Wigmore Hall
Wigmore Hall have announced their 125th anniversary season, which includes our Samling Artist Showcase ‘Between Heaven and Earth’ on Tuesday 7 November. Sarah Gilford, Ellen Pearson, Hugo Brady, Sam Hird, Jonathan Ware and Francesca Lauri reflect on things earthly and heavenly, with music including An die ferne Geliebte by Ludwig van Beethoven, La bonne chanson by Gabriel Fauré and songs by Robert Schumann, Franz Schubert, William Bolcom, Aaron Copland and Gustav Mahler.
samling.org.uk/events/samling-artist-showcase-between-heaven-and-earth/
Also appearing in the concerts announced for Autumn 2025 are: Benjamin Appl, James Baillieu, Claire Barnett-Jones, Michael Bell, Jessica Cale, Ruby Hughes, Joseph Middleton, James Newby, Ema Nikolovska, Michael Pandya, Kitty Whately and Nardus Williams.
Classic FM Rising Star
Congratulations to Liam Bonthrone who has been selected as one of Classic FM’s 30 Rising Stars 2025. This season Liam makes a number of major house and role debuts, including Count Almaviva Il barbiere di Siviglia at Royal Danish Opera and roles in Saul and Parsifal at Glyndebourne Festival this summer.
classicfm.com/discover-music/30-rising-stars-2025/
Samling Artists in the North East
A host of Samling Artists are joining Cleveland Philharmonic Choir in a gala concert on Saturday 12 April to mark the retirement of their director John Forsyth MBE. Rowan Pierce, Anna Stéphany, Anna Huntley and Tom Smith all began their singing careers under John’s care and guidance at Tees Valley Youth Choir and baritone Morgan Pearse has regularly appeared with the choir. Former Academy Singer Megan Hill also joins the line-up.
clevelandphilharmonicchoir.com/concerts
Jâms Coleman appears at The Glasshouse International Centre for Music on Saturday 5 April when he’ll be joining the Eblana String Trio in the Newcastle International Chamber Music series to play Brahms’s first Piano Quartet.
theglasshouseicm.org/whats-on/nicms-eblana-string-trio/
Recordings
Samling Artists appear on three world premiere recordings released this month. Angharad Lyddon is the mezzo-soprano soloist on the world premiere recording of Missa Cambrensis, written by Grace Williams in 1971.
wyastone.co.uk/grace-williams-missa-cambrensis.html
Ross Ramgobin is Donny in the first recording of Michael Tippett’s final opera, New Year, ‘a space-aged fairytale’, with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra conducted by Martyn Brabbins.
nmc-recordings.myshopify.com/collections/new-releases-2025/products/michael-tippett-new-year
And, in a piece that has waited even longer for its first recording, Kitty Whately sings the role of Pallas with the Academy of Ancient Music in The Judgment of Paris by the English baroque composer John Weldon.
aam.co.uk/product/john-weldon-the-judgment-of-paris/
Catriona Morison is the mezzo-soprano soloist in Mahler’s Symphony No.3 with Semyon Bychkov and Czech Philharmonic Orchestra
pentatonemusic.com/product/mahler-symphony-no-3/
James Baillieu joins Julian Bliss for transcriptions and original pieces for piano and clarinet by Robert and Clara Schumann.
signumrecords.com/product/clara-robert-schumann-music-for-clarinet-and-piano
William Vann conducts the Endellion Cellists and singers Roderick Williams and Ana Beard Fernández for their own arrangements of songs for cello ensemble accompaniment.
somm-recordings.com/recording/habanera/
Opera News
Olivia Boen makes her house and role debut as Fiordiligi Così fan tutte at Detroit Opera opening on 5 April
Opera North have announced their 2025/26 season, with Samling Artists appearing in all productions:
Handel Susanna: Claire Lees is Daniel in a staged production of Handel’s oratorio.
La bohème Olivia Boen and Katie Bird make their role debuts as Mimì and Musetta respectively, with Elin Pritchard also singing Musetta.
Le nozze di Figaro: Claire Lees sings Susanna, James Newby is Count Almaviva and Jamie Woollard makes his company debut as Antonio
Peter Grimes: Stuart Jackson is Bob Boles
Opera North bring their concert performance of Simon Boccanegra to The Glasshouse on Friday 2 May, with Andrés Presno in the role of Gabriele Adorno.
Bayerische Staatsoper
Bayerische Staatsoper have also announced their 2025/26 season. Dafydd Jones has been selected for a second year in the Opera Studio and will sing roles in La traviata, La fille du regiment, The English Cat (Hans Werner Henze), Fidelio, Parsifal and Il trovatore. Milan Siljanov is Don Fernando Fidelio and Panas in Christmas Eve by Rimsky-Korsakov. Catriona Morison makes her house debut as The Composer in a concert performance of Ariadne auf Naxos alongside David Butt Philip as Tenor/Bacchus and Alexandra Lowe makes her German debut as First Lady Die Zauberflöte.
