Viriditas
Herod and the Slaughter of the Innocents
FULL CAST BIOGRAPHIES
Matthew Badham , originally from South Wales, has been at the University of York for six years. Initially studying English for his BA he subsequently completed an MA in Musicology. He continues to specialise in studying eighteenth-century choral music, having embarked on a PhD, under the supervision of Nicky Losseff, focussing on the pastoral ode L'Allegro, Il Penseroso ed il Moderato by Handel. Before coming to university he played the Oboe in his County Youth Orchestra and was a member of the National Youth Choir of Wales. Whilst at York, Matthew has sung with the University Chamber Choir, University Choir, the Chimera Ensemble and the Yo Mamma Vocal Ensemble. In March 2007 Matthew appeared as the False Assistant in Viriditas' production of Kurt Weill's opera The Tsar Has His Photograph Taken .
Graham Bier is a 2005 graduate of Oberlin College , where he majored in environmental studies and music. During his time there, he sang in numerous ensembles, most notably, Collegium Musicum Oberliniense. Graham currently works as the Assistant to the Dean at New College of Florida. He sings as a section leader in Key Chorale and at the Church of the Redeemer, as well as being Assistant Chorus Master with the Anna Maria Island Community Chorus and Orchestra. Recent performances as a bass soloist include Handel's Messiah with the Glacier Symphony, and Stainer's Crucifixion with Trinity United Methodist Church of Bradenton.
Robin Bier holds degrees from Oberlin College and Conservatory of Music in Voice Performance and Environmental Studies. Oberlin appearances include Handel's Dixit Dominus (alto solo) with the Black River Singers, roles in Albert Herring and Orpheus in the Underworld with Oberlin Opera Theater, Mozart's Requiem (alto solo) with the Oberlin Orchestra; and two years with Collegium Musicum Oberliniense . Other appearances include Handel's Messiah (alto solo) with the Glacier Symphony, Monteverdi's Magnificat (soprano solo) with Key Chorale, and Stravinsky's Le Rossignol with the Cleveland Orchestra under Pierre Boulez. Robin lives in Sarasota and frequently performs with Key Chorale and Sarasota Camerata.
Edward Caine was born in the small town of Limpstone, Devon and brought up in the North of Scotland in the seaside town Cromarty, near Inverness. He completed his BA in music at Durham University and went on to do an MA in Composition at the University of York, where he is currently pursuing a PhD in Composition. Professionally Edward takes on many roles, acting as Assistant Administrator for the Late Music Festival in York and as Vanbrugh College Music Tutor for the university, teaching piano privately and performing jazz piano. In addition he is involved in many aspects of musical production including performance, repetiteuring, recording, sound technician, organising, conducting, singing and playing 'cello. His current large composition project is the writing of an opera for voices and electronics. Previous collaborations with director Mary E. Larew include The Tsar has his Photograph Taken by Kurt Weill, Night Songs by Sherlaw Johnson, YoMAMA choir and the busking trio Trio of Wonder .
Rosemary Carlton-Willis , a music student at the University of York, is delighted to be performing with Viriditas again, after appearing in Image of St Nicholas and Kurt Weill's The Tsar has his Photograph Taken . More recently Rosemary appeared with York University Chamnber Choir, performing Handel's Dixit Dominus at Beverley Early Music Festival and with YoMAMA premiering Three Moments on a Journey , a new work for choir and Javanese Gamelan by Jon Hughes, soon to be performed again at the ICMSN Late Music Conference in July. Other recent roles include the Chinese Woman in Purcell's The Fairy Queen , Lucy in new children's opera The Wind in the Willows by Anna Pilsworth, a recording of new arrangements of trouvere songs by Emily Crossland, and on the acting side, the White Knight in Little Acorn Theatre's critically acclaimed performance of Alice Through the Looking Glass at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2006. Musical engagements in the near future include Nyman's The Abbess of Andoulliets with the Chimera Ensemble, Durufle's Requiem and Martin's Messe with York University Chamber Choir, Elgar's Dream of Gerontius with York University Choir, and Kodaly's Matra Pictures and Faure's
Requiem with Southampton based choir the Conchord Singers, a choir dedicated to raising money for peace and humanitarian aid focussed charities. Rosemary studies singing with Helen Daffern and has recently studied ensemble singing with John Potter.
Joanne Chong hails from the tiny island-state of Singapore, and is currently a first-year student of English Literature and Linguistics at the University of York. As an avid singer, Joanne has had several years of vocal training with Trinity Music College, and has been singing in choirs since the age of twelve. This has exposed Joanne to a wide array of performance styles and cultures, having competed in countries such as the Czech Republic, Wales, and Australia. Joanne has had no prior experience with medieval music dramas, but is excited to be part of this new musical adventure.
Stef Conner is a composer, singer and jazz pianist. She did her undergraduate degree in music at the University of York where she studied composition with Dr John Stringer and William Brooks and singing with Anna Maria Friman and Louise Gibbs. She performed with the University of York Chamber Choir, Arktouros Ensemble, Chimera Ensemble and University Chamber Orchestra. After graduating in 2005 she began working towards a Master's degree in Jazz Studies with Dr Jonathan Eato and John Taylor.
Helena Daffern is currently studying towards a PhD at the University of York. She studies with Pamela Cook in Nottinghamshire and sings with the Yorkshire Bach choir, Ebor singers and Corona Coloniensis. Helena also sings with the St James Players performing chamber music in London venues, recently including the V&A recital series. Since living in York Helena has performed solos in Handel's Israel in Eygpt , Haydn's Seasons , Schubert's Stänchen , Bach's Magnificat , Christmas Oratorio , St John Passion, Matthew Passion and the solo cantata 170 (Vergnügte Ruh), as well as realising several roles including Dido in Purcell's Dido and Aeneas . Helena's solo performances also include Mozart's Requiem and a UK premier of CPE Bach's Die Letzten Lieden Erlösers with Northern Sinfonia and performances with Yorkshire Baroque Soloists such as Purcell's Fairy Queen in the Festival Mitte Europe. As well as appearing with vocal ensembles in the York Early Music Festival, she recently sang Galatea in Handel's Acis and Galatea in the Beverly Early Music Festival.
Walker Evans studied composition and creative writing at the Oberlin College and Conservatory in the United States. He has played and sung with Randy Coleslaw, Florrid Porpise, 8 Seconds of Simulation, by himself, and with his brother and daddy. He does not know very much about early music but apparently is performing it anyway.
Francesca Geach was born in 1987 and raised in Surrey. She has now almost at the end of her first year at the University of York and has been singing for many years, apparently before she could speak. When she was twelve Francesca joined the Surrey Youth Choir and a few years later the National Youth Choir of Great Britain. As well as singing in University ensembles and NYCGB Francesca has sung in Eton Choral Courses, Guidlford Chorale and the Micklegate Singers. Francesca has only just began to go down the opera path this year and roles have included Susanna Le Nozzi di Figaro, Young Tree Paul Bunyan and Angéle The Zar has his Photograph taken . This summer she will be singing Constanze in Poulonc's Les Carmelites.
Catherine Jackson began singing at an early age firstly at Camberwell Choir School and later as a chorister in the choir of St. Martin-in-the-fields, London. She studied for a BA in Music at the University of York and is currently completing an MA in Vocal studies also at York University. Whilst in York she has sung with The Ebor Singers both as a choral singer and soloist. Recent solos include Handel's Dixit Dominus with members of the University of York Chamber Choir at Beverley Early Music Festival and various solos in Monteverdi's 1610 Vespers with The Ebor Singers. Catherine hopes to continue singing in London where she often performs with the professional choir at Chelsea Old Church. Catherine's vocal coaching began in 1997 with Kathryn Jenkins in London, with Anna Maria Friman in York and she is currently coached by Lynne Dawson.
Having begun singing in Sandringham Church Choir in her native Norfolk at the age of nine, Helen Lake is now studying for an MA in Performance Practice with Peter and Yvonne Seymour at York University. Whilst there, she has sung in a number of ensembles, including the Chamber Choir, taking solo roles in Purcell's The Fairy Queen and Handel's Dixit Dominus . As a Music undergraduate at UEA, Norwich, she held a Choral Scholarship at the Church of Saint Peter Mancroft and was awarded the Aldeburgh Festival Singers and Imogen Holst Scholarships. Helen hopes to move on to a career as a professional singer.
David Larew is currently a student at the University of Northern Iowa located in Cedar Falls, Iowa, right in the heartland of America . While Herod and the Slaughter of the Innocents is both the first medieval musical drama he has been involved in, and the first time he has been under the direction of his sister Mary E. Larew, he was a member of his high school's productions of The Music Man, Godspell , and You're a Good Man Charlie Brown , and also starred as Jack Chesney in the production of Brandon Thomas's farce Charlie's Aunt .
Mary E. Larew is a native of Iowa City, Iowa USA, where she grew up studying violin and piano at the Preucil School of Music. A 2005 Marshall Scholar, Mary is currently pursuing PhD in Directing Medieval Music Dramas at the University of York, UK, under the supervision of John Potter. Before coming to York to complete an MA in Ensemble Singing with her vocal quintet Uncloistered, Mary graduated with a Bachelor of Music in Music Composition from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music. Mary has directed productions of Fleury Playbook Image of Saint Nicholas , Kurt Weill's The Tsar Has His Photograph Taken, 13 th -century Ludus Danielis and 12 th -century Hildegard von Bingen's Ordo Virtutum , with performances in York, Oberlin, Cleveland, and Boston. She has also performed with the Renaissance wind band Ciaramella, and can be found on the Naxos CD Sacred and Secular Music of Renaissance Germany .
Hailing originally from Albuquerque, New Mexico, Christopher Macklin came to the United Kingdom in 2004 to study medieval and renaissance music with Dr. John Potter under the auspices of a George C. Marshall Scholarship. Since that time he has sung 'Spem in Alium' with the Tallis Scholars at the 2005 Brighton Early Music Festival, early French polyphony with Red Byrd and Yorvox at the 2005 Leeds International Medieval Symposium, and a mixture of early and modern music with the quintet Uncloistered at the 2006 Buxton Fringe Festival, for which the ensemble was named Outstanding Musical Act. He also performed the role of Paul Bunyan in the University of York performances of Benjamin Britten's opera Paul Bunyan , the Tsar in the first provincial British performances of Kurt Weill's The Tsar Has His Photograph Taken , the roles of King Belshazzar and Lion in the medieval music drama Ludus Danielis which toured Ohio and Massachusetts in February 2005, and the Devil in a 2004 American production of Hildegard von Bingen's Ordo Virtutum .
Christopher O'Gorman is currently completing his second year of a part-time MA in Vocal studies at the University of York with John Potter. It was also at York that he completed his undergraduate degree in 2005 gaining a BA (Hons) in Music. As an undergraduate he began singing again, as a tenor, having not sung since his treble voice broke while he was growing up in South Africa. Since then he has been part of many major vocal ensembles within the City of York including the University of York Chamber Choir, the Yorkshire Bach Choir and The Ebor Singers with whom he has made several recordings (including two premier recordings: Roger Marsh's Pierrot Lunare with the Hillard Ensemble and Kerry Andrew's Dusk Songs ) and broadcast on BBC Radio 4. Christopher sings regularly in a variety of settings, including music theatre, medieval drama and contemporary music; most notably the world premier of Nicola LeFanu's opera Light Passing which was commissioned and broadcast by BBC Radio 3. He also featured recently in a performance of the medieval drama St Nicholas which was performed in York Minster earlier this year. For the last two years he has sung as a Choral Scholar at York Minster where he will continue after finishing his studies.
Michelle O'Rourke was born in Dublin in 1983. In 2005 she graduated from Trinity College Dublin with a B.A. (hons.) in Music with French. During her time at Trinity she sang with the University of Dublin Choral society, Gaudete and New Dublin Voices. She also held a choral scholarship in Trinity College Chapel Choir and conducted the university's chamber choir. Michelle studied singing at the Royal Irish Academy of Music with Philip O'Reilly and she is currently completing an M.A. in Music Performance at the University of York. She will begin doctoral research at the University of York in October 2007.
J Mark Pim has been involved in music for most of his life and singing has always been a great passion. Currently studying for an MA in Vocal studies at the University of York, Mark has moved about as far away from his undergraduate degree in Computer Science as it is possible to get. Musical theatre is one of his keenest interests and he has recently compiled and conducted an evening of reduced versions of five west end shows.
A native of Miami, Florida, Alisun Russel is currently working towards a PhD in Music at University of York, researching 'singalongability' in popular song. She gained a MA in Vocal Studies from York in 2005, specialising in Spanish and Latin American vocal repertoire, and has a BMus from the University of Newcastle. She performs regularly as a soloist and in various ensembles, including The Ebor Singers, whose recent engagements include BBC Radio 4's 'Sunday Service' and a NMC recording of Roger Marsh's Pierrot Lunaire. Past engagements include singing on a recording with the Northern Sinfonia Chorus and performances with Yorvox and The Last Century Ensemble. Her recent operatic roles have included Belinda in Purcell's Dido and Aeneas (2006) and False Angele in Kurt Weill's The Tsar Has His Photograph Taken (2007).
Caitlin Smith recently graduated from Oberlin College in Ohio, USA, where she studied musicology and cognitive science. She belongs to the premier American academic honour society, Phi Beta Kappa, as well as the national music honour society Pi Kappa Lambda. In addition, she has performed in and worked behind the scenes on a number of operas and medieval music dramas, including productions of Ordo Virtutum and Ludus Danielis directed by Larew. Smith's academic interests include early music theory and performance practice, musical semiotics, and current trends in opera. After Herod , she plans to make her home in Germany.
Sam Sytsma , originally from Maine (USA), studied classical singing as well as piano and harpsichord while at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, graduating in 2004. In the subsequent year he studied harpsichord and early music singing at The Royal Conservatoire, The Hague. His most recent studies were in ensemble singing, together with the quintet Uncloistered, tutored by John Potter at the University of York . As a solo singer he appeared as the title role in the medieval music drama Ludus Danielis in 2005. Sam also has a passion for gardening, cooking, and playing the accordion.
Phillipa Thomas is currently studying for an MA in vocal studies at York University after graduating in the summer with a BA hons in music. She studies with Pamela Cook in Nottinghamshire and has taken part in song workshops with Emma Kirkby, Dame Janet Baker, Stephen Varcoe and Thomas Thomaschke. Phillipa is a member of the 'Yorkshire Bach choir', under the directorship of Dr Peter Seymour, and for three years she sang with the 'University Chamber choir' with whom she travelled to Germany. In 2006 Phillipa formed a female vocal ensemble, 'Trioanon.', which has performed at the University of York and York Minster, with future engagements including the Filey Festival and University of York graduation ceremonies. During her second year, Phillipa was in the chorus for the premiere of Nicola LeFanu's opera 'Light Passing', broadcast on BBC Radio 3 and the following year she was the chorus trainer for the music department's production of Elizabeth Machonchy's opera 'The Three Strangers'. Her undergraduate dissertation, for which she was awarded a first, was to direct, stage and produce Purcell's 'Dido and Aeneas', in which she also performed the role of the sorceress. Phillipa has recorded with the award winning 'Cantamus Girl's choir', 'Yorkshire Bach choir' and most recently as part of the vocal ensemble 'Red Byrd', with soprano Anna Friman of 'Trio Mediaeval', tenor John Potter of 'The Hilliard Ensemble', and bass Richard Wistreich. The CD 'Pierrot Lunaire', composed by Roger Marsh, was released on the NMC label in April 2007. Recent solo engagements include Handel's Messiah, Mozart's Requiem, Vivaldi's Gloria and most recently Haydn's Requiem and Mozart's Vespers for the Bridlington Choral Society.
Amy Worsfold is in her second year at York University as an undergraduate, and hopes to make her name as an operatic soprano soloist in the future. She has sung
such roles as Tiny in Paul Bunyan (Britten) with the department and Susanna in The Marriage of Figaro (Mozart) with Surrey Opera, and is taking time out from all this singing to indulge her passion in costumery with this production.
Mikela Xerri started learning singing from the age of nine. Since then she has been a member of her county and chamber choirs. She has continued her studies in singing by completing a Batchelor's in music at the University of East Anglia; where she gave performances as a soloist in the Norwich Assembly House and as part of the University Choir. Since completing her BAMus she has gone on to do a Masters in Performance Practice at The University of York, which she will be finishing in September of this year. In the future Mikela has plans to pursue a career as a soprano.