The Colombo Opera Festival: Meet the international artistes
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In performance: Haoyin Xue
The inaugural Colombo Opera Festival in November is an opportunity to witness and explore the world of opera, in different aspects and forms. There will be masterclasses and performances and Q&A sessions with international artistes who have excelled in the world of opera and are now bringing their artistry to the shores of Sri Lanka to share their stories and experience but most importantly their voices and their talent.
The highlight of the Colombo Opera Festival will be the Opera Gala Concert on November 6 at the Nelum Pokuna Theatre presenting five international artistes, all alumni of the Jette Parker Young Artists Programme at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. They are all coming to perform together for the first time in Sri Lanka.
David Gowland (UK)- piano
Maestro David Gowland, is the Artistic Director of the Jette Parker Young Artists Programme at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. Renowned for his artistry as a sensitive and brilliant accompanist, he is particularly known for his foresight as a talent scout and vocal coach. Having worked with most of the major names in the field around the world, David has a particular talent for honing, nurturing and developing natural vocal talent.
In his role as the Artistic Director of the JPYAP, David has had the opportunity to work with young voices from around the world. Singers who have gone through the most rigorous competition to be awarded a position on the coveted young artist programme which guides and trains young singers with the potential to be superstars on the international operatic stage.
David is an alumni of the Royal College of Music and the National Opera Studio, where he won numerous prizes for piano accompaniment. He joined the Glyndebourne music staff in 1987, won the 1988 Jani Strasser Award, and worked there for 20 years. He was Head of Music Staff at the Grand Théâtre de Genève 1989-96, assisting conductors such as Tate, Patané, Jordan, Bartoletti, Thielemann, Plasson, Elder, de Waart, Bertini and Campanella. He has worked as assistant conductor/senior coach with companies including Opéra National de Paris, Dutch National Opera, Royal Danish Opera, Opera di Roma, Teatro San Carlo di Napoli, Théâtre Capitole de Toulouse, Teatro Real di Madrid and the Festivals of Aix-en-Provence, Chorégies de Orange, Salzburg and Wexford. He was senior coach on The Ring under Jeffrey Tate in Australia.
David Gowland
He has conducted Die Dreigroschenoper for RADA. Concert work has included the Edinburgh and Aldeburgh Festivals and the BBC Proms. He is a visiting tutor at the National Opera Studio, British Youth Opera, Scottish Opera Emerging Artists, New National Theatre Tokyo and all the major British conservatoires. He is a regular jury member for national and international competitions around the world. He has been associated with the Young Artists Programme at the Royal Opera House since its inception in 2000, initially as Director of Musical Preparation and from 2006 as Artistic Director, and regularly accompanies the Jette Parker Young Artists in recitals.
Recent collaborations on the concert platform include Nelly Miricioiu at St John’s Smith Square, Eri Nakamura in Tokyo and Osaka and Dušica Bijeli and Haoyin Xue in Nanjing and Beijing.David has given masterclasses in Holland, Italy, Lithuania, Spain, Sweden, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Chile, China, Colombia, Japan, Korea, Mexico, South Africa and Turkey.
He will now do the same for the young singers of Sri Lanka for the first time, in a series of free masterclasses. These free masterclasses are at the core of the Colombo Opera Festival 2018. Young singers, aged 18-25 are invited to apply to participate in this programme. Specifications for the application will be announced shortly.
The aim of this programme is to identify Sri Lankan vocal talent and give our young singers an opportunity to work with one of the best vocal coaches in the world, free of charge.
The Gala Concert on November 6 will give all music lovers the opportunity to hear this maestro at work, with international opera singers he has mentored during their years on the Royal Opera House young artist programme.
Haoyin Xue (China) – tenor
Chinese international opera singer, tenor Haoyin Xue is an alumni of the Jette Parker Young Artist Programme at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. He has been an international prize winner, including the Grand Prize at the Rimsky-Korsakov international vocal competition and was the Gold Medalist at the Young Singers Voice Competition in China. Haoyin studied at the Music Conservatory of China and has performed extensively around the world under the auspices of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, most recently in Russia, Finland, Canada and South-East Asia.
Blessed with a rich and flexible tenor which has seen him sing leading tenor roles such as Rinuccio-Gianni Schicchi, Alfredo- Die Fledermaus,The Duke- Rigoletto, Nemorino- L’elisir d’amore and Alfredo- La Traviata for the leading theatre in Beijing, the National Centre for Performing Arts, he has sung Rudolfo-La bohéme for Opera Hongkong and for the Salzburg Arts Festival production of La Boheme in Shanghai.
Haoyin made his Royal Opera House debut as Ruiz-Il Trovatore, followed by young artist solo roles in Fidelio, Parsifal, La traviata and Ariadne auf Naxosfor the Royal Opera House and Beppe Rita at The Linbury Studio of the Royal Opera House.
He was invited to sing for the Royal Opera Gala Performance in Bath followed by the Parliamentary Opera Gala in London. He has worked with many world renowned conductors such as Antonio Pappano, Mikko Franck, Bernard Haitink, Maurizio Benini, Mark Elder, Nicola Luisotti, Daniel Oren etc.
Considered one of the leading young tenors in China, Haoyin has sung over 20 Chinese original operas, including A legend man, 170 days in NanJing, Farewell again Cambridge and Fang Zhi Min.
Haoyin is delighted to take part in this inaugural programme which will further enhance the growing ties between Sri Lanka and China. The Colombo Opera Festival Gala Concert marks Haoyin’s debut performance in South Asia.
The Colombo Opera Festival gala concert will be held on November 6 at the Nelum Pokuna Theatre, from 7.30-9.30 p.m.
Advance ticket booking hotline, 0718867071 (10a.m.-5 p.m)