20 years of ROH Jette Parker Young Artists

Published: 5 October 2021
Reporter: Vera Liber

JPYA 2021 Credit: James Bellorini

20 years of the Royal Opera House Jette Parker Young Artists Programme are to be celebrated in Meet the Young Artists Week 2021: a week-long festival filled with activities and performances that showcase the talents of Young Artists past and present.

The week begins with a duo of Jukebox concerts on Tuesday 5 and Friday 8 October. Jukebox 1 will see artists performing snippets from three contrasting pieces, with audiences voting for their favourites, then the concert will be performed live in the Linbury Theatre featuring performances by sopranos April Koyejo-Audiger and Alexandra Lowe, mezzo-sopranos Stephanie Wake-Edwards and Kseniia Nikolaieva, tenors Thando Mjandana, Alan Pingarrón and Egor Zhuravskii and bass Blaise Malaba.

On Wednesday 6 October, JPYA Artistic Director David Gowland will accompany sopranos Alexandra Lowe and April Koyejo-Audiger, mezzo-soprano Stephanie Wake-Edwards and tenor Alan Pingarrón with work by female composers Isabella Colbran, Nkeiru Okoye, Judith Weir, Nadia Boulanger and Clara Schumann among others.

On the same day, Wagner’s Ring cycle will be explored as JPYA répétiteurs Michael Sikich and Michael Papadopoulos are joined in conversation with British bass Brindley Sherratt, Susanna Stranders from the ROH music staff and JPYA alumnus Darren Jeffery.

JPYAs will showcase the song cycles of Benjamin Britten in three languages on Thursday 7 October in Britten Goes International, featuring the voices of Alexandra Lowe, Kseniia Nikolaieva, Egor Zhuravskii and Blaise Malaba accompanied by Michael Papadopoulos, Michael Sikich and David Gowland.

The week culminates in a celebratory concert on Saturday 9 October, with former JPYA’s returning for an intimate evening of arias, duets and ensembles in the Linbury Theatre, with performances from sopranos Anna Devin and Susanna Gaspar, mezzo-soprano Hongni Wu, tenor Luis Gomes and baritone Michel de Souza, in addition to alumni accompanists Patrick Milne and Susanna Stranders performing works by Mozart, Verdi, Massenet, Donizetti, Bizet and Handel.

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