A concert of Chamber Music for Voice and Piano

Mascarade Opera Studio artists

Aaron Godfrey-Mayes, tenor

Manon Gleizes, soprano

Kristina Yorgova, piano

A concert of Chamber Music for Voice and Piano

Mascarade Opera Studio artists

Aaron Godfrey-Mayes, tenor

Manon Gleizes, soprano

Kristina Yorgova, piano

Programme:

Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958)

On Wenlock Edge (song cycle) 1909

1) On Wenlock Edge

2) From Far, from Eve and Morning 

3) Is my team ploughing?

4) Oh, when I was in love with you 

5) Bredon Hill

6) Clun

Richard Wagner (1813-1883)

Excerpts from the Wesendonck Lieder 1862

1) Der Engel

2) Stehe Still

3) Im Treibhaus

4) Schmerzen

5) Träume

If you would like to attend the concert at the British Institute Library, please register here or write an email to bif@britishinstitute.it  

Please note that, following national regulations, all attendees will be required to wear a mask throughout the event.  

Artists

MANON GLEIZES

Soprano

Hailing from Provence, French soprano Manon Gleizes is a graduate of the Lyon Conservatoire, the Guildhall School of Music and Drama (BA with Hons), Le Pôle Lyrique d’Excellence and the Sibelius Academy (MA in Opera). Known for her versatile energy, Manon has sung Helmwige in Die Walküre at the Eurajoki Festival; Madame Lidoine in Dialogues des carmélites at the ATM Studio; Angelica in Suor Angelica, Lady Billows in Albert Herring, and Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte at the Sibelius Academy; Nedda in Pagliacci, and La Baronne in La vie parisienne at the Bazoches Festival. On the concert stage, she has performed excerpts from Fidelio (Leonora) at the Bordeaux Auditorium; Norma (Norma) with the Sinfonia Lahti; Ariadne auf Naxos (Ariadne) and Die tote Stadt (Lucienne) at the Sibelius Academy; Madama Butterfly (Cio-Cio-San) and Thaïs (Thaïs) at the Suruton Festival Savonlinna; and La traviata (Violetta) in the Lyon Opera House Auditorium. Her performances with orchestras include singing with the CSO orchestra, the Lilly Orchestra, and a tour with the SASO Orchestra for a tour in Finland. She was awarded the first prize at the Les Clefs d’Or Competition in 2018. Manon receives support from various cultural institutions such as the Wagner Society in Lyon, the Drake Calleja Trust, the Selmi Eskelinin Foundation, the Sibelius Academy, the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, and the Soroptimists National France. She is currently a Studio Artist at the Mascarade Opera Studio in Florence, Italy, working closely with Head of Music Julia Lynch and vocal consultant Prof. Siegfried Gohritz. Manon can next be heard in a recital of Wagner songs at The British Institute of Florence in May 2022. She will also be singing excerpts of Tannhäuser for the 40th anniversary of the Wagner Society in Lyon. She is a finalist in this year’s Veronica Dunne International Singing Competition.

AARON GODFREY-MAYES

Tenor

British tenor Aaron Godfrey-Mayes was a member of Royal Academy Opera under the tutelage of singing teacher Mark Wildman and vocal coach Iain Ledingham. Aaron also completed his undergraduate and postgraduate at the Royal Academy of Music, achieving a first class honours degree and distinction respectively. During Aaron’s time at the Royal Academy of Music he was a member of the Royal Academy of Music/Kohn Foundation Bach Cantata Series with Iain Ledingham, Masaaki Suzuki and Philippe Herreweghe. He has also received the Kenneth Loveland Bursary and played Flute in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Aaron was awarded the Royal Academy of Music Pavarotti Prize, the Recital Prize in the David Clover Festival of Music Singers’ Platform, the Nineteenth Century Opera Prize in the National Mozart Singing Competition and first place in the Nottinghamshire Masonic Music Association Competition. Aaron has played the roles of Ferrando in Così fan tutte with the Covent Garden Chamber Orchestra, Wagner/Nereo in Mefistofele with the Chelsea Opera Group, and Borsa in Rigoletto with Nevill Holt Opera. Aaron was also an Alvarez Young Artist with Garsington Opera, where he covered the role of Triquet in Eugene Onegin and was a chorus member. He is currently a Studio Artist at the Mascarade Opera Studio in Florence, Italy, working closely with Head of Music Julia Lynch and vocal consultant Prof. Siegfried Gohritz. Aaron will next perform in the Mascarade Opera Foundation’s chamber music residency in partnership with Musica con le Ali. This summer he will be attending the Georg Solti Accademia Bel Canto Course and playing the role of Ferrando in Così fan tutte as part of the Amersham Festival of Music. He is also a finalist in this year’s Veronica Dunne International Singing Competition. From September 2022, Aaron will be enrolled at Mascarade Emerging Artists.

KRISTINA YORGOVA
Répétiteur

Pianist Kristina Yorgova graduated with a MMus from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland where she studied with Professors Petras Geniusas and Fali Pavri. She was a finalist at the 8th Stasys Vainiunas International Piano Competition in Lithuania. Kristina has performed as a soloist with the Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra, the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland’s Symphony Orchestra, and the Stara Zagora and 

Vidin orchestras in Bulgaria. She has played recitals in venues across Europe including Bulgaria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Lithuania, Norway and Russia. Kristina worked for the Vocal Studies department at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in 2020, coaching singers on both BA and MA courses; as an accompanist, she played for vocal masterclasses at the conservatoire and worked closely with Head of Coaching Julia Lynch in German Lieder classes. Kristina has worked as an orchestral pianist/celeste, freelancing with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra since March 2019. Projects have included the Ten Pieces project by Steve Reich, Stravinsky’s Firebird and Petrushka, as well as Ligeti’s Mysteries of the Macabre. Kristina is passionate about working in collaboration with singers, her most recent duo being with mezzo-soprano Svetlina Stoyanova. She is currently a Studio Artist répétiteur at the Mascarade Opera Studio in Florence, Italy, where her work is guided by Head of Music Julia Lynch and conductors Sándor Károlyi and Jonathan Santagada. She is the music director for the studio’s chamber production of William Walton’s The Bear, and she regularly appears in recitals at the Mascarade Opera Foundation and The British Institute of Florence. She will join Scottish Opera’s Emerging Artists programme this autumn.

This is an in person-only event, in collaboration with Mascarade Opera Studio  in Florence.