RENOWNED Scottish opera company, Opera Bohemia, and soprano Catriona Clark will be delighting an audience at King’s Ely this summer.
Tickets are selling fast for their chamber performance of Puccini’s emotionally charged Madame Butterfly at King’s Ely’s Hayward Theatre on Saturday, July 1st. The musical extravaganza is being held as part of the King’s Ely Concert Society’s 24th season programme.
In January 2010, Douglas Nairne and Alistair Digges decided that they would create a production of Puccini’s La Bohème to be performed in their home towns and at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. After the overwhelming success of their initial performances, they decided to take La Bohème further and toured around Scotland.
The experience the young cast and audiences shared was very special and following feedback from audience members around the country, expressing their enthusiasm and desire to see more productions, Opera Bohemia was formed. Now in its seventh year, Opera Bohemia has added highly successful performances of Donizetti’s Lucia Di Lammermoor, Puccini’s Madame Butterfly and Gianni Schicchi and Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin to its achievements.
Acclaimed soprano Catriona graduated from the Royal College of Music and the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, both with Distinction, winning their four most prestigious vocal prizes. Since then her operatic and concert career has taken her throughout the world performing roles such as Tatyana (Eugene Onegin), Cio Cio San (Madame Butterfly) Marie (La Fille du Regiment) and Susanna (Le Nozze di Figaro), to name just a few. She has worked with companies including the Royal Opera House, Opera North, Diva Opera, London Festival Opera and Opera South and festivals including Les Azuriales in Cap Ferat, Festival de Vezere and the Edinburgh International Festival.
In East Anglia, Catriona will also be remembered for the many solos she sang with Ely Consort, Ely Cathedral Choir and Chapel Choir of King’s Ely, where she was also an inspirational teacher.
Head of Voice at King’s Ely, Peter North, said: “It is really exciting for us to have Catriona coming back. She has an amazing voice, is an inspirational music teacher and brings with her an outstanding ensemble. We can’t wait for what I’m sure will be a fantastic evening.”
The concert starts at 7.30pm. Tickets, which are £20 for adults and free for children, are available by calling the King’s Ely Box Office on (01353) 653931 or at www.kingsely.org/news-events/box-office/.