Stephanie Hershaw & Ana Manastireanu

Stephanie Hershaw

Stephanie is currently studying her Masters at the Royal College of Music, under the tuition of Rosa Mannion and Simon Lepper. She recently graduated with a First Class Honours Degree from the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama.

Stephanie has performed various roles including Molly Braden in The Beggar’s Opera (Opera’r Ddraig), Mrs Ham in Noye’s Fludde (Newport Cathedral), The Flying Cow in Dirty Beasts (RWCMD School’s Opera Tour), 2nd Niece in Peter Grimes (Opera’r Ddraig Scenes), Tiny in Paul Bunyan (Opera’r Ddraig Scenes), Aminta in Il re pastore (RCM Opera Scenes) and a chorus member in The Rake’s Progress (British Youth Opera), Die Fledermaus (Opera’r Ddraig), Falstaff (RWCMD Opera School ) and Street Scene (RWCMD Opera School).

Stephanie has been fortunate enough to have sung in masterclasses with international artists such as Elizabeth Watts, John Fisher, Donald Maxwell, Louise Alder and Kathryn Harries. As part of the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World 2017 Fringe Events, Stephanie was delighted to sing in a masterclass with Ailish Tynan and Llŷr Williams.

In February, Stephanie worked closely with Roger Vignoles in a two-day Mahler dedicated programme. Stephanie looks forward to participating in the renowned Benslow Baroque Oratorio Course in April, performing the roles of Virtue in Handel’s The Choice Hercules and Thomas Linley’s The Song of Moses.

Ana Manastireanu

Romanian pianist Ana Manastireanu is currently a Kenneth and Violet Scott Scholar of the Royal College of Music in London, where she is studying towards a Masters of Performance with Kathron Sturrock and Niel Immelman. Recently, Ana has been selected as a 2019 Leeds Lieder Young Artist. In 2018, she was a fellow of the Toronto Chamber Music Institute. Her recent collaborations include performances with Jonathan Crow, Scott St. John, Andrew Wan, Ani Aznavoorian and Marcin Sieniawski.

Festival appearances include the Toronto Summer Music Festival, Orford Music Festival, SoNoRo Chamber Music Festival, British Isles Music Festival, Vienna International Pianists Festival and the George Enescu International Festival. Ana has participated in masterclasses with Yoheved Kaplinsky, André Laplante, Kathryn Stott, Ian Brown, Leslie Howard, Lilya Zilberstein, Pedja Mužijević, Pavel Gililov and Edna Golandsky, amongst others.

Ana’s international competition successes include top prizes at the “Rosario Marciano” International Piano Competition in Austria and the “Carl Filtsch” International Piano Competition in Romania, as well as being a semi-finalist of the Orford Award in Canada. She was also selected to perform as a soloist with the Transylvania Philharmonic Orchestra.