EO Company of Singers

SOPRANO

Helen May graduated from the Royal Academy of Music with a Master’s in Vocal Performance (Distinction) and a DipRAM for outstanding final recital performance, having benefitted from the support of the William Gibbs Trust and the Josephine Baker Trust. Her undergraduate music studies took place at Cardiff University where she held the David Lloyd Vocal Scholarship and was awarded the Geraint Evans Prize for outstanding recital performance. In 2020 Helen was nominated for an OFFIE Award for her performance as Calisto in Cavalli’s La Calisto at The Cockpit Theatre.

Helen's 2021 performance as Alcina at the Arcola Theatre was described in The Observer as 'superbly sung', and Plays to See commented of her 2022 performance in Les Indes Galantes: 'Helen May as Émilie is once again superb, with the flexibility of tone and dramatic power that holds an audience rapt'. Helen has undertaken roles for Woodhouse Opera, Hampstead Garden Opera, Royal Academy Opera, Ensemble OrQuesta, Barefoot Opera, Opera Anywhere, Bury Court Opera, London Opera Players, and Oxfordshire Contemporary Opera.

Lead roles have included: Poppea (L'Incoronazione di Poppea, Monteverdi); Mimi (La Bohème, Puccini); Emilie (Les Indes Galantes, Rameau); Mozart’s Pamina (Die Zauberflöte); Despina (Cosi fan tutte); First Lady (The Magic Flute); and Barbarina (Le Nozze di Figaro); Climene (L’Egisto, Cavalli); Galatea (Acis and Galatea, Handel); Alcina and Morgana (Alcina, Handel); Poppea, Nerone and Valletto (L’Incoronazione di Poppea, Monteverdi); Diane (Hippolyte et Aricie, Rameau); Giannetta (L’elisir d’amore, Donizetti); Woodpecker (Cunning Little Vixen, Janáček); Nimue (Merlin, world premiere, Keith Beal); cover Aurora (Aurora, world premiere, Noah Moseley) and cover Jenůfa (Jenůfa, Janáček, Aylesbury Opera). Recent oratorio engagements include, Haydn's The Creation, Verdi Requiem, and Brahms' Ein Deutsches Requiem. Helen looks forward to a role debut as Santuzza in Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana in July 2023 and a world premiere in August.

2023 Season: ​
Aurore/ Céphale et Procris/ Jacquet de la Guerre
Poppea / L'Incoronazione di Poppea/ Monteverdi / 2022
Emilie / Les Indes Galantes / Rameau / 202​2
La Contessa / Le nozze di Figaro / Mozart / 2021*
Alcina / Alcina / Handel / 2019* and 2021
Amastre / Xerse / Cavalli / 2018 and 2021
Calisto / La Calisto / Cavalli / 2017* and 2020
Pamina / Die Zauberflote / Mozart / 2019*
Nerone / L'Incoronazione di Poppea / Monteverdi / 2017* and 2019
Diane / Hippolyte et Aricie / Rameau / 2017* and 2019
Galatea / Acis and Galatea / Purcell / 2018*
La Gloire and Mélisse / Armide / Lully / 2016* and 2017
Barbarina / Le Nozze di Figaro / Mozart / 2016*

SOPRANO

Yorkshire Soprano, Poppy Shotts, is an alumna of the Royal College of Music, London and the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. Her performances at the 2021 Grimeborn Festival awarded her an OFFIE nomination for Best Opera Performance, and a special mention in The Observer: "...a newfound talent".

A 2018 Lies Askonas Finalist, 2019 Somerset Song Prize finalist, and 2018 National Mozart Competition and Royal Over-Seas League Semi-Finalist, Poppy has been supported by the Countess of Munster, Derek Butler Award, Henry Wood Award and the Il Circolo Italian Cultural Award.

Poppy was the soprano soloist for the 2020 Naxos recording of Massenet's Visions with the RSNO. Concert work includes Peer Gynt (LPO, Cadogan Hall), Mahler's 4th Symphony (RCS) and French Melodie with Roger Vignoles (RCM). Poppy joined the chorus of Scottish Opera in 2020.

Opera credits include Madame Goldentrill (Pulp Rocket Theatre, Lamport Hall), Crocodile (Hull Urban Opera Digital Horror Opera), Barbarina, (RCM Opera School, directed by Sir Thomas Allen), Léïla, (RCM Opera Scenes, directed by Matthew Monahan), Nedda, (RCM Opera Scenes, directed by Polly Graham), Cleopatra (RCM Opera Scenes, directed by Stuart Barker), Pamina with Ensemble OrQuesta, Susanna with Matchbox Opera, Soprano Soloist for Satie’s Socrates one woman work with Hull Urban Opera, Dew Fairy at the St. Magnus International Festival, Erste Dame in Die Zauberflote (2018), and Abigail Williams in The Crucible (2019) with the Berlin Opera Academy. Poppy joined the chorus of Scottish Opera in 2020 and has since performed in productions of Don Giovanni (2022) and Falstaff (2021). She will perform in the 2023 Scottish Opera production of Carmen.

2023 Season:
Procris/ Céphale et Procris/ Jacquet de la Guerre
Drusilla / L'Incoronazione di Poppea/ Monteverdi 2022
L'Amour, Zaire / Les Indes Galantes / Rameau 2022
Marcellina / Le Nozze di Figaro / Mozart / 2021*
Oberto / Alcina / Handel / 2021
Pamina / Die Zauberflöte / Mozart / 2019*

SOPRANO

Kathleen is an Irish soprano. Recently graduating from the Royal Academy Opera School where she was generously supported by the Carr-Gregory Trust, Kathleen is now continuing her studies at the Irish National Opera Studio.

Kathleen has performed lead roles in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Helena, Royal Academy Opera 2020), Puccini’s La bohème (Musetta, Hampstead Garden Opera, 2019), and Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea (Poppea, Ensemble OrQuesta, 2019).

Kathleen performed the role of Lauretta in Royal Academy Opera’s production of Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi in 2021 and cover Fiordiligi (Mozart, Cosi fan tutte) Garsington Opera, 2022.

Oratorio engagements include Fauré’s Requiem (Dún Laoghaire Choral Society), Haydn’s Creation (Armagh City Choir) and Mozart’s C minor Mass (English Baroque Choir).

Previous seasons:
Morgana / Alcina / Handel / 2021
Satirino / La Calisto / Cavalli / 2020
Poppea/ L'Incoronazione di Poppea/ Monteverdi / 2019

SOPRANO

Rosemary Carlton-Willis is a British soprano and voice actor. With Ensemble OrQuesta she has performed the roles of Armide (Armide, Rameau), Giunone and Il Destino (La Calisto, Cavalli), Donna Elvira (Don Giovanni. Mozart), Phèdre (Hippolyte et Aricie, Rameau) and Dido (Dido and Aeneas, Purcell). She is currently preparing the role of Teseo (Teseo, Handel).

In addition to her roles with Ensemble OrQuesta, other lead roles include Juliette (Romeo et Juliette, Gounod), Cinderella's Mother (Into the Woods, Sondheim), Marjorie (Allegro, Rodgers and Hammerstein), Micaela (Carmen, Bizet), Lauretta (Gianni Schicchi, Puccini), Sophie (Werther, Massenet), Papagena (Die Zauberflöte, Mozart), Barbarina (Le Nozze di Figaro, Mozart) and Dorinda (Orlando, Handel). With Musica Adriatica, Rosemary released the first complete recording of Ivan Lukačić’s Sacrae Cantiones in 2020 for the work's 4th centenary, on Croatia Records.

In 2019 Rosemary was awarded the Richard Strauss Prize and the third Prize at the Elbe Internationaler Gesangswettbewerb. Rosemary studied voice (classical and baroque) at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam and historical performance practice at the University of York. She currently studies privately with Ira Siff.

Previous seasons:
Giuno / La Calisto / Cavalli / 2017* and 2020
Armide / Armide / Lully / 2017
Phédre / Hippolyte et Aricie / Rameau / 2017*
Donna Elvira / Don Giovanni / 2017*
Dido / Dido and Aeneas / Purcell / 2016*

SOPRANO

Korean-American soprano Alexandra Bork completed a Master's degree with Distinction at the Royal Academy of Music, and currently studies with Kathryn Harries and Julie Kennard.

Opera roles include Fiordiligi (Così fan tutte), Ottavia (L’incoronazione di Poppea), Greta Fiorentino (Street Scene), Tisbe (La Cenerentola), Juno/Spring/Mystery/The Plaint (The Fairy Queen), Cherubino (Le nozze di Figaro, cover), the Child, in the world premiere of Laura Bowler’s I’m Not a Bit Like a Clown, and the title roles in Madame Butterfly, Suor Angelica (cover), Dido and Aeneas, and Handel’s Serse.

Alexandra has also sung the soprano solos in Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Strauss’ Vier letzte Lieder, Mozart’s Vespers, and various cantatas by Vivaldi, Hasse, Bach, and Telemann.

Recent appearances include reprising Fiordiligi with Woodhouse Opera, the Child in I’m Not a Bit by a Clown for Tête à Tête, and Frasquita in Carmen with Glass Ceiling Opera.

Previous seasons:
Phédre / Hippolyte et Aricie / Rameau / 2019
Romilda / Xerse / Cavalli / 2018
Fiordiligi / Cosi fan Tutte / Mozart / 2018*
Ottavia / L'Incoronazione di Poppea / Monteverdi / 2017*

MEZZO-SOPRANO

British-Belgian mezzo-soprano, Maya Colwell graduated with Distinction from the Masters course at the Royal Academy of Music, where she was awarded the Alice Gamble Award and the Amanda Von Lob Memorial Prize, and holds a First Class BA in Music from the University of Bristol. Maya studies with Elizabeth Ritchie and benefits from the continued mentorship of Angela Hickey.

In September 2019, Maya premiered the title role of Dorian Gray in the new opera by Oliver Bowes to great acclaim, in a production at the historic Bedford Pub in Balham. She also made her debut as a soloist with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Hilary Davan-Wetton at Cadogan Hall.

Maya is part of the additional chorus at La Monnaie in Brussels, and was a member of the British Youth Opera’s Serena Fenwick programme. Previous roles include: Dido, Dido and Aeneas; Zerlina, Don Giovanni; Fortuna and Valletto, L’Incoronazione di Poppea; Despina, Cosi fan tutte; Mercedes, Carmen; Zita, Gianni Schicchi; Old Lady, Candide; and Die Knusperhexe, Hansel and Gretel.

Alongside her work as a singer, Maya also works as the creative director of Love Opera, coordinating and devising innovative productions of operatic treasures.

Previous seasons:
Ruggiero / Alcina / Handel / 2021
Bradamante / Alcina / Handel / 2019* and 2021
Fortuna - Valetto / L'Incoronazione di Poppea / Monteverdi / 2019
Dido / Dido and Aeneas / Purcell / 2018*

COUNTERTENOR

New Jersey-born countertenor Eric Schlossberg was recently praised by Opera Magazine for his "Sorcerer of strong vocal and dramatic character" in Ensemble OrQuesta's production of Dido and Aeneas. He also recently debuted the role of Elviro (Cavalli's Xerse) in the London Grimeborn Festival.

Other roles include Nerone, Ottone, & Arnalta (L'incoronazione di Poppea), Tolomeo (Giulio Cesare), L'umana fragilità/Pisandro (Il ritorno d'Ulisse in Patria), Damon (Acis and Galatea), the title roles in Handel's Admeto and L'enfant et les sortilèges, and the man who fell in love with his cat in the US premiere of Robin Haigh's The Man Who Woke Up.

​While a young artist with the iSING International Young Artists Festival, he was a featured soloist with the Shanghai Symphony and Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestras. Upcoming season highlights include his debut with the Hastings Philharmonic and reprising The Man Who Woke Up with Thompson Street Opera in Chicago in 2019.

Eric is also an experienced software engineer having received a Bachelor of Science and Engineering in Computer Science from Princeton University. He collaborates frequently on research with the MIT Media Lab and Harvard University.

Previous seasons:
​Endimione / La Calisto / Cavalli / 2020
Ottone / L'Incoronazione di Poppea / Monteverdi / 2019 + 2022
​Elviro / Xerse / Cavalli / 2018
Sorcerer / Dido and Aeneas / Purcell / 2018*

TENOR

British tenor Kieran White enjoys success in the UK and is emerging as a sought after artist in Europe. Recent operatic engagements include two seasons with Warsaw Chamber Opera as Castor, Castor and Pollux; Damon, Acis and Galatea, for Dorset Opera; Arnalta L’Incoronazione di Poppea, Cockpit Theatre; title-role, L'Egisto for Hampstead Garden Opera; Hippolyte, Hippolyte et Aricie, Grimeborn Festival; Acis, Acis and Galatea, Ensemble OrQuesta; Ruggiero, Caccini, La liberazione di Ruggiero; Pastore in Gagliano’s La Dafne for Brighton Early Music Festival; and Sailor, Dido and Aeneas, Grange Festival.

Upcoming engagements include Castor, Castor et Pollux with Warsaw Chamber Opera. On the recital platform he has performed with Elizabeth Kenny (lute/theorbo) and Zita Silva (Harp), at the Sherborne Music Festival. Recent engagements include Bach Weihnachtsoratorium (Evangelist and tenor solo) with Collegium Musicum, Bergen; Bach Matthäus-Passion (Evangelist) with Iain Ledingham; Bach Johannes-Passion (tenor solo) with Bristol Bach Choir; Bach Matthäus-Passion (tenor solo) with Copenhagen Soloists; Stainer Crucifixion with Edvard Grieg Kor; Bach Cantatas with Amsterdam Baroque; Monteverdi Vespro della Beata Vergine with Edvard Grieg Kor; Bach’s B Minor Mass at the Thuringer Bachwochen in the Erfurt Dom; and Bach Johannes-Passion (Evangelist) with the ensemble Gli Angeli, in Geneva.

Kieran won Second prize in the Festival International de Musique Baroque et Sacrée de Froville and in February 2022 he was announced as a winner in the innovative Aria Borealis Bodø International Singing Competition for Early Music Singers in Norway. Upcoming engagements include a European tour and commercial recording of Lullys ATYS with Les Talens Lyrique, Narete LA FIDA NINFA at Innsbrucker Festwochen der Alten Musik, the King Arthur with Vox Luminis,, Matthäus-Passion with Ars Musica, Collegium Vocale Briela and the Haags Toonkunstkoor and Messiah at Usher Hall conducted by Sir James MacMillan.

2023 Season:
Céphale/ Céphale et Procris/ Jacquet de la Guerre

Previous seasons:
Valère, Tacmas / Les Indes Galantes / Rameau / 2022
Oronte / Alcina / Handel / 2021
Pane / La Calisto / Cavalli / 2017* and 2020
Valere and Tacmas / Les Indes Galantes / Rameau / 2019*
Arnalta / L'Incoronazione di Poppea / Monteverdi / 2019 + 2022
Hippolyte / Hippolyte et Aricie / Rameau / 2017* and 2019
Acis / Acis and Galatea / Handel 2018*
Renaud / Armide / Lully 2016*
Sailor / Dido and Aeneas / Purcell / 2016*

BARITONE

British-Iranian baritone, John Hormoz Holland-Avery, is a prize-winning postgraduate of the Royal Northern College of Music, where his studies were supported by the Mercers’ Company and an Independent Opera Voice Scholarship.

Opera credits include: Chorus in Bart’s Oliver!, Verdi’s Don Carlo (Grange Park Opera), the title role Mozart’s Don Giovanni, Hidraot/Ubalde in Lully’s Armide, Periarco in Cavalli’s Xerse (UK premiere), Bellone/Ali in Rameau’s Les Indes Galantes, Guglielmo in Mozart’s Cosi fan tutte (Ensemble OrQuesta), and Don Alfonso, Don GIovanni (Devon Opera), Traveller in Britten’s Curlew River (Opera Xylem), Step-Out Baritone (cover) in Noah Mosley’s Aurora (Bury Court Opera), Pluton in Rameau’s Hippoltye et Aricie (Ensemble OrQuesta), Alidoro (cover) in Rossini’s La Cenerentola (British Youth Opera), and Dr Falke in J. Strauss II’s Die Fledermaus (Windsor and Eton Opera), Dottore in Verdi’s La Traviata (Teddington), Giove in Cavalli’s La Calisto (Ensemble OrQuesta), and Harasta in Janacek’s Cunning Little Vixen (Riverside Opera), and Hipparco in Cavalli’s L’Egisto (Hampstead Garden Opera). He performed in the Serena Fenwick Training Programme Summer Concert (BYO) soon due for YouTube broadcast, and as a founding member of Eboracum Baroque, recorded Handel’s Messiah for 2021 release.

Previous seasons:
​Ali / Les Indes Galantes / Rameau / 2022
Melisso / Alcina / Handel / 2021
Periarco / Xerse / Cavalli / 2018 and 2021
Giove / La Calisto / Cavalli / 2020
Pluton / Hippolyte et Aricie / Rameau / 2019
Ali / Les Indes Galantes / Rameau / 2019*
Guglielmo / Cosi fan Tutte / Mozart / 2018
Ubalde and Hidraot / Armide / Lully / 2017
Don Giovanni / Don Giovanni / Mozart / 2017​​​*

BASS-BARITONE

Brazilian bass-baritone Flávio Lauria graduated from Federal University of Rio de Janeiro with a Bachelor degree in singing. He has been performing frequently in Brazil, Canada, and the UK, most often Mozart`s roles such as Figaro and Don Alfonso. Of his Leporello aria Madamina Il Catalogo è questo was Opera Canada observed that this was ‘flawlessly performed’ (2018).

In the UK, the Hastings Observer commended his ‘amiable Papageno’, and noted appreciatively, ‘He is also the only Papageno I have ever come across able to do his own whistling – a magnificent feat!’ (2019) Flávio’s operatic repertoire also includes Vodník (Rusalka), Aeneas (Dido and Aeneas), Comus (Charpentier’s Plaisirs de Versailles), Giove (Cavalli’s Calisto), Seneca (Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea), Melisso (Händel’s Alcina), Colline (La Bohème), Nicholas (Barber’s Vanessa), and Morales (Carmen).

Flávio made his debut at The Cockpit in February 2022, as Bellone in Rameau's Les Indes Galantes, when Yehuda Shapiro’s review in The Stage was appreciative of a delivery that ‘bursts with energy’.

2023 Season:
Pan/Erictée / Céphale et Procris / Jacquet de la Guerre

Previous seasons:
Bellone / Les Indes Galanates / Rameau
Figaro / Le nozze di Figaro / Mozart / 2021*
Melisso / Alcina / Handel / 2019*
Papageno / Die Zauberflote / Mozart / 2019*
Don Alfonso / Cosi fan Tutte / Mozart / 2018*
Seneca / L'Incoronazione di Poppea / Monteverdi / 2015* and 2017*
Giove / La Calisto / Cavalli / 2017*
Leporello / Don Giovanni / Mozart / 2017*
Aeneas / Dido & Aeneas / Purcell / 2016*
Don Bartolo / Le Nozze di Figaro / Mozart / 2016*

BARITONE

Marcio first began choral singing at the age of 9. As a young boy-soprano he performed as a soloist in Germany, Italy, and Brazil, including performances for audiences of over 32,000 people. In 1998 he travelled to the United States, where he studied in Arizona for six months, graduating from the renowned Phoenix Boys Choir. From a young age Marcio also gained extensive experience in opera, beginning as a child soloist at Palacio das Artes in Belo Horizonte, and then subsequently at the Théâtre du Capitol de Toulouse, and the Théâtre des Champs Elysees and the Théâtre du Chatelet in Paris.

In 2006 Marcio received his Diplôme d'Études Musicales in voice from the Conservatoire de Toulouse, France. He obtained a Bachelor of Music degree from the Hochschule für Musik Freiburg, Germany, and a Master’s degree from the Royal College of Music. Marcio has performed the roles of Marcello in Puccini's La bohème, Aeneas in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas, Arnalta in Monteverdi's L'Incoronazione di Poppea, Orfeo in Monteverdi's L'Orfeo, Mercurio in Cavalli's La Callisto, Aristone in Cavalli's Xerse, Thésée in Rameau's Hippolyte et Aricie, Colas in Mozart's Bastien et Bastienne, and La Haine in Lully's Armide.

Marcio is also an experienced recitalist and works extensively as a vocal coach. He is fluent in seven languages.

2023 Season:
Arcas / Céphale et Procris / Jacquet de la Guerre

Previous seasons:
Orfeo/L'Orfeo/ Monteverdi / 2022
Littore/L'Incoronazione di Poppea/Monteverdi / 2022
Pluto / Euridice / Caccini / 2020*
Mercurio / La Calisto / Cavalli / 2017* and 2020
Thesée / Hippolyte et Aricie / Rameau / 2019
Aristone / Xerse / Cavalli / 2018 / 2021
Aeneas / Dido & Aeneas / Purcell / 2018* and 2021
La Haine / Armide / Lully / 2016* and 2017
Arnalta / L'Incoronazione di Poppea / Monteverdi / 2015* and 2017*5

BASS-BARITONE

The Romanian bass baritone Gheorghe Palcu completed his undergraduate studies at the Conservatorio Statale di Musica Jacopo Tomadini Udine, in Italy. He pursued further study through masterclasses with Teresa Berganza, Sonia Prina, Viorica Cortez, Leontina Vaduva, Alessandro Corbelli , Grace Bumbrey and others.

His operatic roles include Don Alfonso and Gulielmo in Mozart’s Cosi fan tutte, Leporello and Masetto in Mozart’s Don Giovanni, Figaro and Count in Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro, Dulcamara in Donizetti’s L’Elisir d’amore, Colline, Alcindoro and Benoit in Puccini’s La Boheme , Don Magnifico and Alidoro in Rossini’s La Cenerentola , and Don Bartolo in Rossini’s Il Barbiere di Seviglia. Gheorghe is completing his Masters degree at CSM Cork, Ireland.

Recent engagements include Handel’s Messiah and the role of Colline in Puccini’s La Boheme in Hamburg for the Bergerdorf Music Festival.

Previous seasons:
Seneca/L'Incoronazione di Poppea/Monteverdi
Leporello/ Don Giovanni/Mozart/2017
Ubalde/Hidraot/Armide/Lully/2016 and 2017
Figaro/Le Nozze di Figaro /Mozart/2016
Seneca/Poppea/ 2015, 2019, 2022