Season of the Song: Around the World of Opera

Arias, duets, trios, oh my! Prepare to be swept away by the passion, drama, and humour of opera by stars of the National Opera Studio, featuring the works of Mozart, Puccini, Verdi, and others.

Artists:

Georgia Melville, soprano

Georgia Melville graduated from her final year at the Royal College of Music (RCM) Opera Studio in 2025 under the tutelage of Janis Kelly, where she was the inaugural winner of the Alastair Jackson International Opera Award. Georgia’s operatic roles include Countess Le nozze di Figaro, Hanna The Merry Widow, and Donna Elvira Don Giovanni Tenorio (all RCM), Gretel Hänsel und Gretel (Westminster Opera Company), Arminda La finta giardiniera (Sydney Conservatorium of Music), Pamina Die Zauberflöte, and Rosalinde Die Fledermaus (both Lyric Opera Studio Weimar). She also portrayed Mistinguett in a staged production of Britten’s Les Illuminations at the RCM. In 2023, Georgia made her Glyndebourne Festival Opera debut as Soeur Claire Dialogues des Carmélites and performed in the Chorus of L’elisir d’amore. Concert highlights include a Young Singers Recital with The Mozartists, and Berlioz Les nuits d’été (RCM Symphony Orchestra). Georgia was a 2020/21 Young Artist with Melba Opera Trust and was awarded the Megan Evans OAM Encouragement Award from the Joan Sutherland & Richard Bonynge Foundation in 2021. An alumna of the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, Georgia won the Demant Dreikurs Scholarship and holds a Bachelor of Music (Performance) and a Graduate Diploma in Opera.

Carmen Lázaro, mezzo-soprano

Carmen Lázaro is a Spanish mezzo-soprano. In 2024, she completed a Master’s in Operatic Performance at the Conservatorio Superior de Música “Joaquín Rodrigo” de Valencia. She previously graduated with First Class Honours in singing and also holds an undergraduate degree in viola from the same institution. She completed her postgraduate studies at the Universität Mozarteum in Salzburg. Carmen has received masterclasses from renowned artists including Elīna Garanča, Mariella Devia, Dolora Zajick, Elena Pankratova, Ramón Vargas, Ernesto Palacio, Laura Polverelli, and Solveig Kringleborn. Operatic roles include Nicklausse Les contes d’Hoffmann, L’enfant L’enfant et les sortilèges, Contessa Melibea Il viaggio a Reims, Enrico Elisabetta, regina d’Inghilterra (Den Norske Opera & Ballet), Rosina Il barbiere di Siviglia (Teatro de la Maestranza), and Armelinde Cendrillon (El Palau de Les Arts). In 2023, Carmen was selected by Teatro Real (Madrid) to join its “Crescendo” programme, performing at the venue’s main stage for the presentation of the 2023/24 season.

Jack Sandison, bass-baritone

Jack Sandison is a British bass-baritone who graduated with First Class Honours from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in 2017. In the 2023/24 season, he performed the title role in Leonard (Birmingham Opera Company), Theseus Ciphers (Tête à Tête Opera Festival), and made his debut at the Oslo Opera Festival as Bernard The Waves (Louis Mander). Jack was a Jerwood Young Artist at Glyndebourne Festival Opera in 2022, where he has been involved in several productions since 2019. In 2021, he sang the role of Keeper of the Madhouse The Rake’s Progress (Glyndebourne Tour). Other engagements include Wexford Festival Opera, Birmingham Opera Company, and Garsington Opera, where he covered roles such as Speaker Die Zauberflöte, Haushofmeister Capriccio, and Cadmus and Somnus Semele as an Alvarez Young Artist. Jack has received the Helen Clarke Award from Garsington, the Wessex and Miriam Trevaux Awards from Glyndebourne, and was a runner-up in the Joaninah Award competition, representing Glyndebourne. Future engagements include Ufficiale Il barbiere di Siviglia (Longborough Festival Opera).

Su Choung, piano

Su Choung is a pianist and repetiteur from Sydney, Australia. She was Children’s Chorus Master and repetiteur on Opera Australia’s 2024 national tour of La bohème. Other recent engagements include Il tabarro (Victorian Opera & Sydney Festival), Aida (Opera Australia), and Il barbiere di Siviglia for Opera Australia’s national tour. In 2023, Su joined the artistic team at Victorian Opera for the world premieres of Richard Mills’ The Butterfly Lovers and Graeme Koehne’s A Christmas Carol. As a Young Artist with Melba Opera Trust, Su received the Margaret Schofield Opera Scholarship and the Mel and Nina Waters Award. She was also awarded the Megan Evans OAM Encouragement Award through the Joan Sutherland & Richard Bonynge Foundation in 2022. Su holds a Bachelor of Music Performance and a Graduate Diploma in Collaborative Piano from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. In 2024/25, Su joined the National Opera Studio in London as a Young Artist, and she has returned for a second year in 2025/26. 

Alfonso Sánchez Pérez, piano

Alfonso Sánchez Pérez is a Spanish pianist, conductor, and repetiteur. He studied piano at the Royal Irish Academy of Music in Dublin and completed a Master’s degree in Piano Performance at the Anton Bruckner Private University in Linz, Austria. He also received a diploma in Conducting and Collaborative Piano at the same institution. Alfonso has worked as repetiteur and orchestral pianist with the Bruckner Orchester Linz on productions including Die tote Stadt by Korngold, Die heilige Ente by Hans Gál, and the world premiere of Il Viaggio by Alois Bröder (Landestheater Linz). He has recently participated in rehearsals for Lulu by Berg and Lohengrin by Wagner at Stadttheater Passau, Germany. As a conductor, he has collaborated with numerous ensembles and premiered a new work by Michael Wahlmüller at the 2024 Balduin Sulzer Composition Prize. Alfonso has also performed as a tenor in the chorus for the world premiere of Adam and Eve by Mike Svoboda (Schwetzingen Festival, Germany). A committed collaborator, he has prepared singers for productions including Aida and La bohème, and was Music Director of the Trinity College Orchestra in Dublin.