Saturday 6th, 19.35 and Sunday 7th August, 16.35
Fusebox Productions
Synopsis
A new staging of a song cycle based on a series of Thomas Hardy poems by rising star composer, Charlotte Bray (2010 Royal Philharmonic Society Composition Prize Winner). A young woman (Rhona McKail, soprano) sings of her unrequited love and desire for a stranger.
Genesis
Premiered at the Wigmore Hall last year, Midnight Closes is a collaboration between its composer, Charlotte Bray and a new company, Fusebox. It came to be staged out of a desire to explore the theatrical potential of the song cycle form in a site-specific space, the River Terrace, and to create an intimate, direct drama out of this quietly fascinating music.
The making of this video has been kindly
supported by The Boltini Trust
www.fuseboxproductions.org
Music: Charlotte Bray
Words: Thomas Hardy
Director: Max Hoehn
Soprano: Rhona McKail
Piano: Yshani Perinpanayagan
Music: Charlotte Bray
Words: Thomas Hardy
Director: Max Hoehn
Soprano: Rhona McKail
Piano: Yshani Perinpanayagan
Biographies
Charlotte Bray: Composer
Charlotte’s work has been performed by the London Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra and Birmingham Contemporary Music Group and at the Aldeburgh and Aix-en-Provence Festivals. Upcoming work includes a work for Jennifer Pike and the LPO, a chamber work for the Verbier Festival Academy and various song cycles at the Oxford Lieder Festival where she is Composer in Residence.
Rhona McKail: Soprano
Rhona, student of John Evans, studied at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music & Drama and at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama. Recent performances in opera include Servillia in La Clemenza di Tito (English Touring Opera), Fiordiligi in Cosi Fan Tutte (Vignette Productions) and the world premiere of Seven Angels (The Opera Group). She recently performed Midnight Closes with Yshani at the Purcell Room for the Park Lane Group and will do so again at the Oxford Lieder Festival
Yshani Perinpanayagan: Pianist
As a soloist, chamber musician and orchestral pianist, Yshani has performed at such venues including the Wigmore Hall, the Purcell Room, LSO St. Lukes and the Amsterdam Concertegebouw. She is the current Yamaha Birmingham Accompanist of the Year and a 2011 Park Lane Group artist.
Max Hoehn: Director
Assisting work includes Tristan und Isolde (Grange Park Opera, directed by David Fielding) The Rape of Lucretia (Theater an der Wien, directed by Keith Warner), Rodelinda (RCM) and I Masnadieri (Zurich Opera). Previous productions as director include an adaptation of Bulgakov’s The Master and Margarita (Battersea Arts Centre, Edinburgh Fringe). Upcoming work as director includes The Emperor of Atlantis (Grimeborn Festival, Arcola) The Queen of Spades (Arcola) and assisting on Die Frau Ohne Schatten (Mariinsky).
Fusebox Productions are a new opera and theatre company set up by Sandra Martinovic and Max Hoehn.