Annabel Kennedy

Annabel Kennedy is a Mezzo-Soprano from Devon. She is part of the Royal College of Music’s International Opera Studio as a Siow-Furniss Scholar supported by the Sir Gordon Palmer Scholarship. In addition, Annabel is grateful to be supported by the Josephine Baker Trust, The Drake Calleja Trust, The Munster Trust Award and the Sybil Tutton Opera Awards. Annabel is a Samling Artist, a Britten Pears Young Artist for 2022-2023 and a Glyndebourne Jerwood Young Artist for 2023.

As part of the RCMIOS, Annabel has performed ‘2^nd Lady’ in ‘Die Zauberflöte’, ‘Hänsel’ in Humperdinck’s ‘Hänsel und Gretel’, ‘Minskwoman’ in Jonathan Dove’s ‘Flight’, ‘Public Opinion’ in Offenbach’s ‘Orpheus in the Underworld’ and ‘L’enfant’ in Ravel’s ‘L’enfant et les sortilèges’. Recently Annabel jumped in as cover for Longborough Festival Opera’s Double Bill in ’Spell Book’ by Freya Waley-Cohen and ‘La liberazione di Ruggiero’ by Francesca Caccini.

Recent awards include First Prize in the Lies Askonas Competition, Audience Prize at the Somerset Song Prize, Second Prize in the Hurn Court Opera Singer of the Year Competition, First Prize in the RCM Concerto Competition, Second Prize in the ‘Maureen Lehane Vocal Awards’ Competition at Wigmore Hall, First Prize for the ‘AESS Dame Patricia Routledge English Song Competition’, First Prize for the ‘AESS Courtney Kenny Award’ English Song Competition and the ‘Undergraduate Prize’ for the Brooks van der Pump English Song Competition.

Ana Manastireanu is an increasingly sought-after collaborative pianist, specialising in song accompaniment and chamber music. She is a Britten-Pears Young Artist, Leeds Lieder Young Artist and a Musicians’ Company Young Artist. Some of her most recent competition achievements include the Audience Prize in the Somerset Song Prize, as well as the Accompanist Prize in the AESS Patricia Routledge National English Song Competition and in the Maureen Lehane Vocal Awards held at the Wigmore Hall. She also won the Alasdair Graham Pianist Prize in the RCM Lieder Competition, the First Prize for Pianists in the RCM Brooks-van der Pump English Song Competition and the Second Prize for Pianists in the RCM Joan Chissell Schumann Competition.

Recent performances include collaborations with tenor Mark Padmore CBE and baritone Roderick Williams OBE, as well as appearances on BBC Radio 3 – In Tune and in the Aldeburgh Festival, Oxford Lieder Festival, North Norfolk Music Festival, Brighton Festival, Lewes Festival of Song and Leeds Lieder Festival.

Ana has recently graduated with an Artist Diploma in Collaborative Piano from the Royal College of Music in London, where she studied with Kathron Sturrock, Simon Lepper, Roger Vignoles, Niel Immelman and Leon McCawley.

The programme will be:

Ireland                                   Earth’s Call
Gurney                                  All night under the moon
Vaughan Williams                 Silent Noon (The House of Life)
Clarke                                    The Seal Man
Elgar                                      ‘Sea Pictures’ (Op 37)
Bizet                                      Chanson d’avril (Op. 21, No. 1)
Faure                                     Automne (Op. 18, No. 3)
Debussy                                 Beau soir
Duparc                                   Au pays oú se faire la guerre
Brahms                                  Un bewegte laue Luft (Op. 57, No. 8)
Grieg                                     Ein Traum (Op. 48, No. 6)
Mahler                                   ‘Rückert-Lieder’