Kitty Whately, Gareth Brynmor John, Susie Allan
Biography Kitty Whately, Gareth Brynmor John, Susie Allan
Kitty Whately
trained at Chetham’s School of Music, the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, and the Royal College of Music International Opera School. She won both the Kathleen Ferrier Award and the 59th Royal Overseas League Award in the same year, and was part of the prestigious Verbier Festival Academy where she appeared as Cherubino in Le Nozze di Figaro and in Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy. Kitty was a BBC New Generation Artist from 2013-15, during which time she recorded her debut solo album This Other Eden, made recordings with the BBC orchestras, commissioned a new song cycle from Jonathan Dove, and made several appearances at the Proms.
Current engagements include Hansel Hansel and Gretel and Donna Elvira Don Giovanni (Scottish Opera), Kate Owen Wingrave (Grange Park Opera), Annina Der Rosenkavalier (Garsington Opera), Dog / Forester's Wife / Woodpecker / Owl The Cunning Little Vixen with the CBSO in Birmingham, Paris, Hamburg and Dortmund and her usual assortment of recitals. Recent opera highlights include Isabella Wuthering Heights and Kate Owen Wingrave(Opera National de Lorraine, Nancy), Paquette Candide (Bergen National Opera, following a concert performance of the role at The Grange Festival), Mother/Other Mother in the world premiere of Mark-Anthony Turnage’s latest opera Coraline (Barbican, produced by the Royal Opera House), Meg Little Women and Dorabella Così fan tutte (Opera Holland Park), Nancy Albert Herring (The Grange Festival) and as Hermia A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Aix-en-Provence Festival and in Beijing). Kitty also performed in the world premiere of Vasco Mendonça’s The House Taken Over directed by Katie Mitchell, with performances in Antwerp, Strasbourg, Luxembourg, Bruges and Lisbon. Other operatic roles include Rosina Il barbiere di Siviglia and Stewardess in Jonathan Dove’s Flight (Opera Holland Park); Hermia A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Bergen National Opera); Dorabella Così fan tutte (English Touring Opera) and Ippolita / Pallade in Cavalli’s Elena in Montpellier and Versailles for the Aix-en-Provence Festival.
Kitty is in high demand as a recitalist and concert artist. She made her debut with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, singing Mendelssohn’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, as well as a recital alongside Malcolm Martineau at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. Recent concert performances include Mahler Das Lied von der Erde at the Mizmorim Festival in Basel, The Dream of Gerontius with Crouch End Festival Chorus at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, and recitals of English song at Wigmore Hall and the Salisbury International Festival. She has given performances with most of the UK’s major orchestras, including Duruflé’s Requiem and Mozart’s Requiem (in Oslo with the Dunedin Consort and Royal Philharmonic Orchestra), Bach’s B Minor Mass (Royal Northern Sinfonia and Scottish Chamber Orchestra), Beethoven’s Mass in C Major (Philharmonia Orchestra), Haydn’s Nelson Mass (Britten Sinfonia on tour in Spain and the Netherlands), Bach’s Magnificat (Britten Sinfonia and Choir of King’s College Cambridge), Elgar The Dream of Gerontius at St John’s Smith Square and Queen Elizabeth Hall, and Handel's Messiah at the Royal Albert Hall. Kitty has given recitals at the Edinburgh International, Salisbury International, Oxford Lieder, Leeds Lieder and Buxton festivals, working regularly with renowned accompanists including James Baillieu, Julius Drake, Graham Johnson, Simon Lepper, Malcolm Martineau, Gary Matthewman, Joseph Middleton, Anna Tilbrook and Roger Vignoles.
Kitty made her BBC Proms debut in Sir Peter Maxwell Davies’ Suite from Act II of Caroline Mathilde, and also appeared in a Chamber Music Prom singing the music of Stephen Sondheim. Her frequent performances with the BBC orchestras include De Falla’s The Three Cornered Hat (BBC National Orchestra of Wales) and Nancy in a concert performance of Britten’s Albert Herring (BBC Symphony Orchestra), as well as recordings of Ravel’s Sheherezade (BBC Philharmonic Orchestra), Canteloube’s Songs of the Auvergne (BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra), and songs by Rodgers & Hammerstein, Jerome Kern and Cole Porter (BBC Concert Orchestra).
In 2017 Kitty released her second album, Nights not spent alone, to critical acclaim. Recorded in a co-production between Champs Hill Records and the BBC, and accompanied by distinguished pianist Simon Lepper, the disc presents complete works for mezzo-soprano by Jonathan Dove. It includes a song cycle of the same name dedicated to Kitty, which she premiered at the Cheltenham Music Festival in 2015.
Gareth Brynmor John
Winner of the Kathleen Ferrier Award, baritone Gareth Brynmor John studied at St John’s College, Cambridge and the Royal Academy of Music where, in his final year, he won the Royal Academy of Music Patrons’ Award. He then studied at the National Opera Studio where he was supported by the Royal Opera House, Richard Carne Trust and Chris Ball and highlights included singing the title role in Don Giovanni as well as being involved in Opera Scenes directed by Graham Vick.
With the Royal Academy Opera, his roles included Eugene Onegin, Claudio (Béatrice et Bénédict) under Sir Colin Davis, The Ferryman (Curlew River), Sprecher (Die Zauberflöte), and Sir Thomas Bertram (Mansfield Park, Jonathan Dove). Other roles include Papageno (The Magic Flute), Sid (Albert Herring), Theseus (A Midsummer Night’s Dream) for Shadwell Opera, Il Conte (Le nozze di Figaro) for the Amersham Festival, Gendarme (Les Mamelles de Tirésias), and Hymen and Sleep (Fairy Queen). He created Carl in Gervasoni’s “Limbus Limbo” which premièred at the Strasbourg Festival Musica.
After leaving the National Opera Studio he performed Sharpless (Madama Butterfly) for Bury Court Opera and at the Anghiari Festival in Tuscany, and Pallante (Agrippina) for Iford Arts Opera. With English Touring Opera, he sang Edoardo in Donizetti’s The Siege of Calais, and also understudied Marcello (La bohème). He understudied Silvio (I Pagliacci), Cecil (Maria Stuarda), Roderick (Usher House) and Man/Ephraimite (Moses und Aron) for Welsh National Opera before making his house début in Spring 2017 singing Schaunard (La Bohème). He returned in 2017/18 to cover and sing the title role in Eugene Onegin as well as singing Masetto (Don Giovanni) and also covered the role of Andrei in War and Peace. Other recent and future engagements include Papageno, Sharpless, Masetto / Don Giovanni and Robert / Les Vepres Sicilliennes for Welsh National Opera, Ishmeron / The Indian Queen for Opéra de Lille, Opera de Caen, Opera de Luxembourg and Antwerp Opera as well as the bass role in Lucio Papirio Dittatore by Caldara at the Buxton Festival.
Gareth has performed extensively on the concert platform with a number of the UK’s leading orchestras and ensembles including The Philharmonia, the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra and the London Mozart Players. Highlights have included Elijah with the Really Big Chorus at Birmingham Town Hall; Carmina Burana with the Bach Choir at the Royal Festival Hall and with Hertfordshire Chorus at the Barbican; Handel Messiah at the Royal Albert Hall; Fauré Requiem at the Royal Albert Hall, Dream of Gerontius with the Leeds Philharmonic Chorus; Bach St Matthew and St John Passions; Handel Judas Maccabeus, Israel in Egypt and Alexander’s Feast; Vaughan Williams Sea Symphony; Rachmaninov The Bells; and Britten’s War Requiem at Guildford and Chichester Cathedrals. Recent and future events include the Sea Symphony at Salisbury Cathedral, Israel in Egypt at the Saffron Walden Concert Hall, Carmina Burana at York Minster, Brahms Requiem with the Ulster Orchestra and the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Belshazzar’s Feast at Guildford Cathedral, Faure Requiem and the St Matthew Passion at the Festival Hall with the Bach Choir, Stanford Mass Via Victrix with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, The Kingdom and Claudio / Béatrice et Bénédict with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, Mozart Requiem with the Hong Kong Philharmonic, Britten War Requiem with the Cambridge University Music Society, Five Mystical Songs with the Aalborg Symphoniker as well as recitals in the London Song Festival, the Leith Hill Music Festival, the English Music Festival, the Ludlow Festival of Song, Oxford Lieder and on a tour of Norway as well as recitals with Roderick Williams as part of the Momentum Artists project.
Gareth is part of the Songsmiths, and regularly sings in the London English Song Festival. He has also given recitals at St John’s Smith Square, Wigmore Hall, Barber Institute, King’s Place, King’s Lynn Festival, North Norfolk Music Festival, Haddo Festival, Buxton Festival, Ryedale Festival and Leeds Lieder. His recording of Mahler Lieder eines fahrenden gesellen with Trevor Pinnock is available on Linn Records. His recent recording of Stanford’s Chldren;s songs for the Somm label has received wide critical acclaim.
