Kieran Carrel & Richard Gowers

Kieran Carrel

Kieran Carrel (born 1996) studied in Cologne, Germany with the renowned German tenor Christoph Prégardien before continuing his studies with distinguished Scottish tenor Neil Mackie at the Royal Academy of Music. He frequently appears as a soloist in oratorio and recital across Europe. Kieran has appeared on the operatic stage in roles such as Kilian in C.M. Weber’s Freischütz and Sakristan in Siegfried Wagner’s An allem ist Hütchen Schuld under Lionel Friend, which was recently released on DVD with Naxos. Further roles include Flute in Benjamin Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Contino Belfiore in Ryedale Festival’s production of Mozart’s La finta giardiniera with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. He returned to the festival in 2018/19 to sing Ferrando in Così fan tutte and also appeared in recital with Christopher Glynn.

Later that year he had his debut as Paolino in Domenico Cimarosa’s Il matrimonio segreto in the baroque Goethe Theatre of Bad Lauchstädt. In December 2016 Kieran first appeared at Wigmore Hall, accompanied by Graham Johnson. He is due to return to the hall in April 2019. As part of the Schubert Week with Thomas Hampson and Hartmut Höll, he has recently sung at the Pierre-Boulez-Saal in Berlin and has since been invited back. Kieran is a recipient of the Royal Academy’s Douglas Samuel & Birdie Matthews Award and regularly cast a soloist in the Royal Academy of Music/Kohn Foundation Bach Cantatas series, where he has sung under the baton of Philippe Herreweghe and Iain Ledingham. Kieran is generously supported by the ABRSM.

Richard Gowers

Richard Gowers studies Piano Accompaniment with Michael Dussek and Joseph Middleton at the Royal Academy of Music, where he has won several prizes for song accompaniment and chamber music.

He began studies at the Mendelssohn Conservatoire in Leipzig, and then as Organ Scholar at King’s College, Cambridge, graduating in 2017 with a starred first class degree in Music. While at Cambridge he participated as a pianist in the University Lieder Scheme, run by Joseph Middleton. Recent appearances as a song accompanist include performances at the Italian Cultural Institute, the Maureen Lehane Vocal Awards and Wigmore Hall’s first Liederabend of the works of Carl Loewe.

His current work includes frequent appearances as an orchestral keyboard player, including with the Aurora Orchestra, CBSO, LPO, Philharmonia and RPO. He also works with a number of choirs, among them Helsinki Philharmonic Choir, London Symphony Chorus, Philharmonia Chorus and BBC Singers, and as a repetiteur he has engaged in projects with Waterperry Opera, Hampstead Garden Opera and the Royal Opera House.

Richard is also under demand as a concert organist. As Professor of Organ at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance, he is one of the youngest conservatoire teachers in the country, and simultaneously serves as Organist of the Old Royal Naval College Chapel in Greenwich.