Sarah Fox, Dame Sarah Connolly, David Butt Philip, Neal Davies, London Mozart Players & William Vann
Biography Sarah Fox, Dame Sarah Connolly, David Butt Philip, Neal Davies, London Mozart Players & William Vann
Sarah Fox
was born in Yorkshire and received her musical training at the Royal College of Music in London, among other places. In 1997 she won the Kathleen Ferrier Award, among others. A year later she made her song debut at the Wigmore Hall with the pianist Roger Vignole. Since then she has appeared as a lieder and concert singer with major British orchestras including the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, the Academy of Ancient Music, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the Philharmonia and BBC Symphony Orchestras and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe. As an opera singer, she has appeared most notably at the Glyndebourne Festival, where she sang Susanna (Le nozze di Figaro) and Zerlina (Don Giovanni). Further engagements have taken her to the Royal Danish Opera, the Deutsche Oper Berlin, the Welsh National Opera and the Royal Opera House Covent Garden in London. Part at the Bavarian State Opera.
Dame Sarah Connolly
Born in County Durham, Sarah Connolly studied piano and singing at the Royal College of Music, of which she is now a Fellow. She was made a DBE in the 2017 Birthday Honours, having previously been made a CBE in the 2010 New Year’s Honours. In 2011 she was honoured by the Incorporated Society of Musicians and presented with the Distinguished Musician Award. She is the recipient of the Royal Philharmonic Society’s 2012 Singer Award.
Highlights in Dame Sarah’s 2018/19 season include Fricka Das Rheingold and Die Walküre for the Royal Opera and in Das Rheingold, Teatro Réal in Madrid.
On the concert platform, her engagements include Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde (Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin/Jurowski & London Philharmonic Orchestra/Jurowski), his Symphony No. 8 (Wiener Symphoniker/Jordan), Des Knaben Wunderhorn (Orchestre national de Paris/Saraste) and Tippet’s A Child of our Time (Orchestre de Paris/Adès).
Dame Sarah also curates a Residency at Wigmore Hall in the 2018/19 season and gives recitals for the Schubertíada a Vilabertran, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Grand Théâtre de Genève, the Teatro de la Zarzuela in Madrid and the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society.
David Butt Philip
One of today’s most exciting British tenors, David Butt Philip appears at major international stages. An alumnus of the Jette Parker Yong Artists Programme of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, his recent debuts in roles such the title role in Zemlinsky’s Der Zwerg, directed by Tobias Kratzer at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Florestan (Fidelio) at the Prague National Theatre and later in Kratzer’s new production for Covent Garden, and Bacchus (Ariadne auf Naxos) at the Edinburgh International Festival have earned him critical and public acclaim. In the 2021/22 season, prior to his Salzburg Festival debut in Kát’a Kabanová, he appeared as Grigory (Boris Godunov) and Laertes in Brett Dean’s Hamlet for his debut at the Metropolitan Opera, and sang for the first time at Washington National Opera in gala concerts under Evan Rogister. He also returned to the Deutsche Oper Berlin for Der Zwerg and made his role debut with the same company as Lohengrin.
Engagements in earlier seasons have included the Prince in Christof Loy’s new production of Rusalka, Froh (Das Rheingold) and Essex in David McVicar’s new production of Gloriana at the Teatro Real in Madrid, Rodolfo (La bohème) at the English National Opera, Boris (Kát’a Kabanová) at the Glyndebourne Festival, Laca in a concert performance of Jenůfa with the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic under Karina Canellakis at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, the title role in Dean’s Hamlet in Cologne and Erik (Der fliegende Holländer) at the Opéra de Lille. In the UK he has sung Grigory and Narraboth (Salome) at Covent Garden, the tenor part in Daniel Kramer’s production of Britten’s War Requiem (for which he was nominated for an Olivier Award), Don José (Carmen), Pinkerton (Madama Butterfly) and Rodolfo for the ENO, Vaudémont (Iolanta) and Folco in Mascagni’s Isabeau for Opera Holland Park, Laca and Luigi (Il tabarro) for Opera North, Laertes in the world premiere of Dean’s Hamlet at the Glyndebourne Festival and the title role in the same opera for Glyndebourne on Tour.
On the concert platform David Butt Philips has appeared with orchestras including the Hallé Orchestra, the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Philharmonia Orchestra, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, the Tonkünstler Orchestra, the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Berlin Symphony Orchestra, the Orquestra Sinfónica Portuguesa, the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra, in works such as Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde and Das klagende Lied, Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius, Verdi’s Requiem, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony and Missa solemnis, and the title role in Berlioz’s La Damnation de Faust. He has collaborated with conductors including Mark Elder, Vladimir Jurowski, Vladimir Ashkenazy and Antonio Pappano.
William Vann
The current Organist & Director of Music, William Vann, oversees the music in the Wren Chapel, including training the Organ Scholar and Chapel Choir, and takes an active part in the musical life of the Royal Hospital. He also works outside the Royal Hospital as a conductor, harpsichordist, pianist and organist, performing across the U.K. and internationally. Recent performances have included appearances at Royal Festival Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Wigmore Hall, Cadogan Hall, the Royal Opera House, Sage, Gateshead and St John’s, Smith Square, at the Aldeburgh, Edinburgh, Oxford Lieder and Machynlleth Festivals, the Northern Ireland Festival of Voice (broadcast on Radio 3) and abroad in France, Germany (on live ZDF television), Ireland, Nigeria, South Africa (National Arts Festival) and Sweden. His discography includes recordings with Albion, Champs Hill, Chandos, Delphian, Etcetera, Navona and SOMM. He is the founder of the London English Song Festival, an Associate of the RAM, Musical Director of Dulwich Choral Society, a Fellow of the Royal College of Organists, a Trustee of the Ralph Vaughan Williams Society, a Samling Artist, a Freeman of the Worshipful Company of Musicians, the Chairman of Kensington and Chelsea Music Society, the Artistic Director of Bedford Music Club, the Guest Conductor of the English Chamber Choir and a regular conductor and vocal coach at the Dartington and Oxenfoord International Summer Schools.
