A class show of Samling success.

A WEEK of intense musical instruction reaches a climax tonight with a concert of undoubted quality.

Under the spotlight in Hall Two at Sage Gateshead will be the latest young singers to benefit from the attentions of Samling, the Hexham-based music charity.

The Samling formula is tried and proven. Some of the best young singers on the cusp of their careers audition for places at a week-long residential course at Farlam Hall Hotel near Brampton, Cumbria. The best of the best are chosen. In the most comfortable of surroundings they undergo a programme of masterclasses led by established stars.

This week the mentors have been the soprano Joan Rodgers, the piano accompanist Roger Vignoles, the accompanist and vocal coach Audrey Hyland and the RSC actor Alex Hassell, who will join the RSC next year to play Prince Hal to Antony Sher's Falstaff in Henry IV, Parts I and II.

On Wednesday there was a public masterclass at Sage Gateshead, an opportunity for music-lovers to see how brilliant singers are coached to become even better.

In the photograph you can see the young Maltese opera singer Nicola Said getting some tips in stagecraft from Alex Hassell.

The other young singers in the current crop of Samling scholars are soprano Raphaela Papadakis, mezzo-soprano Lynda-Jane Nelson, baritone Andrew McTaggart and bassbaritone Tristan Hambleton.

Pianists James Sherlock, Andrew Dunlop and Jonathan Ware have also been benefiting from the week of tuition.

At tonight's Samling concert, which starts at 7pm, they will all perform, sharing what they have learned during the week.

Tickets cost PS5 and can be bought from the Sage box office: 0191 4434661 or www.sagegateshead.

com

Article Details

Printer friendly Cite/link Email Feedback
Title Annotation:	Features
Publication:	The Journal (Newcastle, England)
Geographic Code:	4EUUK
Date:	Nov 23, 2013
Words:	275
Previous Article:	Tribute band mark 21st with Holly.
Next Article:	Hughes will spark Stoke into playing his way.
Topics:	Musicians