The Royal Opera House welcomes the return of Meet the Young Artists Week – a week dedicated to the rising stars of the opera world as they join the Jette Parker Young Artist programme (JPYA).
Running from 26 – 31 October this annual event provides audiences with the opportunity to get to know the new intake of Young Artists and check back in with returning artists. With a line-up of live and streamed concerts alongside pre-recorded monodramas, the week will showcase the incredible talent of the company of 2020.
The Jette Parker Young Artists programme is a two-year apprenticeship that draws globally on the talented young singers, directors, conductors and pianists just entering the profession, providing them with a wealth of opportunities across the Royal Opera House and beyond. Despite the challenges of the global pandemic, coaching and support has continued, and this summer saw the Young Artists take to the stage in front of a global audience as part of a series of live concerts broadcast during lockdown.
On Wednesday 28 October, for the first time in over seven months, the beautiful Linbury Theatre will welcome back live audiences as second year tenor Andrés Presno, and new artists Alexandra Lowe (soprano), Blaise Malaba (bass) and Kseniia Nikolaieva (mezzo-soprano) join forces for a live performance including highlights from previously cancelled solo recitals. Repertory ranges from Brahms and Debussy to Rachmaninov and Tchaikovsky. Tickets for the Live Recitals go on sale on Friday 23 October at 2pm.
Jette Parker Young Artist, Blaise Malaba said:
“During this strange time, I've been offered an opportunity to take part in one of the online streamed concerts from the ROH alongside with my fellow JPYA colleagues. Such a great experience for me as it was my first time to sing on that world-class stage. Just like many other artists, I can't wait to get back to the normality and to share the joy with our audience. I joined the JPYA programme in September and I'm grateful to be able to have coaching and perform during this hard time.”
Digital audiences from around the world will be treated to a packed week of online content. Kicking off the week on Monday 26 October all the singers will perform in Jukebox 1, where they will sing snippets of three of their favourite songs and arias for our online audience to choose from. Expect everything from folk songs to Puccini. Viewers are encouraged to vote through the comments sections of Facebook and YouTube to decide which piece each singer will get to perform at Jukebox 2 on Friday 30 October, where the artists will perform live the concert that our online audience has curated. Each singer performs the full song that received the most votes of the excerpts they performed in Jukebox 1 - interspersed with interviews, this is the ideal opportunity to get to know the personalities behind the voices.
Complementing the Main Stage short operas, on Sunday 25 October, to mark World Opera Day, JPYA present Solo Stories. The JPYA programme’s LockDown/SkillUp initiative enabled 30 emerging stage directors to get to grips with opera under the leadership of director Katie Mitchell. Three of these directors have joined forces with singers to create a series of musical journeys captured on location at the Royal Opera House.
Travel with three female protagonists across three centuries of music from Haydn, through Poulenc to Jake Heggie in dramas written specifically for solo voice and piano, brought to life by the next generation of opera makers. Exciting British mezzo-soprano Stephanie Wake-Edwards plays a modern-day Ariadne in this solo adaptation of Arianna a Naxos by Joseph Haydn, directed by Mathilda du Tillieul McNicol. Soprano Alexandra Lowe makes her Royal Opera filmed debut in Poulenc’s quirky portrait of addiction and loss, directed by Franciska Ery. And finally, Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha plays Rose in this solo adaptation of Jake Heggie’s At the Statue of Venus, directed by Eva Sampson.
Jette Parker Young Artist, Alexandra Lowe said:
“Being on the Jette Parker programme since September has been such a life changing moment for me and a non-stop rollercoaster! In a month and a half, I have already made my main stage debut as Dafne in Handel’s Apollo e Dafne, I’ve recorded ‘La dame de Monte Carlo’ by Poulenc which will be released on World Opera Day and have so many exciting things to sing during Meet the Young Artists Week. The support from the JPYA team has been so kind and reassuring during what has been a very intense start to my time here, they are always keen to make sure we are getting everything we need to show ourselves at our best. I’m just feeling so incredibly lucky to be here in one of the world's best opera houses, working and developing my career, especially during this crazy period of COVID.”
The week ends on Saturday 31 October with a celebratory concert of ensembles to round off this special week. Available for free on YouTube and Facebook, this rich programme of operatic duets, trios and quartets will feature works by Italian masters Donizetti, Verdi, Puccini and Rossini together with some French, German and Russian repertory for good measure.
JETTE PARKER YOUNG ARTISTS 2020/21
Four new singers joined the programme this season. Selected from more than 430 applicants from more than 25 countries across the globe, the four talented young artists are British soprano Alexandra Lowe, Ukrainian mezzo-soprano Kseniia Nikolaieva, Russian tenor Egor Zhuravskii, and Congolese bass Blaise Malaba. They are joined by British-Cypriot conductor and repetiteur Michael Papadopoulos, American pianist Michael Sikich, and conductor Edo Frenkel.
The new Young Artists join the four singers who continue the Programme into their second year: South African soprano Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha, British mezzo-soprano Stephanie Wake-Edwards, Tongan/New Zealand tenor Filipe Manu and Uruguayan tenor Andrés Presno.
These artists follow in the footsteps of 116 JPYA alumni who have successfully completed the Programme since its inception in 2000. Following their graduation, 86% of JPYA singers have gone on to enjoy successful international careers, appearing on stages across the globe.
BIOGRAPHIES
Alexandra Lowe
British soprano Alexandra Lowe joins the programme from the National Opera Studio, and previously completed her Artist Diploma with distinction on the opera course at Guildhall School of Music & Drama. She graduated from the Royal Northern College of Music with first-class honours. Most recently, Alexandra took to the stage as Dafne in Handel’s Apollo and Dafne - part of the ROH 4/4 production. Alexandra took second prize in last year’s prestigious Glyndebourne Opera Cup competition.
Blaise Malaba
DR Congolese bass Blaise Malaba was a Jette Parker Link Artist for The Royal Opera and sang Second Elder (Susanna) just prior to the House closing in March. In June 2020 he also sang in Live from Covent Garden. Blaise has sung with the Welsh National Opera Orchestra and performed oratorio and concert repertory including Verdi’s Requiem and Puccini’s Messa di Gloria. He is the recipient of an Opera Award Foundation Bursary and the Independent Opera Fellowship (both 2018). Blaise was named a Rising Star in BBC Music Magazine’s October 2020 edition.
Edo Frenkel
Edo Frenkel is a young conductor, composer, and pianist, quickly gaining attention for his "performances of both intimacy and intensity” (Opera Magazine). He has guest conducted LUDWIG, Baltimore Symphony Musicians, Ensemble Meitar, Ensemble Mise-en and appeared in performances with Tonkunstler Orchester-Niederosterreich, Ensemble Intercontemporain, Charleston Symphony, members of New World Symphony, and Ensemble Moderne Akademie. He has performed in Aldeburgh and Lucerne Festivals and was a featured Festival Artist at the 2019 Ojai Festival. In July 2021 Edo will participate as an assistant conductor at the Verbier Festival. Due to the current pandemic Edo’s start with the Royal Ballet has been postponed to autumn 2021.
Egor Zhuravskii
Egor Zhuravskii was born in Astrakhan, Russia and in 2018 he earned his Master of Music from the Astrakhan State Conservatory. His mainstage roles include Lensky in Eugene Onegin, Alfredo La Traviata, Roderigo Otello Spoletta Tosca and has covered Gastone in La Traviata He was a laureate in the 38th International Hans Gabor Belvedere Singing Competition, the 46th All-Russian Review-competition of vocalists and The Third International Maria Maksakova Competition. Egor remains in Astrakhan this autumn and hopes to start the programme in the new year.
Kseniia Nikolaieva
Ukrainian mezzo-soprano Kseniia Nikolaieva was born in Almaty, Kazakhstan, and studied at the Tchaikovsky National Music Academy of Ukraine in Kiev, obtaining her doctoral degree in 2018. Her operatic roles include Third Lady (Die Zauberflote), Khivrya (Sorochintsi Fair), Marta (Iolanta), Olga (Eugene Onegin), Maddalena (Rigoletto) and Lyubasha (The Tsar’s Bride). She continued her studies during 2019–20 at London’s National Opera Studio. Kseniia is a holder of the National Scholarship of the President of Ukraine.
Michael Papadopoulos
British-Cypriot conductor and repetiteur Michael Papadopoulos trained at the National Opera Studio and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, having previously read Music at Trinity College Oxford. Since September 2019 he has been the Emerging Artist Repetiteur at Scottish Opera, where he was repetiteur for Tosca and Il segreto di Susanna, as well as being Assistant Conductor on Iris and Music Director for the Spring ‘Opera Highlights’ tour. Elsewhere he has worked as a repetiteur at Opera Holland Park (La traviata, Isabeau, Il segreto di Susanna), where he was Young Artist Repetiteur for the 2018 season, and British Youth Opera (Don Giovanni), as well as working on Julian Phillips’ The Tale of Januarie at Guildhall.
Michael Sikich
American pianist Michael Sikich received a postgraduate degree with distinction at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, where he was winner of the piano accompaniment prize. Michael has been invited to play for the Académie du Festival d’Aix-en-Provence as well as the Solti Accademia Répétiteur course in Venice. He recently worked on Strauss’ Arabella at Oper Leipzig and at the Berlin Opera Academy. An experienced song recitalist, Michael has performed at Carnegie Hall, the Barbican Hall, Wigmore Hall, Cadogan Hall, and on several broadcasts for BBC Radio 3. He made his BBC Proms debut in 2018 in a recital of American music celebrating the centennial of Leonard Bernstein with mezzo-soprano Wallis Giunta.
Meet the Young Artists Week – 26-31 October
Monday 26 Oct. 7:30pm GMT: Jukebox I: Livestreamed for free on YouTube and Facebook.
Weds 28 Oct:
1pm Live Recital 1 - The Linbury, £10 - on sale 2pm 23 October 4pm Live Recital 2 - The Linbury, £10 - on sale 2pm 23 October
Friday 30 Oct. 7:30pm GMT: Jukebox II: Livestreamed via stream.roh.org.uk, £10
Saturday 31 Oct. 7:30pm GMT: Ensembles Concert: broadcast for free on YouTube and Facebook
Solo Stories: will be released on Sunday 25 Oct – World Opera Day
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