PAST CONCERTS
PAST GUEST ARTISTS
James Emerson baritone
Australian baritone James Emerson is a distinguished performer known for his exceptional opera and classical vocal performances. He is currently pursuing his Master of Performance (Vocal) studies at the Royal College of Music, where he is distinguished as a Sir Gordon Palmer Scholar, supported by the Martin Harris Scholarship. As part of his studies, James recently portrayed Bogdanowitsch in The Merry Widow and Philippe in the contemporary opera Airtime.
In addition to these roles, James is a sought-after soloist, frequently participating in recitals, concerts, choral performances, workshops, masterclasses, and operatic productions. He holds a Master of Music (Opera Performance) from The University of Melbourne and a Bachelor of Music with Honours. His accolades include the Arnold Matters Scholarship Award from the Adelaide Eisteddfod and distinctions at the Ringwood and Warrnambool Aria Eisteddfods. In 2021, he was a finalist in Melbourne's Herald Sun Aria competition, establishing him as one of Australia's leading emerging talents in classical music.
Since 2022, James has been a member of the esteemed Melba Opera Trust, which supports Australia's promising opera artists. He was a recipient of the John & Elizabeth Wright-Smith Scholarship and the Paulette Bisley Opera Scholarship and was selected for the inaugural Prior Family Foundation Music Study Tour to Italy and the UK. James’ studies in London are bolstered by contributions from various respected institutions, including the Tait Memorial Trust and the Australian Cultural Fund, furthering his aspirations in classical music and opera.
Sophia Elger saxophone
Sophia Elger is a British saxophonist whose performances have been described as “captivating, exciting, and engaging” (Richard Ingham, CASS Magazine).
Sophia performs regularly both as a soloist and as a chamber musician, with the Tondo Duo and the Spirito Saxophone Quartet. She is passionate about commissioning new works and performing pieces by contemporary composers. In addition, she has developed an interest in initiating and directing collaborative projects incorporating other creative disciplines.
Sophia gave her debut concerto performance at 17, playing Alexander Glazunov’s Saxophone Concerto with members of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra at the Lighthouse Concert Hall, Poole. In 2021, she performed Jacques Ibert’s Concertino da Camera with the RCM Symphony Orchestra after having been awarded second prize in the RCM Concerto Competition 2020.
In 2021, Sophia won first prize in the Jane Melber Saxophone Competition, second prize in the Clarinet and Saxophone Society of Great Britain Competition, and third prize in the RCM Contemporary Competition. In 2023, she graduated with Distinction in a Masters of Performance degree from the Royal College of Music and, most recently, was awarded third prize in the International Saxophone Academy Young Artist Competition.
Sophia is a Young Artist with the Musicians’ Company, the Hattori Foundation, DEBUT Horizon, and Talent Unlimited.
Michal Oren conductor
Michal Oren is an award winning conductor and a clarinettist from Tel-Aviv, Israel. Michal's work combines classical music with visual arts exhibits and presents a new approach in the 21st century's cultural creation.
Michal was awarded distinction for her two Bachelors of Music in orchestral conducting and clarinet performance from the Buchmann-Mehta School of Music at the Tel Aviv University, Israel. She is currently pursuing a Master of Performance in orchestral conducting at the Royal College of Music in London. As a Victor and Lilian Hochhauser Scholar with a full scholarship, she is studying under the conductors Toby Purser, Peter Stark, and Howard Williams. Among Michal's teachers are the conductors Yi-An Xu, Doron Salomon, Dr Dale Lonis, and the IPO principal clarinettist Yevgeny Yehudin.
In September 2023, Michal won the 1st prize in the 4th International Academy and Competition of Orchestra Conducting in Estoril, Portugal, and will return as guest conductor to the Cascais & Oeiras Chamber Orchestra in the next season. Previously, she won the 1st prize in the conducting competition of the Buchmann-Mehta School of Music with the Haifa Symphony Orchestrain in Israel. She is also a current Residence Music Scholar of the Robert Anderson Trust, and since 2015, a scholar of the America-Israel Cultural Foundation.
As part of her modern approach, Michal initiated a museum chamber orchestra together with the Petah Tikva Museum of Contemporary Art, Israel. The orchestra performs a repertoire that offers a musical interpretation (musical curation) of visual arts exhibits. Since its establishment, the orchestra performed a series of concerts that correspond to various exhibitions across Israel, supported by numerous private and public donors.
Michal’s guest conducting appearances include the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, the Israeli Chamber Orchestra, Haifa Symphony Orchestra, Jerusalem Street Orchestra, Hertford Symphony Orchestra, Central London Orchestra, Salomon Orchestra, Berlin Sinfonietta, Pazardjik Symphony Orchestra and more. In addition, Michal was the conductor and musical director of the Israeli Flutes Ensemble for two seasons (2020-2022). During her time as musical director, Michal established together with the Isreal Music Institue a new Israeli composition competition for the Flutes Ensemble.
Photo: Ben Tomlin
Eleanor Bray soprano
Eleanor enjoys a variety of solo and choral singing work in London and beyond. She is a Making Music Selected Artist for 2020-21, and solo concert highlights include Bach’s St John Passion, Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater, Haydn’s Missa Sancti Nicolai and Handel’s Messiah. She is a recent graduate of the National Youth Choir’s Fellowship scheme, and she was a Vocal Apprentice at the 2021 Southwell Music Festival. In 2020 Eleanor graduated with a Distinction in MA Solo Voice Ensemble Singing from the University of York, and she previously studied Music with a choral scholarship at The Queen’s College, University of Oxford. She is a former choral scholar at St. Martin in the Fields, and is continuing to sing as much as possible alongside her current day job working at a university.
James Botcher tenor
A Making Music Selected Artist for 2020-21, James Botcher is a freelance tenor and music educator based in the South of England. A recent alum of the National Youth Choir of Great Britain’s Fellowship Scheme and the St Martin’s Voices Fellowship Scheme (both 2019/2020), he also graduated from the Solo Voice Ensemble Singing MA pathway at the University of York in 2020, having studied under Robert Hollingworth. During his year of postgraduate study James held a Choral Scholarship in the York Minster and enjoyed his opportunities to learn from and work with I Fagiolini.
James now sings regularly with the St Martin’s Voices, teaches beatbox workshops to youth choirs and orchestras, and teaches one to one. When James isn’t singing he enjoys beatboxing, seeing friends and spending time with his two very small dogs.
Edward Jowle bass-baritone
Brought up in Derbyshire, Edward Jowle was a member of the Royal College of Music’s Opera Studio, having previously completed his undergraduate and postgraduate studies there. He studied with Russell Smythe and Iain Burnside and participated in masterclasses with Sir Thomas Allen, Dennis O'Neill, Gerald Finley and, notably, Thomas Quasthoff at the Wigmore Hall. He was a Janet & Michael Levesley Scholar and a 2020 Samling Artist, also supported by the Countess of Munster Trust, Drake Calleja Trust and the Josephine Baker Trust. A member of the Verbier Festival Academy 2021, he has worked with Stéphane Degout, Véronique Gens, Barbara Frittoli and Thomas Hampson on song repertoire and operatic performance.
Recent stage work includes: Colline (La Bohème/Verbier Festival); Guglielmo (Così fan tutte/Devon Opera); Elviro (Serse/Accademia Europea Dell’Opera, Italy); Papageno (Die Zauberflöte/Westminster Opera, France); Garibaldo (Rodelinda), Lord Dunmow (A Dinner Engagement), Snug (A Midsummer Night’s Dream/RCM Opera Studio); Falke (Die Fledermaus/Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, Singapore); Gendarme (Les Mamelles de Tirésias/Euphonia Studio); Alidoro (La Cenerentola/Bedford Park Festival) Cecil (Maria Stuarda/Magnetic Opera, Edinburgh Festival Fringe); and Adonis (Venus and Adonis/Brighton Early Music Festival).
Recipient of the Second Prize in the 2020 Patricia Routledge English Song Competition, he has appeared at the Oxford Lieder and London Song Festivals, performing Brahms Die Schöne Magelone for the latter in a November 2020 livestream. His recent concert highlights include Handel Messiah (Nevill Holt); Bach B Minor Mass (Lloyds Choir); Berlioz L'enfance du Christ (Scherzo Ensemble); Finzi Let us Garlands bring (East London Symphony Orchestra); Oli Tarney St Mark Passion (Endellion Festival); Mozart Requiem (Orchestre Symphonique de Canet et Rousillon, France) and Elgar The Apostles (London Philharmonic Orchestra).