Celine Byrne

Irish singer Celine Byrne was born in Naas, Ireland, and completed her musical studies at the Royal Irish Academy of Music as well as the Conservatory of Music and Drama in Dublin. Coaching lessons led her to the National Opera Studio of London, Christa Ludwig, Wolfgang Holzmair and Malcolm Martineau amongst others. She has appeared at some of the world´s most prestigious opera and concert venues including Carnegie Hall, Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Mikhailovsky Theater, Tchaikovsky Hall, Berliner Philharmonie, National Centre of Performing Arts in Beijing, National Concert Hall Dublin or Turkish Culture and Congress Centre Lüfti. A frequent concert performer, Celine became familiar to international audiences early on through her collaborations with José Carreras, Roberto Alagna and Joseph Calleja performing in Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Istanbul, Rotterdam, Linköping, Malmö, Munich, Berlin, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Nuremberg, Hamburg and Zadar. Further inspiration she owes to Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Sascha Goetzel, Alexander Soddy and Barry Douglas.

Celine has toured extensively throughout Europe as well as in the US, China, Russia and Mexico. Over the past years, she has increasingly graced opera stages. She made her highly acclaimed operatic debut as Mimì in Scottish Opera’s 2010 production of La Bohème. In March 2012, Celine made her debut at Covent Garden standing-in for Camilla Nylund as Rusalka under the baton of Yannick Nézét-Séguin. During the same period, she also covered the role of Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni at Covent Garden. Celine opened the 2012-13 season at Stadttheater Klagenfurt as Agathe in Der Freischütz under Alexander Soddy followed by Micaëla in Carmen with the Moscow State Opera and Countess Almaviva in Le Nozze di Figaro at Lismore Music Festival in spring 2013. Other noteworthy recent engagements include concerts with the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra, Richard Strauss´ Four Last Songs in Klagenfurt, Austria, and Mahler’s Rückert Lieder at the National Concert Hall, Dublin.

Celine concluded 2013 with a brilliant return visit to the Royal Opera House in December as First Flower Maiden in Parsifal under Antonio Pappano which earned her a Royal Opera House contract as Micaëla in 2015. Other upcoming opera engagements include her role debut as Marschallin in Der Rosenkavalier under Patrik Ringborg at Staatstheater Kassel in fall 2014 or Mimì in La Bohème with the Moscow State Opera in Dublin and Moscow in April 2015.

Celine has been awarded many awards, amongst them the Margaret Burke-Sheridan Gold Medal in 2009, First Prize and Gold Medal at the Maria Callas Grand Prix as well as the William Young Prize at the Veronica Dunne International Singing Competition in 2007 and the Brabants Dagblad Press Prize’ at the IVC International Singing Competition in s’Hertogenbosch.

Celine Byrne’s extensive repertoire includes opera, operetta, oratorio and songs. Important works she has performed on a concert level are Messiah, Fauré´s Requiem, Mozart´s Mass in C and Requiem, St. Paul and Elijah by Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, Gustav Mahler´s Rückert Lieder, Bachianas Brasileiras no. 5 by Heitor Villa-Lobos and the Four Last Songs. Opera and operetta roles include Mimì, Rusalka, Micaëla (Carmen), Agathe in (Der Freischütz), Countess Almaviva (Le Nozze Di Figaro), Fiordiligi (Così Fan Tutte), Donna Elvira in (Don Giovanni), Nedda (I Pagliacci), Liù (Turandot), Lauretta (Gianni Schicchi), Wally (La Wally), Rosalinde (Die Fledermaus), Hanna Glawari (The Merry Widow), Marguerite (Faust), Juliette (Roméo et Juliette), Nora (Riders To The Sea) or Ann Chute (Lily of Killarney).

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Haeran Hong

“Among the fresh voices heard, the most finished were those of Haeran Hong, a soprano who sang with gleaming tone and deftly negotiated ornate lines as Dalinda, Ginevra’s confidante; Anthony Roth Costanzo, an intense, engaging countertenor, who played the treacherous Polinesso; and Shenyang.” Steve Smith, an American musician, said.

The2011 International Queen Elizabeth Grand Prize winner Haeran Hong has been noted as “charming of form, manner, and voice.” As a soprano singer, Hong has already performed various leading roles including Adina in L’Elisird’Amore, Gilda in Rigoletto, Lucia in Lucia di Lammermoor, and Pamina in Die Zauberflöte. Her voice is widely described as purest nectar.

In 2010, she became a finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and won the Career Bridges Competition in New York. Hong finished her Bachelor of Music degree at the Korean National University of Arts and a Master’s degree in Opera Studies at The Juilliard School.

At the Metropolitan opera, Ms. Hong covered the roles of Nannetta in Falstaff and Sophie in Werther, and also participated in the production of Die Frau ohneSchatten.

She also joined the Vien Strauss Festival Orchestra in Korea and had guest appearances in concerts in New York, Los Angeles, and at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C.

Among her concerts, the most remarkable were Bach’s WassGott tut, das ist wohl getan and Brahms’ Neue LiebesliederWaltzes with the La Jolla Summer Fest, as well as Villa Lobos’ Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5 with the Aspen Music Festival.

 For more info visit http://yyaayy.com/

Haeran Hong

“Among the fresh voices heard, the most finished were those of Haeran Hong, a soprano who sang with gleaming tone and deftly negotiated ornate lines as Dalinda, Ginevra’s confidante; Anthony Roth Costanzo, an intense, engaging countertenor, who played the treacherous Polinesso; and Shenyang.” Steve Smith, an American musician, said.

The2011 International Queen Elizabeth Grand Prize winner Haeran Hong has been noted as “charming of form, manner, and voice.” As a soprano singer, Hong has already performed various leading roles including Adina in L’Elisird’Amore, Gilda in Rigoletto, Lucia in Lucia di Lammermoor, and Pamina in Die Zauberflöte. Her voice is widely described as purest nectar.

In 2010, she became a finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and won the Career Bridges Competition in New York. Hong finished her Bachelor of Music degree at the Korean National University of Arts and a Master’s degree in Opera Studies at The Juilliard School.

At the Metropolitan opera, Ms. Hong covered the roles of Nannetta in Falstaff and Sophie in Werther, and also participated in the production of Die Frau ohneSchatten.

She also joined the Vien Strauss Festival Orchestra in Korea and had guest appearances in concerts in New York, Los Angeles, and at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C.

Among her concerts, the most remarkable were Bach’s WassGott tut, das ist wohl getan and Brahms’ Neue LiebesliederWaltzes with the La Jolla Summer Fest, as well as Villa Lobos’ Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5 with the Aspen Music Festival.

Sophie Bevan

Soprano Sophie Bevan was awarded as young singer of the year at the 2013 International Opera Awards.

A graduate of the Benjamin Britten International Opera School, she studied as a Karaviotis Scholar with Lillian Watson and was awarded the Queen Mother Rose Bowl Award.

Her grandfather is the late Roger Bevan, head of music at Downside School and the subject of a memorable television documentary in 1980 called Harmony at Parsonage Farm. His 14 children all inherited the musical gene in various degrees, as in turn have their issue. One of them is the Sophie’s father, David.

Sophie is the eldest of eight, all of whom are musically gifted. Through this outsized family runs an astonishing vein of talent that is already bearing professional dividends for Sophie and two sisters, Mary and Daisy.

She enrolled at the Royal College of Music. Doing well at music college is one thing, but making the transition from talented student to successful professional is quite another. This, says Bevan, is where the Classical Opera Company (COC) comes into the picture.

Among her best performances, Yum-Yum in The Mikado, Susanna in The Marriage of Figaro and Pamina in The Magic Flute at the Royal Opera House has been the most remarkable.

Sophie received the 2010 Critics’ Circle award for Exceptional Young Talent. She was nominated for the 2012 Royal Philharmonic Society Awards and was the recipient of The Times Breakthrough Award at the 2012 South Bank Sky Arts Awards.

Currently, she is taking her way to performing more concert and operatic engagements.