Programme:

Handel	Alexander’s Feast: Revenge, Timotheus cries
Schubert	Der Schiffer Auf der Donau Wie Ulfru fischt Nachtstück
Brahms	Vier ernste Gesänge Denn es gehet dem Menschen Ich wandte mich und sahe an alle O Tod, wie bitter bist du! Wenn ich mit Menschen und mit Engelszungen redete
Ravel	Don Quichotte à Dulcinée Chanson romanesque Chanson épique Chanson à boire
Tchaikovsky	Eugene Onegin: You wrote a letter… (all performed in Russian) Romances : Don Juan’s Serenade Amid the din of the ball Oh, if you could
Rachmaninov	Spring waters On the death of a Linnet Oh, do not grieve for me In the silence

Winner of the 2013 Kathleen Ferrier Award, baritone Gareth Brynmor John held a choral scholarship at St John’s College, Cambridge, before taking a place at London’s Royal Academy of Music. In his final year, he won the Royal Academy of Music Patrons’ Award and was awarded the Silver Medal by the Worshipful Company of Musicians. Gareth was awarded an Independent Opera Postgraduate Voice Fellowship in 2013. He has performed with a number of the UK’s leading orchestras and ensembles including The Philharmonia, the London Mozart Players, The Brandenburg Sinfonia, and Charivari Agréable.  He has a strong interest in song repertoire and performs in the Songsmiths Series at St. John’s Smith Square. He gave his début Wigmore recital earlier this year with a programme including Brahms, Schubert, Vaughan Williams and Ravel.

Simon Lepper is a leading member of the latest generation of talented accompanists. He is professor of piano accompaniment at the Royal College of Music and an official accompanist for the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World Competition. He specialises in vocal accompaniment and has given recitals with singers including Nicole Cabell, Karen Cargill, Allan Clayton, Angelika Kirchschlager, Mark Padmore, Joan Rodgers and Elizabeth Watts. He has performed at venues including the Wigmore Hall, Cocertgebouw, Mozarteum, Cologne Philharmonie, Verbier Festival and BBC Proms and his growing list of recordings include winners of awards including the Diapason d’or and the German Record Critics’ Award 2010 in the chamber music category.