Independent Opera showcase.

Svetlina Stoyanova, Michael Mofidian, Ida Ränzlöv, Claire Lees

Independent Opera is showcasing its current group of recipients of Independent Opera Voice Scholarships. On 19 October 2018 at the Wigmore Hall, Claire Lees (soprano), Michael Mofidian (bass-baritone), Ida Ränzlöv (mezzo soprano), Svetlina Stoyanova (mezzo soprano) with Nino Chokhonelidze (piano) will be giving a recital of songs and arias by Mozart, Schubert, Schumann, Mendelssohn, Ravel, Britten, the 20th century Swedish composers Gösta Nystroem and Ture Rangström, Rimsky-Korsakov, Anton Arensky (a pupil of Rimsky Korsakov), Tchaikovsky and the Bulgarian 20th century composer Lyubomir Pipkov, including arias from Don Giovanni, L'heure Espagnole, and The Turn of the Screw, plus the premiere of a new piece by Ēriks Ešenvalds performed by Michael Mofidian.

The four singers were awarded Independent Opera Voice Scholarships in September 2017, and these provide each of the singer with £5,000 towards their tuition fees as well as professional mentoring from Independent Opera's Creative Director, Natalie Murray Beale. Following their graduation, the selected singer progresses onto a Voice Fellowship providing £5,000 of funding to be used towards career development opportunities including singing lessons, coaching, professional development, photographs, website development, travel to and accompaniment at auditions.

We caught Michael Mofidian performing at Kings Place last year with soprano Joan Rogers and pianist Sholto Kynoch [see my review], and we caught Ida Ränzlöv in Judith Weir's The Vanishing Bridegroom with British Youth Opera [see my review] and in Handel's Faramondo at the London Handel Festival [see my review]. Claire Lees was Soeur Constance in Poulenc's Carmelites at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama this year [see my review].

Full details from the Wigmore Hall website.