The Cast for the 2022 production of Mozart’s Magic Flute
Pamina - Naho Koizumi
Japanese soprano, Naho Koizumi has recently completed her postgraduate studies at The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland under the tutelage of Scott Johnson. Naho has previously studied with Sinéad Campbell-Wallace and Stephen Wallace in the TU Dublin Conservatory of Music and Drama, where she graduated with a first-class honours and was awarded both the highest vocal performance mark and dissertation mark in her year. She has received numerous medals in the TU Dublin’s internal competitions and has received commendations in other competitions such as the Feis Ceoil. She was the semi-finalist of the Somerset Song Prize 2022 and was awarded second place in the Recital Class at the David Clover Festival of Singing2022. She also has received Roger Higgins Prize at theHurn Court Opera Competition 2021.
Naho has performed with Opera Holland Park, Irish National Opera, Seiji Ozawa Academy and Blackwater Valley Opera Festival. Her recognition by the BVOF has resulted in becoming the first recipient of the BVOF Bursary. Previously sung roles include Susanna (Le nozze di Figaro), Despina (Così fan tutte), Zerlina (Don Giovanni), Gretel (Hansel and Gretel), Adina (L’elisir d’amore), Maguelonne (Cendrillon by Viardot) and Clorinda (Il Combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda by Monteverdi). Also well versed in oratorio, Naho has been the soprano soloist in Handel’s Messiah, Rossini’s Petite messe solennelle and Haydn’s Nelson Mass. Naho’s next major engagement will be with The Vache Baroque Festival where she will appear as Daphné in Charpentier’s La descente d’Orphée aux enfers, followed by the role of Pamina with Kent Chamber Opera.
Tamino - Sam Leggett
Sam Leggett is an English tenor based in Glasgow. He began singing in 2002 with the renowned boys’ choir Libera, in albums, on television and on worldwide tours. He read music at Bristol University, where he studied singing with Angela Hickey (Chair of the Association of Teachers of Singing) and conducted the chamber choir.
Sam’s operatic roles include Albert Albert Herring, Nemorino L’Elisir d’amore, Idomeneo Idomeneo, Alfred Die Fledermaus, Lysander A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Don Curzio Le Nozze di Figaro (RCS Opera Scenes); Count Almaviva The Barber of Seville (Tessitoura); Le Remendado Carmen (Bristol Opera); Ferrando Cosi Fan Tutte (LoveOpera); Adolfo Pirelli Sweeney Todd and Lord Tolloller Iolanthe (Bristol University Operatic Society). He has appeared as a soloist with Shoreham Oratorio Choir, Saint Richard Singers, Stroud Choral Society, Bath Abbey Choir, and the University of the West of England Chamber Choir.
A professional choral singer, Sam has held back-row roles at Bristol Cathedral, Bath Abbey, and Chichester Cathedral, highlights of which include singing on tours to Germany, Poland and the Netherlands, BBC Live Choral Evensong, on the album Lest we Forget with Signum Records, and Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms with Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra and Marin Alsop. He is also a graduate of Genesis Sixteen, St Martin’s Voices Fellowship, and the Dunedin Consort’s Bridging the Gap scheme.
Sam recently completed his master’s degree in Vocal Performance with Scott Johnson at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. He can be seen performing regularly around Scotland, with forthcoming appearances at the Merchants House, the Trades Hall, Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, and Usher Hall. He is hugely excited to sing the role of Tamino which is his professional debut as an opera singer.
Queen of the Night
Welsh Soprano Eleri Gwilym graduated from Cardiff Law School before training at the Royal Academy of Music. Eleri has sung in the chorus of Trouble in Tahiti (Bloomsbury Opera), Hedd Wyn (WNO), Der Freuschütz under the baton of Sir Mark Elder (OAE), May Night (RAO), The Threepenny Opera (RAO), Dido and Aeneas (Royal Academy Early Music) and in the world premiere of Wythnos yng Nghymru fydd (OpraCymru) as well as singing the roles of Pamina in Die Zauberflöte, Cherubino in The Marriage of Figaro (Opera Cocktail), First Witch in MacBeth, Donna Anna in Don Giovanni (OpraCymru) and Prima Cercatrice in Suor Angelica (Berlin Opera Academy). Eleri has sung in the chorus at Buxton International Festival (Eugene Onegin) where she also covered the role of Papira in Lucio Papirio Dittatore and more recently in the Chorus of Opera Holland Park (La Traviata and Carmen).
Sarastro - Christopher Foster
Biog Coming Soon
Papageno - Matthew Kellett
London born baritone, Matthew Kellett, is a graduate of The Royal Northern College of Music and Trinity College of Music, where he was awarded the TCM Trust’s Silver Medal for vocal studies. Matthew is a regular performer with opera companies throughout the UK, most often seen with Charles Court Opera where he has taken many roles, including: Papageno (The Magic Flute), Basilio (The Barber of Seville), Robin Oakapple (Ruddigore), Pooh Bah (The Mikado) and Dick Deadeye (HMS Pinafore). Recently, Matthew appeared in The King’s Head Theatre’s Offie Award nominated production of La Boheme as Marcello and completed a UK tour with The National Gilbert and Sullivan Opera Company, where he took the roles of Dick Deadeye (HMS Pinafore) and Pish Tush (The Mikado). Later this year, Matthew will be returning to the Iford Arts Festival to perform in The Man in the Moon and will tour with The National Gilbert and Sullivan Opera Company as The Lord Chancellor in Iolanthe. Matthew is also an experienced concert soloist with past performances including: Haydn The Creation and The Seasons, Bach B Minor Mass, Christmas Oratorio, St Matthew and St John Passions, Handel Messiah and the Requiems of Mozart, Fauré, Brahms and Verdi.
First Lady - Christine Cunnold
Christine Cunnold is a passionate lyric soprano noted for her opera and song recitals, who trained with English National Opera on their acclaimed Opera Works programme. Christine has sung with the Royal Opera House, English National Opera, Aix en Provence Festival, and Birmingham Opera Company. Creating characters that reflect our modern life is important aspect for Christine and can be seen in her work in new opera. She also enjoys performing on the concert platform. Recent solo performances include: Rossini’s Stabat Mater, Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Mozart’s Mass in C and a number of Opera Galas. Art songs mean something to everybody, and Christine creates stories and atmosphere, that offer a beautiful moment of escapism. On the recital platform Christine has performed venues including Close-Up Series at Liverpool Philharmonic Hall, Mill Hill Music Society, Proms at St Jude’s, and the Late Shift at the National Portrait Gallery with ENO. Born in London, Christine first studied Geography at Kings College before turning to her music career.
Second Lady - Myrna Tennant
Originally from the Netherlands, Myrna is now based in London and is currently on the Artist Masters programme at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama under the tutelage of Yvonne Kenny. Myrna completed her undergraduate studies at the RCS under the tutelage of Helen Lawson, graduating with a Bachelor with Honours of the First Class, after which she spent two years working as a freelance performer and studying on a part-time basis with Wilma MacDougall. Myrna regularly performs as a solo recitalist and has been the soprano soloist in various oratorios including Haydn's Missa Sancti Nicolai, Mozart's Requiem, and Handel's Messiah. She has also been a soloist in works including Britten's Rejoice in the Lamb and Vaughan Williams' Serenade to Music. Opera highlights include Fiordiligi (Così fan tutte), the title role in Massenet's Cendrillon, Galatea (Acis and Galatea), and Sandman (Hansel and Gretel). As an ensemble singer, Myrna has performed in the Grange Park Opera chorus (2021 and 2022 festivals), She is a member of Scottish Voices, with whom she has done several recording projects and performed in concerts around Scotland, as well as tours around the USA and Portugal, and was previously a member of RCS Voices, with whom she has recorded for the RSNO and has performed in the festivals throughout Scotland, including the St Magnus International Festival in Orkney. Myrna was proud to be selected for the Genesis Sixteen 2017/18 programme with Harry Christophers and Eamonn Dougan. Myrna has been a finalist in competitions including the AESS Courtney Kenny Award, the Bath Opera Isobel Buchanan Award, and the Norma Greig French Song Prize, and was a semi-finalist in the prestigious Handel Singing Competition, 2019. Myrna has participated in singing courses including British Youth Opera, the Art of Song summer course, and Samling Academy. She has had the benefit of working with outstanding vocal coaches including Patricia McMahon, Susan McCulloch, David Jones, Caroline Dowdle, Julia Lynch, and Joan Rodgers Myrna is enormously grateful to be generously supported by the Kathleen Trust, the Mario Lanza Educational Foundation, the Clemence Charitable Trust, and the Dewar Arts Awards, as well as a Guildhall School Financial Award scholarship.
Monostatos - Harry Nicoll
Scottish tenor Harry Nicoll has become one of the UK’s leading character tenors, appearing with all the major UK companies, as well as widely across Europe. Highlights in recent seasons include Missail Boris Godunov, Major-domo Pique Dame, 1st Priest Die Zauberflöte, Mr. Bobo Coraline (world premiere) for The Royal Opera, Pirelli Sweeney Todd and the title role in Platée for the Nederlandse Reisopera, Tanzmeister Ariadne aux Naxos for Longborough Festival Opera. Earlier roles include Alamaviva Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Ramiro La Cenerentola, Vašek The Bartered Bride, Pedrillo Die Entführung auf dem Serail, the Simpleton Boris Godunov, Nanki-Poo The Mikado, Peter Quint The Turn of the Screw. Harry is delighted to be joining Kent Chamber opera for their new production of The Magic Flute.
Papagena - Katherine MacCrae
Scottish soprano Katherine began her musical training in America where she grew up before coming to London to train at the Royal Academy of Music. She enjoys singing a broad range of repertoire in opera, oratorio and song. Recent performances include roles in two Rameau operas for Ensemble Orquesta, Hippolyte et Aricie (at Grimeborn) and Les Indes Galantes, and earlier this summer she was Galatea in Handel’s Acis and Galatea, on tour with New Sussex Opera. Last Autumn she played the trouser role Arthur in Gothic Opera’s award-winning UK premiere of Gounod’s La Nonne Sanglante, staged in the former music hall Hoxton Hall in London. During the lockdowns she enjoyed taking speaking roles as well as singing for Shake Festival Suffolk’s zoom broadcast performances of A Winter’s Tale and The Tempest, live-streamed to a worldwide audience.
Third Lady - Mae Heydorn
An Anglo-Swedish Society scholar, Mae Heydorn studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Graduating with distinction she made her operatic debut with Glyndebourne Festival Opera in The cunning little Vixen and subsequently in Britten’s The Rape of Lucretia. Mae is the winner of the Swedish Wagner Society’s Award 2019. She has since made her critically acclaimed role debut as Erda in Longborough Festival Opera’s new Ring Cycle. A Making Music Philip and Dorothy Green Award winner and recipient of 1st Prize at the Schubert Society’s Lied Duo Competition Mae performs across the UK including the English Chamber Orchestra at Cadogan Hall, ROS at St John’s Smith Square, the Oxford Lieder Festival and Music at Oxford. Contemporary performances include Bryony Kimmings’ Opera Mums for BBC4, Birtwistle’s The Mask of Orpheus at ENO. In 2021 the UK premier of Gounod’s La Nonne Sanglante earned her an Offie nomination for the title role and an Offie Award for best opera production.