Soloists for 2012
Megan
Corby - Soprano soloist, Last Night at the Proms
Megan has a BA in Theatre and Film
and an MMUS (Distinction) in
Voice from Victoria University of Wellington. She has received numerous
scholarships including a Masters Thesis Scholarship in 2006. Her
research specialized in Music Performance Anxiety in adolescent and
student singers. In both 2009 and 2003 she was placed second in the
Napier Computer Systems Aria and was a finalist in the Wellington Aria
in 2003 and 2008.
In 2007 she received favourable reviews for her production of Poulenc's solo opera La Voix humaine. With Opera Victoria she has performed roles in Gianni Schicchi, Orfeo, Semele, Polly and Orpheus in the Underworld. She has performed as a member of the NBR NZOpera Chapman Tripp Opera Chorus since 2001. She recently performed in Janacek's The Cunning Little Vixen for NIMBY Opera. In 2004 she performed Sondheim's two-hander “Marry Me A Little” and toured nationally in the ensemble of “Evita” produced by Stetsons. She has recorded David Farquhar's “Swan Songs” for Concert FM.
Melanie Lina
Pianist
Melanie Hadley Lina arrived from the United States one year ago to
marry her husband, a native New Zealander. Praised for her ‘lyrical
sound, refined nuances, and poetic depth of performance’, she has
appeared as recitalist, orchestral soloist and chamber musician across
the US, as well in Russia, Germany, Eastern Europe, and Portugal. Ms.
Lina has been a prizewinner in numerous competitions, and was awarded
the Presidential Scholars medallion by President Clinton, for
Achievement in the Arts.
Prior to moving country, she lived in Los Angeles, where she maintained a private piano studio of 35 pupils. Ms. Lina continues to teach in New Zealand, both privately and at St. Paul’s Collegiate School in Hamilton. Her 2012 season includes soloist engagements with the Hutt Valley Orchestra, Northland Sinfonia and Trust Waikato Symphony Orchestra of Hamilton, in addition to recitals across the North Island.
Cavalleria Rusticana
Turidda - Ruth
Armishaw
Ruth is a freelance
musician based in Wellington.
She
gained a BMus in Vocal Jazz Performance in 2002 from Massey University,
and an honours degree in the same field in 2007 from the New Zealand
School of Music.
She has been a member of the NZ Opera Chorus for
9 years performing in 18 operas to date, including NZ International
Festival of the Arts productions. In 2009 Ruth played the
role of
Miss Todd in Caprice Arts’ production of Menotti’s ‘Old Maid and the
Thief’.
Ruth has been involved with shows in the Wellington Fringe
Festivals, in 2009 singing and acting in “Office FYI: A Musical”, in
2010 as musical director for “In The Mood” with the One Night Stands,
and in 2011 as composer and accompanist for "The Hooligan and the
Lady". She will present her own show "Truth”, a collaboration with
lyricist and director Paul Jenden, at Fringe 2012.
She is a past
member of both the NZ Secondary Students' and NZ Youth Choirs, and the
Orpheus Choir of Wellington. She sings a variety of styles in
regular solo performances and gigs around town as well as teaching
singing and piano
Alfio - Kieran Rayner
Kieran recently
graduated with a Postgraduate Diploma of Music (Classical Performance
Voice) from the NZ School of Music, studying under Emily Mair and
Margaret Medlyn. His performing career so far has encompassed an
eclectic range of styles, including Music Hall, Shakespeare scenes, and
period dance. His solo operatic work includes roles in Alcina (Handel),
Seven Deadly Sins (Weill), and The Journey to Rheims (Rossini), as well
as the NZSM's A Midsummer Night's Dream (Britten), Semele (Handel) and
Polly (Gay). Recent oratorio performances include The Messiah (Handel),
St Matthew Passion (Bach), Seven Last words of Christ (Dubois and
Schütz settings), Requiem (Faure), Mass in D Major (Dvorak), and a solo
TV appearance in Wellington Cathedral's Nine Lessons and Carols 2010.
He
has been employed as a soloist by groups such as Voices NZ, the
Hamilton Civic Choir, the Orpheus Choir, and the Kapiti Concert
Orchestra. Awards he has recently received include the Moyra Todd
Memorial Scholarship 2010, Sir Alan Stewart Postgraduate Scholarship
2011, and an Adastra Foundation Scholarship 2011. Last year he won 1st
place for Modern Chanson in the Alliance Française Song Competition. He
has been a core member of the Chapman Tripp NZ Opera Chorus since 2008.
Last month he featured as the baritone soloist in Beethoven's Missa
Solemnis with Vector Wellington Orchestra.
Lola - Alison Hodge
Alison joined
the NBR NZ Opera Chapman Tripp Chorus in 1999. She has sung in nearly
30 operas and has also performed in a number of musicals and plays. She
is also an experienced director, having staged several operas, and has
appeared as a soloist with several Wellington choirs.
Lucia (Mamma) - Jody
Orgias
Jody (mezzo)
originally went to London to study post-graduate art at the Central
School of Art & Design. Whilst there she began vocal-training,
studied and performed at the Mayer-Lismann Opera Studio and in Morley
Opera. Jody has performed repertoire ranging from coloratura alto:
Handel’s ‘Giulio Cesare’ (from the opera of the same name) and ‘Arsace’
(Rossini’s Semiramide) to ‘Lucretia’ (Benjamin Britten’s The Rape of
Lucretia), and ‘La Principessa’ (Puccini’s Suor Angelica).
A
member of the Chapman Tripp New Zealand Opera chorus, Jody has
performed roles for Pocket Opera, the Gilbert & Sullivan
Society,
Opera Technique, the NZ Opera School (excerpts) as well as performing
as a soloist for choirs and ensembles in the region (notably on several
occasions as the alto soloist in Handel’s The Messiah). Jody
appeared as a soloist in Mussorgsky’s Songs and Dances of Death with
the Wellington Chamber Orchestra, and as a soloist (as part of BRIO
Vocal Quartet) in Mendelssohn’s St Paul with the WCO and Cantoris
Choir.
Santuzza - Sharon Yearsley
Sharon has
a BMus (Hons) in Voice Performance, and a Master of Music Therapy
(Hons). She has performed extensively as a soloist and ensemble member
in many operas, both amateur and professional, and has sung with the
Chapman Tripp NBR NZ Opera Chorus since 2004. Sharon works as an
itinerant voice teacher around the Wellington area.
Supported
by the Hutt City Council
©2008
Anton Erasmuson.