A Royal College of Music Opera Studio Production
MOZART’S LA FINTA GIARDINIERA
7pm | 16, 18, 20, 21 March 2026
Conductor Michael Rosewell
Director Stephen Barlow
Designer Yannis Thavoris
Lighting Designer Tim Mitchell
CAST
Don Anchise, La Podestà
La Marchesa Violante Onesti (Sandrina)
Il Contino Belfiore
16 & 20 March
Edvard Adde
Tim Burton (cover)
Charlotte Jane Kennedy Ariana Ricci (cover)
Francis Melville Taining Zhao (cover)
Arminda Eve Pearson Maxwell
Il Cavalier Ramiro
Serpetta
Roberto (Nardo)
Cecilia Yufan Zhang
Eve Yein Kim (cover)
Eden Shifroni
Olivia Forbes (cover)
Zhen Liu
18 & 21 March
Tom Law
Tim Burton (cover)
Maryam Wocial Ariana Ricci (cover)
Hugo Brady Taining Zhao (cover)
Carys Davies
Angelina Dorlin-Barlow
Eve Yein Kim (cover)
Bella Marslen
Olivia Forbes (cover)
Alex Semple
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Programme details correct at time of going to print.
A Royal College of Music Opera Studio Production
MOZART’S LA FINTA GIARDINIERA
7pm | 16, 18, 20, 21 March 2026
Britten Theatre
Conductor Michael Rosewell
Director Stephen Barlow
Please note this production uses haze.
Designer Yannis Thavoris
Lighting Designer Tim Mitchell
Approximate total running time: 2 hours 50 minutes (including an interval of 20 minutes)
The RCM Opera Studio is supported by the Patrick and Helena Frost Foundation and Old Possum’s Practical Trust.
The edition of La finta giardiniera used in these performances is published by Bärenreiter-Verlag Kassel.
Performed by arrangement with Faber Music Ltd, London.
Editor Joanna Wyld
Programme design May Yan Man
Artwork FEAST
SYNOPSIS
Act I
Love is in the air. Preparations are underway for the wedding of the Podestà’s social-climbing niece Arminda, who has jilted the lovesick knight Ramiro. The Podestà himself is attracted to his new gardener Sandrina (the Marchesa Violante in disguise), whilst his maid Serpetta, who is attracted to him, is being wooed by Sandrina’s assistant Nardo (Violante’s servant Roberto in disguise). Arminda arrives to meet her fiancé – the playboy Count Belfiore (Violante’s ex lover), who lavishes her with praise.
Belfiore is unsettled by the sight of Sandrina, who denies she is Violante. Serpetta humiliates and rejects Nardo. Alone, Violante laments her fate and faints when she learns that Belfiore is to wed Arminda. Accusations fly as all seven characters confront each other with their jealousies and suspicions.
INTERVAL (20 minutes)
Act II
After dismissing Ramiro, Arminda confronts Belfiore about his alleged attraction to Sandrina, whilst Nardo woos Serpetta in vain. Sandrina continues to deny that she is Violante and tells Belfiore that she witnessed the Marchesa’s death. When Ramiro produces an arrest warrant accusing Belfiore of murder, Sandrina reveals her true identity. But left alone with Belfiore, she claims that her admission was merely a ruse to save him from arrest, and his confusion drives him to increasing despair.
Her marriage to Belfiore threatened, Arminda has Sandrina abducted and abandoned in the wilderness. Nardo searches for Sandrina, followed by the others. They arrive in separate groups and, in the darkness, identities are mistaken and chaos ensues. Unable to cope with their confused feelings for each other, Belfiore and Sandrina retreat into madness.
PAUSE (remain seated)
Act III
Nardo escapes from Sandrina and Belfiore, whose delirium has intensified. Arminda and Ramiro seek the Podestà’s help to resolve their conflict, but he dismisses them. Arminda once again rejects Ramiro, sending the Knight into new levels of despair.
Sandrina and Belfiore awaken, their sanity, and her true identity, restored. They reconcile. Arminda apologises to Violante and the Podestà realises his niece will marry Ramiro, and Serpetta the steadfast Nardo, whilst he will remain single until he finds a real Sandrina. All celebrate the joys of true love.
DIRECTOR’S NOTE
What were you doing when you were 18 years old?
Mozart’s answer to that question was composing his mammoth* three-act opera La finta giardiniera (The Pretend Gardener), which premiered in Munich in 1775. Because we are all familiar with Wolfgang’s CV, there is a tendency to regard the work as a teenage curiosity that only hints at the glories to come in the adult masterpieces. Whilst there is some truth in that, I nonetheless feel that this opera is fertile in its own right, jam-packed as it is with character arias – ideal for our blossoming College cast – as well as sophisticated finales that sprout multiple viewpoints, simultaneously propelling the art form, and the action, forward.
Mozart’s innate ability to nurture character in music is on full display here, and I can think of no other opera composer who was able to do this so convincingly so early. Despite the Pirandello-like absurdities of the plot, no character is treated musically as mere comic foliage. Each is given music that allows their inner feelings and conflicts to surface. Indeed, in Sandrina/Violante, Mozart created one of his most complex heroines (a high bar!), who exists in a permanent state of trauma and disguise for virtually the entire opera. Her ‘madness’ is neither decorative nor virtuosic, and never comic. Mozart not only empathises with her mental state, but has the entire piece, and cast, break down (at the end of the second act) as if in sympathy with her. Sandrina’s Act One aria ‘Geme la tortorella’ is among the finest arias Mozart ever wrote (an especially high bar!) and arguably equal to any of the others he would compose in the remaining 17 years of his life.
Written to a libretto by Giuseppe Petrosellini, La finta giardiniera is rooted in the soil of opera buffa but sends hardy tendrils toward opera seria, allowing silliness and seriousness to grow side by side. Yannis (Thavoris, designer) and I have leaned into both the ridiculous and the sublime, by attempting to create a world that allows us to move fluidly through both the seasons and the centuries of this operatic garden of delights. We have had a lot of fun in ‘Fintaland’, and we hope you do too!
Stephen Barlow
*as has become customary with most modern stage productions of this opera, we have taken out the secateurs and pruned away a few excess arias!
PRODUCTION
For the Royal College of Music Opera Studio
Director of Opera
Michael Rosewell
Head of Vocal & Opera
Audrey Hyland
Deputy Head of Vocal & Opera
Jonathan Lemalu
For the production
Conductor
Michael Rosewell
Director
Stephen Barlow
Designer
Yannis Thavoris
Lighting Designer
Tim Mitchell
Video Designer
PJ McEvoy
Assistant Conductor
Jo Ramadan
Assistant Director
Gus Hodgson
Production Manager
Paul Tucker
Stage Manager
Emma Ryan
Deputy Stage Manager
Zoë Rogers-Holman
Assistant Stage Manager
Helen Woods
Technical Stage Manager
Katherine Verberne
Assistant Head of
Vocal & Opera
Mark Austin
Visiting Professor of Opera
Dame Kiri Te Kanawa
Manager of Vocal & Opera
Ann Somerville
Head of Lighting Colin Eversdijk
Lighting Programmer
Dan Foggo
Board Operator
Addie Gardner-Williams
Head of Stage
Matthew Gorman
Set building and painting
Basement 94
Props
Britten Theatre Workshop
Scenic Artists
Manuela Fleming
Stella Batty
Ella Dawson
Head of Costume
Zoe Hammond Joyce
Costume Assistant
Izzy Darby
Costume Technicians
Evelien Coleman
Philip Engleheart
Charlotte Johnson
Dressers
Izzy Darby
Zoe Hammond Joyce
Vocal & Opera Faculty Officer
Bethan Day
Wigs, Hair and Makeup Supervisor
Sophia Knight
Wigs, Hair and Makeup Assistants
Elise Marsh
Simone Philcox
Surtitles
Kenneth Chalmers
Surtitle Operators
Amy Chau
Lottie Craven
Megan Hill
Répétiteurs
Alice Turner
Jo Ramadan
Paul McKenzie
Strings Coach
Gaby Lester
Wind & Brass Coach
Joanna Marsh
Special thanks to
The RCM Facilities team
The RCM Studios team
Adam Haigh (Act II finale
ballet choreography)
Royal College of Music Opera Orchestra
Violin I
Joe MacDonald
Alexander Sahatci
Annika Bowers
Ankits Tripathi
Gabin Montet
Zoe Hirst
Anthony Knight
Violin II
India Reilly
Anastasia Lee
Kenza Stamselberg
Tiantong Wu
Kana Aihara
Kseniia Bogomolova
Viola
Florence Cope
Hugo Svensson
Danya Rushton
Jamie Jones
Cello
James Young
Andrew O’Reilly
Lisa Dolgouchine
Double Bass
Woon Ngee Ng
Susannah Rance
Flute
Lilja Hakonardottir
Alessandra Scalzone
Oboe
Patricia Gomes
Becky Pughe
Bassoon
Liam Slabbert
Matthew Choy
Horn
Alana Knowles
Jacob Moorhouse
Trumpet
Olivia Wild
Chloe Dykes
Timpani
Mariella Bromfield
Harpsichord
Jo Ramadan
For the Royal College of Music
Head of Performance, Programming & Faculties
Flo Ambrose
Orchestra Manager
Daniella Rossi
Concert and Venue Manager
Grace Cattell
Orchestra Co-ordinator
Izzi Bartlett
Performance & Programming Assistant
Chris Michie
CREATIVE TEAM
Michael Rosewell Conductor
Michael Rosewell has worked in some of the world’s most prestigious opera houses, including the Vienna State Opera, Royal Opera House, Covent Garden and English National Opera. He began his conducting career in Germany before joining the music staff of the Vienna State Opera, where he assisted Claudio Abbado, worked with the Vienna Philharmonic, and with many of the world’s greatest singers including Carreras, Domingo and Pavarotti – the original Three Tenors.
Michael has conducted extensively throughout Europe, the USA and the UK, in concert and at many international music festivals with leading orchestras including the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestra of Scottish Opera, the State orchestras of the Rheinische Philharmonie, Mannheim and Wiesbaden and the Leipzig Philharmonie. He has broadcast for Radio France Musique and Süddeutsche Rundfunk, and recorded under the Linn and Decca record labels. Michael recently appeared in concert with the Bath Philharmonia and rising-star pianist, Junyan Chen.
Michael completed a highly successful tenure as Music Director of English Touring Opera, raising the company’s profile with performances consistently noted in the press for their musical excellence. Michael’s performances of Tippett’s King Priam at the Royal Opera House won an ‘outstanding achievement in opera’ Olivier Award.
Stephen Barlow Director
Stephen was born and educated in Melbourne, Australia and began his career as a staff director at Glyndebourne Festival Opera and then with the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. He has subsequently staged over 70 opera productions worldwide for leading companies including The Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, Santa Fe Opera, Théâtre du Capitole, Toulouse, Glyndebourne Festival Opera, Opera Theatre Saint Louis and Opéra de Monte Carlo.
His recent work includes Il barbiere di Siviglia and Don Giovanni (Santa Fe), Marx in London! (Scottish Opera), Roméo et Juliette (Estonian National Opera), Flight (Scottish Opera and State Opera South Australia), Così fan tutte (Central City Opera, Colorado), Madama Butterfly (Danish National Opera), La cenerentola (Grange Festival) and a new touring production of The Phantom of the Opera.
Stephen has a longstanding relationship with Opera Holland Park, where he has staged 13 operas including the European premiere of Fantastic Mr Fox, and most recently the world premiere of Jonathan Dove’s Itch. He is also a regular guest director at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Previously for the Royal College of Music, he has directed Hänsel und Gretel. Future plans include The Pearl Fishers (New Zealand Opera) and Peter Grimes (Estonian National Opera).
Yannis Thavoris Designer
Yannis Thavoris graduated with a diploma in Architecture from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece in 1995. He then obtained a Master of Arts in European Scenography at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design. He was winner of the 1997 Linbury Prize for Stage Design.
Recent designs include: Hänsel and Gretel (Royal College of Music; Carmen (Royal Academy of Music); Taj Mahal (Grange Park Opera); The Turn of the Screw (Spoleto USA); Don Giovanni (Santa Fe Opera); Suor Angelica (English National Opera); Marx in London! (Scottish Opera); Mansfield Park (RNCM); L’heure espagnole/Gianni Schicchi (RAM); Viva la Diva (Salzburger Landestheater); Roméo et Juliette (Estonian National Opera); Orlando (San Francisco Opera); Roberto Devereux (sets, Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe); Otello (Theater Magdeburg).
He has also worked on: Tosca (Nederlandse Reisopera/Santa Fe Opera); Cendrillon (RNCM); L’elisir d’amore (Den Jyske Opera, Denmark); A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Sibelius Academy, Helsinki); La finta giardiniera (Royal College of Music and Buxton Festival); Ariodante, The Lady from the Sea, Madama Butterfly (Scottish Opera); La donna del lago (costumes, Royal Opera House); Rigoletto (National Opera Bucharest).
Tim Mitchell
Lighting Designer
Tim is an Associate Artist for the RSC and Chichester Festival Theatre and a Fellow of the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama. Awards include: Knight of Illumination Award for Taken at Midnight (Chichester) and Nalieda Award for King Kong (Fugard Theatre). Nominations include: Olivier Award for Henry IV Parts 1 & 2 (RSC), Green Room Award for Singin' in the Rain (Australia), Critics’ Award for Theatre in Scotland for Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (Royal Lyceum), and Fleur du Cap Award for King Kong and Kinky Boots.
Credits include: Top Hat (Chichester); Sister Act (West End, UK and international tour); Singin' in the Rain (international tour); Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Leeds Playhouse and UK tour); A Christmas Carol (RSC); Idiots Assemble: Spitting Image Live, Upstart Crow (West End); Wicked (Oslo; Frederica Teater, Denmark); Les Demoiselles de Rochefort, Hello Dolly (Lido Paris); Rent (Theater St Gallen, Switzerland); HMS Pinafore, The Force of Destiny, Fidelio, Iolanthe (ENO); L'Orfeo, Fairy Queen (Longborough); Sinatra The Musical, The Play What I Wrote, The Exorcist (Birmingham Rep); Atlantis (Tivoli); A Streetcar Named Desire (Orlando/Nashville); Kinky Boots, West Side Story (Cape Town); Funny Girl, Guys and Dolls (Théatre Marigny, Paris); Margrethe Pressure (Toronto); and 14 productions for Grange Park Opera.
PJ McEvoy
Video Designer
PJ designs sets, costumes and video content for theatre, having trained in Professional Production Skills at Guildford School of Acting. Design credits featuring video include: Pop Off Michelangelo! (Underbelly Boulevard); Dr Rangan Chatterjee: The Thrive Tour (UK tour); Bugsy Malone (Mayflower Theatre); Marx in London! (Scottish Opera); Sizwe Bansi is Dead (MAST Mayflower Studios); Glory Ride (Charing Cross Theatre); Hänsel und Gretel (Royal College of Music) Persona (Riverside Studios); Falsettos (The Other Palace); Intra Muros (Park Theatre); Fanatical (Playground Theatre); One Minute (Barn Theatre); A Little Princess (Royal Festival Hall); The Secret Garden (Barn Theatre); Outlaws To In-Laws (King’s Head); Some Girls (Park Theatre); Alice in Wonderland (Guildford Shakespeare Company).
Other design credits include: All In A Row (Southwark Playhouse); Doubt, A Parable (Southwark Playhouse); The Dover Road (Jermyn Street Theatre); The Pillowman (Aberdeen Arts Centre); Hatched ’n’ Despatched (Park Theatre).
CAST
Edvard Adde Don Anchise, La Podestà
Tenor Edvard Adde is on the Richard Silver Scholarship supported by the Maria Björnson Memorial Fund Award. Edvard is currently undertaking his Masters at the Royal College of Music, where he studies with Jonathan Lemalu and coach Caroline Dowdle. Previous opera roles include The Schoolmaster in The Cunning Little Vixen by Janáček (RCM), Nemorino in L’elisir d’amore by Donizetti (St Paul’s Opera), Beppe in Pagliacci by Leoncavallo (North Wales Opera Studio), Don Curzio in Le nozze di Figaro by Mozart (RCM), Ernesto (cover) in Don Pasquale by Donizetti (Longhope Opera) and Rinuccio in Gianni Schicchi (Opera Rogaland).
Hugo Brady Il Contino Belfiore
Tenor Hugo Brady studies under Russell Smythe as an ABRSM Scholar at RCM. Last season he was an Associate Artist of The Mozartists, a Rising Star of the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, a Samling Artist and an Oxford Song Young Artist. In 2025 he debuted at the Festival d‘Aix-en-Provence as The Novice in Billy Budd before joining the Verbier Festival Atelier Lyrique. He sang Clyde in Alan Bennett’s The Choral. The 2025/26 season includes debuts with the Philharmonie Zuid, Stavanger Symphonie, Residentie Orkest, Dutch Radio Philharmonic and Lied Festival Zeist. Hugo won the 2022 Junior Kathleen Ferrier Competition.
Tim Burton Don Anchise, La Podestà (cover)
Tenor Tim Burton is the Yvonne Wells Scholar supported by the Mason Award, in his second year of a Masters at the RCM, studying with Timothy Evans-Jones and Caroline Dowdle. In 2025 he performed in the Ensemble of Laura Karpman’s Balls with the Philharmonia, and the RCM’s Love, Conflict, Renaissance. Tim previously studied at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, where roles included Schoolmaster/Mosquito in The Cunning Little Vixen; Moon/King of the East in Jonathan Dove’s Enchanted Pig; Mr Bobo/Other Bobo in Mark-Anthony Turnage’s Coraline. He started his musical career as a chorister at Gloucester Cathedral, and enjoys cooking, stained glass windows and jazz.
Carys Davies Arminda
Welsh soprano Carys Davies is studying for her Masters at RCM with Professor Janis Kelly. Carys is the Ivor Llewellyn Foster Scholar supported by Help Musicians and The James Pantyfedwen Foundation. She made her professional debut touring the UK in WNO’s The Magic Flute (2023). Carys graduated from the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama in 2024. Recent roles include Chief Hen/Mrs Pásek in The Cunning Little Vixen (RCM). Carys was a finalist in the 2025 Ashburnham English Song Competition, and was awarded Second Prize in the 2025 Brooks Van der Pump Song Competition. Carys joins the Glyndebourne Chorus this summer.
Angelina Dorlin-Barlow Il Cavalier Ramiro
British mezzo soprano Angelina Dorlin-Barlow holds the Fishmongers’ Company Scholarship, supported by the Karaviotis Scholarship at the RCM Opera Studio, where she studies with Patricia Bardon. She is a Samling Artist and a London Transport Museum Artist 2025, and is supported by the Josephine Baker Trust, Drake Calleja Trust and Countess of Munster Musical Trust. Angelina was named a Cecil King Scholar at the Oxford International Song Festival 2023 and featured as a Shipston Song Rising Star in 2025. She joined the Glyndebourne Chorus for the 2025 festival and returns this season as a Jerwood Young Artist.
Olivia Forbes Serpetta (cover)
Olivia Forbes is pursuing a Master of Performance at the Royal College of Music under Sarah Tynan, with support from the Theo Max van der Beugel Scholarship. She holds a conjoint degree in classical voice and Italian, and a first-class honours degree in music from the University of Auckland. Since her professional debut as Flora in The Turn of the Screw with New Zealand Opera, she has performed as a soloist with the Auckland Philharmonic Orchestra, was a finalist in the 2024 New Zealand Aria Competition, and received the New Zealand Opera School 2025 Dame Sister Mary Leo Award.
Charlotte Jane Kennedy Violante Onesti (Sandrina)
Winner of the Loveday Song Prize at the 69th Ferrier Awards, British soprano Charlotte Jane Kennedy is a member of the RCM Opera Studio, studying under Janis Kelly. Roles at the College include Vixen in Janáček’s The Cunning Little Vixen, Susanna in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro and Mistinguett in Weill’s Chansons des Quais. Elsewhere, Charlotte has performed Giannetta in Donizetti’s L’elisir d'amore (Garsington Opera) and Fiordiligi in Mozart’s Così fan tutte (Da Ponte Festival, Italy). Charlotte is an Andrea Bocelli Foundation-Community Jameel Scholar and is supported by the Drake Calleja Trust, The Wayne Sleep Foundation and Help Musicians.
Eve Yein Kim Il Cavalier Ramiro (cover)
South Korean mezzo soprano Eve Yein Kim is currently pursuing a Masters in Vocal Performance at the Royal College of Music, where she studies with Patricia Bardon and Bryan Evans. She graduated with highest honours from Seoul Arts High School and Seoul National University, studying under Jennifer Larmore and receiving full merit scholarships throughout her studies. Her repertoire focuses on lyric mezzo soprano roles, including Baroque and Classical repertoire, trouser roles and contemporary works. Her operatic appearances include Maddalena (Rigoletto) at Music Fest Perugia, Cherubino (Le nozze di Figaro) in Seoul, and Rosina (Il barbiere di Siviglia).
Tom Law Don Anchise, La Podestà
Tenor Tom Law is studying for his Masters at the RCM with Timothy Evans-Jones and Bryan Evans, as a John Nickson & Simon Rew Scholar in memory of Sir Peter Jonas, supported by the Geoffrey Boyes Memorial Scholarship. He is a Waterperry Opera Festival Young Artist (2026) and was an Alvarez Emerging Artist at Garsington Opera (2025). He earned a first-class BMus and the Poppy Holden Award from the RCM. Roles include The Angel (The Acts of Brizida Vaz, Tête à Tête) and Bayard Taylor (Barnum’s Bird, RCM). Concert solos include Handel’s Messiah (Portsmouth Cathedral) and Mendelssohn’s Paulus (Chelmsford Cathedral).
Zhen Liu Roberto (Nardo)
Zhen Liu, a Chinese baritone, is currently enrolled at the Royal College of Music Opera School. He holds the distinction of being a David W Patterson Scholar, supported by the Vivian Prins Award. He presently studies under the guidance of esteemed baritone Peter Savidge and repertoire coach Caroline Dowdle. His operatic credits include roles in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro and Così fan tutte, Offenbach’s Les contes d'Hoffmann, Puccini‘s Turandot, Janáček’s The Cunning Little Vixen, as well as Connie Harris’ The Drifterman. Concert roles include Mozart’s Coronation Mass and Haydn’s Missa brevis
Bella Marslen Serpetta
Bella Marslen is part of the RCM Opera School under the tutelage of Professor Janis Kelly. She is the current Andrew Treagus Scholar, Mimi and Colin Watts Scholar and a Tait Memorial Trust Scholarship recipient. Bella was a 2022/23 Young Artist with West Australian Opera and a 2024 Wigmore Hall French Song Exchange Artist. Performances include soprano solo in Bach’s Easter Oratorio (2023, West Australian Opera), First Wood Sprite, Rusalka (2024, West Australian Opera), Barbarina, Le nozze di Figaro (2025, RCM), Angel, Seven Angels (2025, RCM), and Vixen, The Cunning Little Vixen (2025, RCM).
Eve Maxwell Arminda
Scottish soprano Eve Pearson Maxwell is studying for her Masters in Performance with Amanda Roocroft as an RCM Scholar. Eve’s recent engagements include singing Susan B Anthony in the world premiere of Laura Karpman’s Balls, with the Philharmonia conducted by Marin Alsop; Chorus and cover Liù in Instant Opera’s Turandot; First Swan Maiden for Retrospect Opera’s recording of The Seal Woman with the Scottish Opera Orchestra; and Dido (cover) in the Royal Conservatoire’s concert performance of Dido and Aeneas. Eve is looking forward to performing Musetta in La bohème with Westminster Opera this summer.
Francis Melville Il Contino Belfiore
British tenor Francis Melville is currently studying for his Artist Diploma in Opera at the Royal College of Music, where he also completed his Masters degree. He is the Cuthbert Smith Scholar and is supported by the Siow-Furniss Scholarship. He is taught by tenor Ben Johnson. Recent opera roles include Count Almaviva in Rossini’s The Barber of Seville, Schoolmaster in Janáček’s The Cunning Little Vixen and Torquemada in Ravel’s L'heure espagnole. He is also supported by the Josephine Baker Trust, and recent solo oratorio performances include Puccini’s Messa di Gloria, Verdi’s Requiem, Handel’s Messiah, Mendelssohn’s Elijah and Howard Blake’s Benedictus
Ariana Ricci Violante Onesti (Sandrina – cover)
Ariana Ricci studies under Janis Kelly at the RCM as an Australian Commonwealth Scholar, previously graduating from Sydney Conservatorium as a Meller Memorial Scholar. She was a finalist and prize winner in the Australian Singing Competition, the Sydney Eisteddfod Opera Scholarship Competition and the Lies Askonas Competition. Ariana was also awarded the George and Margaret Henderson Scholarship to support her studies in the UK. She has performed with ensembles such as the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, the Opera Australia Orchestra, Pinchgut Opera and Willoughby Symphony Orchestra, and looks forward to joining the Internationale Meistersinger Akademie this summer.
Alexander Semple Roberto (Nardo)
Baritone Alexander Semple studies at the RCM under Russell Smythe, previously graduating from the University of Cambridge with a degree in music. Recent engagements include a performance of arias from Haydn’s Die Feuersbrunst alongside The Mozartists, as well as performances as Harašte in The Cunning Little Vixen (RCM). He also recently appeared alongside the BBC National Chorus of Wales in a performance of Carmina Burana Alexander is a Drake Calleja Scholar, James Bowman Young Artist (Vache Baroque), and is supported by the Linbury Scholarship, the Josephine Baker Trust, and the Choir Association of St John’s College, Cambridge.
Eden Shifroni Serpetta
Australian soprano Eden Shifroni is a member of the RCM Opera Studio, where she studies with Russell Smythe as the Alastair Jackson International Opera Award recipient. She won the 2024 IFAC Australian Singing Competition and received the Audience Prize at the Joan Sutherland and Richard Bonynge Bel Canto Award. Highlights include Pamina (The Magic Flute), Musetta (La bohème), and Poppea in the Australian premiere of Elena Kats-Chernin’s re-orchestration of Monteverdi’s The Coronation of Poppea. She is a Melba Opera Trust Scholar supported by the Tait Memorial Trust, and holds Bachelor and Masters degrees from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music.
Maryam Wocial Violante Onesti (Sandrina)
British soprano Maryam Wocial is studying with Mary Nelson as a member of the RCM Opera Studio, where she is a Poppy Holden Scholar supported by the Martin Harris Scholarship. Previous roles at the RCM include the Fox in Janáček’s The Cunning Little Vixen and the Angel in Jonathan Dove’s Seven Angels. Recent awards include the Prix Thierry Mermod at the 2025 Verbier Festival and second prize at the 2025 International Handel Singing Competition. She is a Josephine Baker Trust artist, a 2026 International Opera Awards bursary recipient, and a 2026 Alvarez Emerging Artist with Garsington Opera.
Cecilia Yufan Zhang Il Cavalier Ramiro
Mezzo soprano Cecilia Yufan Zhang is the H F Music Award
Holder studying at the RCM Opera Studio. Recent roles include Cherubino, Le nozze di Figaro (RCM); Prince Orlofsky, Die Fledermaus (Westminster Opera); the title role of The Rape of Lucretia (British Youth Opera); and Julia Bertram, Mansfield Park (New Zealand Opera). Cecilia recently made her Wigmore Hall debut. In the 2025/26 season, Cecilia makes her return to NZO as Cherubino. Upon graduation, Cecilia will be joining the Wilhelmsen Opera Studio at The Norwegian Opera & Ballet.
Taining Zhao Il Contino Belfiore (cover)
Chinese tenor Taining Zhao holds the Tiong Kiu King Scholarship at the Royal College of Music, studying under Justin Lavender. His recent engagements at the RCM include Acis and Galatea. On the operatic stage, he has portrayed lead roles in The Song of the Nation (Nie Er) and The Life of Confucius (Yan Hui), as well as Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni. As a concert soloist, he has performed in Beethoven’s Symphony no 9. He is a graduate of the Zhejiang Conservatory of Music.
THANK YOU TO OUR SUPPORTERS
Music has the power to transform lives. The generosity of our supporters enables us to reach and nurture gifted students for them to become leading musicians of the next generation. We are so very grateful to all who are listed below, as well as to those who wish to remain anonymous, who have supported the Royal College of Music between January 2025 and December 2025.
We would also like to thank members of the RCM Legacy Ensemble who have so thoughtfully pledged a gift to the RCM in their Will.
Founding Patrons
ABRSM
Amaryllis Fleming Foundation
The Estate of Sue Balston
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Victor Ford Foundation on behalf of Ramona & Trevor Swale
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The Estate of Neville Wathen
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Garfield Weston Foundation
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Leadership Supporters
The Estate of Jill Anderson
Art Mentor Foundation
Lucerne
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The Estate of Thomas Cottrell
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The Fishmongers' Company
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The Estate of Albert Frost
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The Harry & Gylla Godwin Charitable Trust
HEFCE
Linda Hill HonRCM & Tony Hill
The Victor and Lilian Hochhauser Foundation
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Richardson Taylor Charitable Trust
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Foundation
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The Estate of Stephen P Roberts
Victoria, Lady Robey
CBE HonRCM ^
The Estate of Emma Rose
The Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851
The Segelman Trust
Dasha Shenkman OBE HonRCM ^
The Estate of Joyce Slate
The Estate of Gerald Charles Webster
The Estate of Nancy Ann Wolfers
Henry Wood Accommodation Trust
Principal Supporters
The Estate of Maureen Hyacinth Adams
Jane Avery in memory of Robert Avery
C. Bechstein
Pianofortefabrik AG
Dr Linda Beeley
Lord Black & Mark Bolland
Ian Boag
Wolter & Nina
Brenninkmeijer
The Estate of Heather Curry
The Victor Dahdaleh Foundation
Peter & Annette Dart
The Drapers’ Company
Martin Fraenkel
J Paul Getty Jr Charitable Trust
The Headley Trust
Jules Hess & the late Tony Hess
JMC
The Estate of Frida Betty Koganovitch
James & Margaret Lancaster
John Lewis Partnership
Lord and Lady Lurgan Trust
LIBER Foundation
The Mills Williams Foundation
The Estate of Sir Neville Marriner FRCM
Rosemary Millar HonRCM & Richard Millar
Michael & Dorothy Needley
John Nickson & Simon Rew
The Estate of Sheila & Christine Partridge
The Charles Peel
Charitable Trust
Pro Musica Ltd
The Estate of Charles Stewart Richardson
Leopold de Rothschild 1959 Charitable Trust
Roland Saam ^
The Estate of Humphrey Searle CBE FRCM
Alethea Siow & Jeremy Furniss
Robert Rose & Ian Fowler HonRCM
Miss Kathleen Beryl Sleigh Charitable Trust
The Peter Sowerby Foundation
Steinway & Sons
Betty & the late Robert Sutherland ^
Ian & Meriel Tegner
The Kiri Te Kanawa Foundation UK
Mrs Lynette Tiong
Sandra Treagus
The Estate of Ivor
Charles Treby
The Estate of Gweneth
Urquhart
Van Cleef & Arpels
Vaseppi Trust
Meryl, Lady Walters ^
Sir Siegmund Warburg's Voluntary Settlement
Bob & Sarah Wigley
The Wilfrid Blunt Trust
The Worshipful Company of Musicians
Yan Zhang & Yinghong Chiu
Major Supporters
In memory of Dr. Renate Branton
Ms Agnes Oi Man CHIU in memory of Mr Albert Kwok
Ching CHIU
E B M Charitable Trust
Jerwood Foundation
The Michael Stuckey Trust
The Risman Foundation
Supporters
Abinger Hammer Village School Trust
Robert Anderson
The Robert Anderson Trust
The Julian Bream Trust
Graham Brookman
The Maria Björnson Memorial Fund
The Brooks Van Der
Pump Charitable Trust
Catherine Clarke ^
Noël Coward
Foundation
Diane Davies
The Finzi Trust
The Gilbert & Eileen
Edgar Foundation
Richard Goulding
Dr & Mrs Chris Gibson-
Smith CBE ^
The Hargreaves and Ball Charitable Trust
The Patrick & Helena
Frost Foundation ^
L G Harris Trust
Poppy Holden
The Houston Family
Alastair Jackson AM and Melba Opera Trust
International Music & Art Foundation
David James
Richard & Susan Jarvis
Karaviotis Foundation
The Donna Kendall Foundation ^
The Honourable Society of the Knights of the Round Table
Mary Laing & the late David Laing
Lee Abbey London
Dr Susan Lim & Deepak Sharma
Marco Livingstone
London Women's Clinic Foundation
The Hon Richard Lyttelton HonRCM & Romilly Lyttelton
Lady Lipworth & the Late Sir Sydney
Lotti Masterson
The Howard & Abby Milstein Foundation
The Milton Grundy Foundation
Northern Trust ^ Ofenheim Charitable Trust
Old Possum's Practical Trust ^
Opperby Stokowski Collection Trust
Marian & Gordon Pell
The Stanley Picker Charitable Trust
Richard Price FRCM & Sue Price
Russell Race
Hilda Scarth
The Estate of Richard Silver
Stuart Sinclair
Lisa Thomas
South Square Trust
Peter & Dimity Spiller
Stephen Stuart-Smith
Tait Memorial Trust
The Robert Turnbull
Piano Foundation
Anne Wadsworth OBE & Brian Wadsworth
The Wall Trust
Mimi & Colin Watts
The Wolseley Hospitality Group
The Wyseliot Charitable Trust
Dr Richard Zheng & Mr Paul Hill
Core Contributors
The Astor Foundation
The Hon Christopher Bellew
John & Halina Bennett
Robin & Alice Berkeley
Richard & Tasoulla Christou
Don Gillett
Richard Hamilton Harbinson Charitable Trust
The Herbert Howells Trust
Gillian Humphreys OBE HonRCM & Peter J David
The Estate of Dolores P Jones
Professor Colin Lawson CBE FRCM
Martin Guitars
David Mildon
Ellen Moloney
Family of Peter Morrison
William Newsom
Midori Nishiura HonRCM
The Estate of Roselyn
Ann Clifton Parker
Phillimore Trust
Catherine Quinn ^
Christopher & Zosia Road
Alan Sainer
Plimpton Shattuck Fund at the Boston Foundation ^
Sarah Sillem
Janis Susskind OBE HonRCM
Dr Paula Walter & Dr
Magnus Walter
Mr & Mrs Whetsel
Professor Lord Winston & the late Lady
Winston
Moira Witty GRSM ARCM
Quentin & Sarah Williams
The Worshipful Company of Saddlers
Legacy Ensemble
Dr Emma Adlard
Robert Anderson
Mr Robert C Andrews
Mrs Kathleen Atkins
Christopher Ball
Margaret Barfield
Mrs Jane Barker CBE FRCM
Mr Brian Barker
Elizabeth Bates
John Beech
John & Halina Bennett
Lady Eve Bergman ARCM LRAM
John Bertalot
Lord Black & Mr Mark Bolland
Mrs Elizabeth Blackman
Helen Brunner
Mrs Brenda Bunyan
Miss Valerie ByromTaylor
Sir Roger & Lady Carr HonRCM
Mr Rupert Chalk
Mr Chris Christodoulou HonRCM
Daphne Clarke
Colin Coombs
Gordon & Penny Cooper
Julie Craig
Mr Colin Cree ARCM
Mrs Katia de Peyer
William Dinning
Mr Paul Duffy
Mrs Marion Dyer
Mr John East
Mrs Catherine James Edwards
Scott Elkins
Pete Fozard
Donald Fraser HonRCM
Sarah Gibb
Olivia Graham
Lady Victoria Harrison
Lily Harriss HonRCM & Julian Harriss
Mr Michael Hodges
Ms Poppy Holden
Professor Peter Holgate & Dr Nelda Frater
Susan Holland
David Holohan
Mike & Caroline Howes
Bryan Husband
Michael Kadwell
Karaviotis Foundation
Bryan Kelly
Professor Pat KendallTaylor
Mr Nicholas King FRCM
Mr Matthew Knight
Professor Colin Lawson
CBE FRCM
John Lawson
Dr Kenneth Le MeunierFitzHugh
Marco Livingstone
Sue Lyons
Mr Neville McDonough
Kenneth & Daphne Midwood
Lorraine Migliorini
Miss Madeleine Mitchell
FRSA MMus GRSM ARCM
Elizabeth Mitchell
Ellen Moloney
Jennifer Neelands
Ms Avril Nelson & Mr Graham Fearnhead
Mr John Nickson & Mr Simon Rew
Michael Normington
Mr Humphrey
Norrington OBE FRCM
Terry & Valerie Osborne
Caroline Elizabeth Page
Dame Janet Ritterman
DBE HonDMus
Victoria, Lady Robey OBE HonRCM
Robert Rose & Iain
Fowler HonRCM
Mrs Hilda Scarth
Christopher Scott
Mr William & Mrs
Valerie Shackel
Dasha Shenkman OBE HonRCM
Ms Barbara Simmonds
Duncan Sparkes
Stephen Stuart-Smith
Kenny Sturgeon
Susan Sturrock HonRCM
Mr Robert Sutherland
Barbara Tanner
Anton Tasker
Patricia & Kevin Thompson
Kyra von Schottenstein
Baroness Fleet CBE
Anne Wadsworth OBE & Brian Wadsworth
Caroline WallisNewport
Colin Watts
Timothy Wilcox
James Williams & Edward Lidster
Professor Lord Winston & the late Lady
Winston
Dr Richard Zheng & Mr Paul Hill
