Trainees 2008/09

Soprano
Verity Parker
Sarah Power
Valda Wilson
Ida Falk Winland

Mezzo
Susan Boyd
Alexandra Cassidy

Tenor
Carthaigh Quill
Jonathan Stoughton

Baritone
Nicholas Lester

Bass-baritone
Wade Kernot

Repetiteur
Sam Hogarth
Alison Luz
Geoffrey Paterson

Benedict Nelson baritone

Benedict was born in London and began his studies at the Guildhall school of Music and Drama as an undergraduate in 2002.  He is currently enjoying his second year on the Opera Course, remaining under the tutelage of Robert Dean.  He has been generously supported in his studies by The Worshipful Company of Gold and Silver Wyre Drawers, as well as receiving a Sybill Tutton award and a Countess of Munster Musical Trust Scholarship.  He is also a scholar of the distinguished Samling Foundation.

In 2007 Benedict won second prize in both the prestigious Kathleen Ferrier awards and the distinguished Guildhall Gold Medal.  Following this he performed Brahms Requiem at the RAH, played Masetto in Sir Thomas Allen’s production of Don Giovanni at the Sage in Gateshead, before taking the part of Sid in BYO’s Albert Herring. 

At 24, Benedict has amassed a considerable number of operatic roles, including; Aeneas (Dido and Aeneas), Count Almaviva, Figaro (Le Nozze di Figaro), Masetto, Don Giovanni (Don Giovanni), Sprecher (Die Zauberflote), Marcello (La Boheme), Demetrius (A Midsummer Nights Dream), Mr Gedge, Sid (Albert Herring), Baron Gondremarck (La Vie Parisienne).  He has also performed in a variety of prestigious venues including the Wigmore, Barbican, Cadogan, and Royal Albert Halls, the Grossfestspielhaus in Salzburg and the Philarmonie in Berlin under the batons of conductors such as Sir Simon Rattle, Sir David Wilcocks and Thomas Zehetmair.  Benedict has worked in Masterclasses with Sir Thomas Allen, Sir John Tomlinson, Philip Langridge, José Cura and Isobel Buchanan.

Future plans include Tarquinius for Britten-Pears Young Artists in Aldburgh and Morales Carmen at the RAH in 2009.  Benedict will join the National Opera Studio in September 2008.