Richard Jackson was educated at King’s College, Cambridge, and the Guildhall School of Music in London. He has sung a variety of opera and operetta roles at English National Opera, Glyndebourne, Opera North, and the Monnaie in Brussels. He has worked with GianCarlo Menotti in London and Italy, and with Mstislav Rostropovich in Aldeburgh, and was a founder-member of Graham Johnson’s group The Songmakers’ Almanac. He collaborated in recital with such eminent pianists as Geoffrey Parsons, Roger Vignoles and Gerald Moore, sang in six new operas for London’s Almeida Theatre, and appeared in Amsterdam, Warsaw and Mexico City. Recently he recorded two CDs of music by Michael Finnissy. Now a professor at the Guildhall School in London, Richard also teaches at the Royal Academy of Music and the Royal College of Music, as well as at Summer Schools in England and Ireland, and gives Master Classes in France, Norway and Australia. He has served on the jury of the Kathleen Ferrier competition in London.
Mary Hill, an Oxford graduate, has accompanied for the BBC, WNO, Glyndebourne, Kent Opera, Opera Rara, Northern Ireland Opera Trust, the Royal Opera (Stockholm), Virginia Opera (USA). She was Director of Opera Studies at the Royal College of Music, and coached at the London Opera Centre and the National Opera Studio. She is currently Chief Coach and Opera Co-ordinator at the Royal Academy of Music, and runs Post-graduate Opera at Trinity College of Music. Her own opera company, Abbey Opera, premiered many lesser-known operas, broadcast on Radio London, and recently completed its 40 year run as a Diploma Course for Birkbeck College.
Sheila McGrow graduated from The London Opera Centre then joined Scottish opera. She has sung many roles in opera and operetta including Susanna, Violetta , Mimi, Belinda, Gretel and Adele in Die Fledermaus. She appeared regularly at Ledlanet Nights and has sung at the Edinburgh Festival, Maggio Musicale in Florence, and Queen’s Festival in Belfast. Her TV, broadcast and concert work include the world premiere of Full Circle by Robin Orr, song recitals and the oratorio repertoire. She has sung Scottish folk songs in the USA, oratorio in France and performed cabaret in Acapulco.
Paschal Allen is graduate of The Guildhall School of Music, Paschal has sung at Glyndebourne, English National Opera, Covent Garden and in many European opera houses. He worked with Benjamin Britten in the Church Operas, touring Europe and Australia. He has sung many of the bass-baritone roles in opera including Figaro, Leporello, Sarastro and Don Pasquale. Recital work includes Winterreise and Schwanengesang, and oratorio - Messiah, Bach Passions, Verdi and Mozart Requiems. His recordings include an album of Victorian ballads
and Jack Point in "Yeomen of The Guard".
Russell Smythe trained at the Guildhall School and the London Opera Centre. He has sung a wide range of operatic repertoire in all the major British houses and throughout Europe, in North America, Israel and Japan; under Sir Colin Davis, Antonio Pappano, Christoph von Dohnanyi,Seiji Ozawa and Mark Minkovsky. Roles include Eugene Onegin, Don Giovanni, Germont PËre (Traviata), Mr Redburn(Billy Budd), Balstrode (Peter Grimes) and Shishkov (From the House of the Dead). He has also recorded several roles on CD and video.
Recent performances have included Starek (Jenufa) in Luxembourg, Musiklehrer (Ariadne), Niceno (L’incornazione di Dario), Garsington, Manoah (Handel’s Samson) at the Buxton Festival and Ping in Turandot for the Vlaames Opera, Belgium. On the concert platform he has sung Elijah, The War Requiem and Messiah, and has performed many song recitals collaborating with Graham Johnson, Geoffrey Parsons and Roger Vignoles.
Russell teaches and lectures at the Royal College of Music in London, and gives master classes both in Britain and abroad.
