operatic career in America where she has sung  for the Metropolitan Opera, New York; Susanna in Santa Fe;  Lyric Opera of Chicago and San Francisco Opera.
In concert she has appeared at the Salzburg, Edinburgh, Tanglewood and RaviniaFestivals. She is a regular guest at the BBC Proms. She has sung withthe San Francisco Symphony , the Boston Symphony Orchestra , the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment , the Monteverdi Choir and Orchestra and the Sapporo Symphony Orchestra . In Australia she has appeared at the Melbourne International Festival and on tour with the Australian Chamber Orchestra.
In recital, she has sung at the Wigmore Hall, London; and the Barcelona, Ravinia, Buxton, Belfast and Beaulieu-sur-Mer Festivals.
She is a Grammy Award winning artist and she has recorded prolifically.

 
Sara Fulgoni is an outstanding vocal and dramatic talent, performing at major opera and concert venues worldwidein a huge variety of repertoire. The full, rich and lustrous quality of her voice, as well as her remarkable stage presence, distinguish her performances. Roles include Carmen, Beatrice, Judith, Hänsel, Prince Orlofsky, Waltraute and Kundry. She has recorded Mahler 8 and Urlicht with Riccardo Chailly / Decca and CherubiniMass in D Minor with Riccardo Muti at La Scala for EMI. Ms Fulgoni created the title role Tobias Picker’s new opera Therèse Raquin for Dallas Opera, which is available on Chandos Records.

 
Gwyn Hughes Jones was born in North Wales and studied at GSMD and NOS. Gwyn Represented Wales in the Cardiff Singer of The World in 1997
His career has been equally divided between the USA and Europe, having performed at the Met, New York, the Lyric Opera of Chicago, San Francisco Opera, the ROH, La Monnaie and Opera deNational, Paris. New roles include Don José for WNO and Cavaradossi for Los Angeles Opera. His concert repertoire ranges from Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde to Verdi’s Requiem.

 

 

Wynne Evans was born in Carmarthen, South Wales and studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, and the National Opera Studio, London.
He has performed with Welsh National Opera, every year for the last 15 years and also at English National Opera, Opera North and Scottish Opera.
Wynne is soloist on three CD volumes entitled ‘Here Come the Classics’ with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Recorded for Chandos and has appeared several times on Friday Night is Music night.
In 2004 Wynne famously responded on behalf of the Welsh Rugby Team to the New Zealand Haka, In 2007 Wynne began presenting a classical music on BBC Radio Wales. 
Future plans includeOperas with WNO, Royal Opera House, Glyndebourne and Grange Park

 
Born in Chirk, North Wales, David Kempster studied at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester.   He won the Young Welsh Singer Competition in 1998, and in 1999 represented Wales in the Cardiff Singer of the World Competition.
David has sung for English National Opera , Glyndebourne on Tour , Welsh National Opera, Opera South Africa, his US debut for Dallas Opera , Florida Grand Opera and  Buxton Festival.

 

 
Mark Evans was born in Carmarthenand studied at Guildhall School of Music and Drama and National Opera Studio. He has worked as a soloist with Scottish Opera, British Youth Opera, English Touring Opera, English National Opera, Opera North,WNO and MTW. Mark appears regularly in concerts and oratorios throughout the UK and his repertoire ranges from Bach to Britten. He has also worked with many leading orchestras including RTE, RPO and the LSO

 
Elizabeth Donovan was born and educated in South Wales, and studied at the Royal Northern College of Music and the National Opera Studio funded by The Elizabeth Evans Trust.
She was a finalist in the Kathleen Ferrier Awards 2008 and a prizewinner in the 2006 Concours International de Chant de Toulouse, prizewinner in the 2007 Veronica Dunne International Singing Competition and winner of the 2002 Welsh Singer Competition. In 2003 she represented Wales in the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World Competition.
Elizabeth has worked for Welsh National Opera , English Touring Opera, Scottish Opera, Diva Opera and Chelsea Opera Group.

 
Gwawr  Edwards is a Soprano who was born in Aberystwyth She graduated in 2006 from the Royal WelshCollegeof Music and Drama in Cardiff where she gained an entrance Scholarship. She is continuing her vocal studies at the Guildhall school of music and Drama in London under the tuition of Yvonne Kenny during 2007/08, Funded by The Elizabeth Evans Trust
Gwawr has had numerous successes over the years in countless competitions including the prestigious W.Towyn Roberts scholarship award, the Llais Llwyfan Llambed and a finalists at the Mocsa competition in 2007 and 2008. Gwawrhas traveled far and wide entertaining audiences from America toPatagonia and to Beijing.

 
25 year-old Welsh baritone Gary Griffiths is currently studying on the Masters vocal course at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. He initially trained as an actor at the Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts and then went on to study singing at the Guildhall from where he recently completed a BMus with First Class Honours. Gary has recently won the MOCSA Young Welsh Singer of the Year Competition and the Lampeter Eisteddfod Blue Ribbon Competition. His studies are  supported by the Countess of Munster Musical Trust and the Elizabeth Evans Trust.
Recent concert engagements include solo debuts at the Royal Albert Hall, the Wigmore Hall and the Barbican Hall, a Schubert liederrecital at Kings Place with Iain Burnside,
In 2007 made his BBC Radio 3 debut, performing on ‘In Tune’ with Iain Burnside. Future plans include the roles of ‘The Dog’ and ‘The Innkeeper’ in The Cunning Little Vixen for Grange Park Opera. In September 2009 Gary will join the prestigious opera course at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.

 

Michael Pollock

Michael won a music scholarship to Magdalen College, Oxford and after graduating he went to the Royal College of Music to study vocal accompaniment with Roger Vignoles.  While still at college, he was taken on by Welsh National Opera with whom he has enjoyed a long association, firstly as a member of music staff (during which time he was responsible for the musical preparation of more than seventy operas ranging from Monteverdi to Tippett, working closely with conductors such as Sir Reginald Goodall, Sir Charles Mackerras, Sir Richard Armstrong, Pierre Boulez and Carlo Rizzi) and latterly as freelance Vocal Consultant; he has also worked for Music Theatre Wales on several contemporary projects including Maxwell Davies’s ‘The Lighthouse’ and the world première of Michael Berkeley’s ‘Jane Eyre’.  He is also a vocal coach for the Cardiff International Academy of Voice, and a guest tutor in London for the National Opera Studio, the Jette Parker Young Artists Programme at the Royal Opera House, the Young Singers’ Programme at English National Opera, and the Royal Academy of Music (where he has recently been awarded an Honorary Associateship).   
Michael also has an active career as an accompanist: in 2006 he accompanied Bryn Terfelon a recital tour of Asia and Australia, having previously given recitals with him in the UK and in Norway; in 2008 they gave a recital together in the Amsterdam Concertgebouw.  Other singers whom he has accompanied in international recitals and recordings include Dame Anne Evans, Rebecca Evans, Nuccia Focile, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Katarina Karnéus, Christopher Maltman, Dennis O’Neill, AilishTynan and Sir Willard White.  He acted as official accompanist for the Cardiff Singer of the World competition on three occasions and has frequently broadcast on Radio 3.  He has recently recorded a disc of English songs with the baritone Anthony Michaels-Moore, and they have future plans for discs of Italian and French songs.