English Pocket Opera Company are off to Bosnia  to do school workshops in Mostar (19-28 Oct 2016). Paul will be working alongside director/pianist Mark Tinkler, soprano Silva McQueen and flautist Michael Copley in schools on both sides of the bridge. The theme will be “Romeo & Juliet”  and will hopefully lead to a concert next year involving all the schools.

Up next is a chance to see two rarely performed Offenbach comic operettas. I play Mousse-a-Mort in “CROQUEFER” and King Cacatois in “THE ISLAND OF TULIPATAN”, presented together as “TALES OF OFFENBACH” by Opera della Luna. Directed & translated by Jeff Clarke with many of the same team from last year’s hilarious  “ORPHEUS IN THE UNDERWORLD”.

It will be on at Stowe School on July 23 & 24 and Wilton’s Music Hall in London’s East End on August 18 & 19.

https://wiltons.org.uk/whatson/193-opera-della-luna-presentstales-of-offenbach

Wilton’s E flyer

English Pocket Opera Company will be presenting their interactive workshop “Opera Blocks” in the Clore Ballroom at the Royal Festival Hall on Saturday July 2  at 12.30 & 3.30.
Admission FREE.
A great introduction to opera for people of all ages.

For details see the Southbank Centre website:
http://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/whatson/opera-blocks-1001605

I will be singing Macduff in the new production of Verdi’s “Macbeth” with Kentish Opera at the STAG Theatre in Sevenoaks from May 25 -28. Directed by Terry John Bates and conducted by Robyn Sevastos. For more details, see the Kentish Opera website:

http://www.kentishopera.com/prod/macbeth16/mw16.htm

English Pocket Opera Company in association with Cambridgeshire Music Trust present a Singfest concert with choirs from Cambridge schools performing alongside EPOC’s professional soloists in selections from “Carmen”. I will be giving my Don José with Melanie Lodge as Carmen, Hannah Sawle as Micaela & Adam Green’s Escamillo.

Cambridge Union 17 March
West Road Concert Hall, Cambridge 21, 22, 23 & 24 March

Just completed a 5 week workshop tour of United Learning schools all over England from Bournemouth to Carlisle – introducing pupils to the world of opera, getting them to participate in a mini version of “Carmen” and improvising an opera based on their suggestions. Soprano Pamela Hay was my stunning partner and thanks to all our wonderful pianists: Magnus Gilljam, Will Carslake, Ezra Williams and Mark Tinkler himself!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRhRyJgveXE

Throughout January & February 2016, I will be covering the roles of Smith (Chris Addison) & Dupont (Jean-Luc Vincent) in the Royal Opera House production of Chabrier’s “L’Étoile.”

For more details:
http://www.roh.org.uk/productions/letoile-by-mariame-clement

Nearly finished an exhausting schedule of school workshops with the English Pocket Opera Company – two weeks in Cambridge (on Bizet’s “Carmen”) and three weeks in Camden (on Purcell’s “The Fairy Queen”). These are the first steps towards Singfest concerts at Cambridge’s West Road Concert Hall and the Royal Albert Hall in March.

A busy start to the New Year for EPOC too: “Music Is Special” – a project with SEN schools at the Camden Centre on Jan 13 & 14 with compositions based on “The Fairy Queen” by William Carslake, Patrick Stockbridge and the pupils themselves, and designs by our students from Central St Martins also with the pupils.

Also, our first national tour of workshops, visiting United Learning schools all over the country from Bognor to Carlisle in Feb/March.

I will be understudying Klaus Maria Brandauer in the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden production of “Morgen und Abend” by Georg Friedrich Haas & Jon Fosse.

The production is directed by Graham Vick and conducted by Michael Boder.

For more information follow this link:

http://www.roh.org.uk/productions/morgen-und-abend-by-graham-vick

English Pocket Opera Co have a busy autumn schedule ahead with workshops in Cambridge schools and all Camden schools throughout November & December. I will be co-leading many of these workshops but such is the demand for our interactive presentations, that we will often be sending out two teams at once.

The company will also be going to Mostar in Bosnia between Oct 26 & Nov 4 to lead workshops in the latest stage of the “Singfest Bosnia” project. We are still looking for a small amount of funding, so if you are interested in finding out more about the project and making a donation towards it, follow this link:

www.crowdfunder.co.uk/singfest-for-bosnia/