In the dark hours of winter curfew in France we dreamed of the house being filled with music. We contacted groups who had visited us before and there was a lot of interest, but in the end governments were slow to lift quarantine and no one could visit during the summer except the Alkyona Quartet. They had visited us before but had changes of players and wanted to have an intensive time of working together in readiness for their autumn programme.
“Saturday evening’s pocket opera was excellent. It was a great pleasure to enjoy a perfect evening in the beautiful setting of Brel.”
Music at Brel’s first pocket opera
Though more familiar with the grandeur of the Coliseum and the Royal Opera House than pocket opera, Peter and I had enjoyed an excellent pocket version of Don Pasquale in a tiny theatre above a London pub with soprano Lauren Libaw, who had stayed at Brel with the Academy of French Song and Opera, singing Norina. So when Graeme Danby, on hearing about our concert barn at Brel, asked us why we didn’t consider a pocket opera - a seed was planted. In the end we said - why not? Graeme, not just a fine character bass, but also a great organiser, brought together a group of singers who arrived at Brel, rehearsed solidly for three days and then performed three nights running - a recital of songs and two performances of Handel’s Semele to the delight of music lovers in the area.
Camilla Jeppeson, Fae Evelyn Asher (sopranos), Valerie Reid (mezzo-soprano), John Porter (tenor), Tom Asher (baritone), Graeme Danby (bass), Stephanie Gurga (piano and musical director)
Cast
Semele - Camilla Jeppeson
Iris - Fae Evelyn Asher
Ino, Juno - Valerie Reid
Jupiter - John Porter
Cadmus - Tom Asher
Somnus - Graeme Danby
Stephanie Gurga
Stephanie Gurga, a versatile musician, performs on piano, harpsichord, and organ, and also conducts. She studied piano at DePauw University in Indiana (USA) with Claude Cymerman, than at the Ecole Normal de Musique Alfred Cortot in Paris, finally specialising in early music at the Musikhochschule in Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany. In 2010 Stephanie was engaged as an accompanist at the HEMU Vaud-Valais-Friborg in Lausanne and Sion (Switzerland). In 2012 she was appointed Assistant Musical Director at the Woodhouse Opera (Surrey, UK) annually coaching and leading performance of a number of baroque operas.
Tom Asher
Yorkshire baritone Tom Asher is an alumnus of ENO’s Opera Works, a graduate of the University of Durham and the Royal Northern College of Music. Tom performed with Opera Holland Park as a Young Artist. On the concert platform Tom performs Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Verdi Requiem and Bach’s St. Matthew Passion in Bury St. Edmunds Cathedral,and Orff’s Carmina Burana with the Liverpool Philharmonic Choir and Orchestra. Tom is looking forward to future performances of works by Bach, Maunder and Handel.
Valerie Reid
Valerie was born in Fife, Scotland and studied at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama.Whilst there she was twice a finalist in the Kathleen Ferrier and Royal Overseas League competitions. Valerie sang various operatic roles with English National Opera and completed a very successful tour as Lady Jane in the ETO production of the Gilbert and Sullivan masterpiece Patience and looks forward to the St John Passion, Vivaldi Gloria and St Matthew Passion in various venues across the UK. She is a highly respected vocal tutor both privately and at the London College of Music.
Graeme Danby
Graeme was born in Consett, County Durham in 1962 and studied at the Royal Academy of Music in London. He has sung over 1200 performances as a principal at the London Coliseum, home of English National Opera.
John Porter
Hailing from Donegal, Ireland, John is a graduate of Royal Academy Opera and the University of Ulster. He currently studies under the tutelage of Rosa Mannion and has been a Young Artist for Garsington Opera and Northern Ireland Opera. This year John became part of Northern Ireland Opera’s Northern Songs project On the concert platform, John has performed works including personal favourites Bach’s St John Passion; Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 and Rossini’s Petite Messe Solennelle. Lewis Jean Shanks Trust, The Nicholas Berwin Charitable Trust, Help Musicians UK, and The International Opera Awards Foundation.
Fae Evelyn
South African soprano Fae studied at the University of Kwa-Zulu Natal, before moving to the UK to continue her training at the Royal Northern College of Music. Fae is a busy concert and oratorio soloist, singing with many choral societies around the UK and with the Friends of Music and Music Revival concert series’ in South Africa. Operatic favourites usually involve performing fierce and fun characters such as Josephine in HMS Pinafore (Rocket Opera), and the Queen of The Night in The Magic Flute (Opera South East). She also has the pleasure of spending summers performing with either Grange Park Opera Ensemble or the Opera Holland Park Chorus.
Camilla Jeppeson
Camilla initially studied as a pianist before training as a singer. After completing the Associated Studios Opera Course in London, she began studies with renowned bass Graeme Danby. Most recently, she made her role debut as Musetta in La Bohème and her house debuts at Teatro Alighieri, Ravenna and Teatro del Giglio in Puccini's home town, Lucca. Camilla has performed all across the UK including at the Royal Albert Hall, Royal Festival Hall, and St. Paul’s Cathedral. Works performed include Faure’s Requiem, Mozart’s Requiem and the Mass in C minor, and Mendelssohn’s Elijah. Camilla also performs throughout the UK with her voice & harp duo Voce47. Upcoming engagements include Musetta in La Bohème, Bach’s St. John Passion and the title role in Lucia di Lammermoor.
“Everybody was buzzing after the performance on Friday, smiling and appreciative of the quality of singing and outstanding piano accompaniment, plus the jovial acting, all very impressed with the whole performance.”
Travelling Songs at Brel
Camilla Jeppeson, Fae Evelyn Asher (sopranos), Valerie Reid (mezzo-soprano), John Porter (tenor), Tom Asher (baritone), Graeme Danby (bass), Stephanie Gurga (piano)
Concert at Brel (Thursday 14 October 2021)
Ralph Vaughan Williams - Songs of Travel - Tom Asher (baritone)
The Vagabond
Let Beauty Awake
The Roadside Fire
Youth and Love
In Dreams
The infinite shining heavens
Whither must I wander
Bright is the ring of words
I have trod the upward and the downward slope
South African Folk Songs - Fae Evelyn Asher (Soprano)
Blaas op die pampoenstingel
Klein Piedeplooi
Die berggans het ‘n veer laat val
Waarom is die duiwel
Aandblom is ‘n witblom
Doer bo teen die rant
Enrique Granados - Tonadillas - Valerie Reid (Mezzo - soprano)
El tra la la y el punteado
Amor y odio
El majo timido
El majo discreto
Traditional Irish Song - John Porter (Tenor)
Star of County Down (text Cathal MacGarvey)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Camilla Jeppeson (Soprano)
Concert Aria - Vado, ma dove
Flanders and Swann/ Tom Lehrer - Graeme Danby (bass)
The Gnu
The Sloth
The Wienerschnitzel Waltz
When you are old and grey
The Hippopotamus
“Thank you so much for the fabulous concert on Saturday night. Congratulations to you, all your helpers and Graeme and his team. We are incredibly lucky to live here and have such wonderful music available.”
Alkyona Quartet
Emma Purslow, Marike Kruup (violins), Joseph Fisher (viola), Jobine Siekman (violoncello)
The Alkyona Quartet present fresh imaginative interpretations of both well-known and hidden gems of the string quartet repertoire. They are well known for their warm connection to audiences and vivacious performances. They are Tunnell Trust Award Holders 2020/21 and Making Music Selected Artists 2020-2021, and have performed in many leading UK venues. They were New Generation Artists at the Stift International Music Festival 2019 and residents at Music at Brel the same year. The Alkyonas also featured at the Lake District Summer Music Festival 2020, and performed the closing concert for the Huygens Festival 2020 which was broadcast live on Dutch TV channel Midvliet. They look forward to continuing their residencies at Leighton House Museum, Repton School, and Ipswich School, as well as tours of Scotland and the Netherlands, and performing with Anglo-American band Quimantu in 2021. The Alkyona Quartet released their debut album, ‘Intimate Letters’ in June 2020 in collaboration with Cegin Productions, which is available on all major streaming platforms.
Concert at Brel (Saturday 14 August 2021)
Joseph Haydn (1732 - 1809) - String Quartet in C Major, Op 54 No 2
Vivace - Adagio - Menuetto: allegretto - Adagio - Presto - Adagio
Nicolai Kapustin (1937 - 2020) - String Quartet No 1, Op 88
Allegro - Larghetto - Allegretto - Fuga
INTERVAL
Franz Schubert (1797 - 1828) - String Quartet No 13 in A Minor (“Rosamunde”)
Allegro ma non troppo - Andante - Menuetto : Allegretto - Trio - Allegro moderato
“Thank you so much for a wonderful evening of music on Saturday. It was a very special and rare treat.”