Opera Unboxed
Rachelle Pike, Robert Tucker, Helen Medlyn & Declan Cudd, accompanied by Catherine Norton
ASB Theatre, Blenheim - 7.30pm, Monday 14 May 2018
Theatre Royal, Nelson - 7.30pm, Wednesday 16 May 2018
They say that Opera has the best tunes, but these days we so rarely hear them in the provinces.
There is clearly a hunger to hear these marvellous melodies sung by the "big voices", as was demonstrated last year in the enthusiastic response to the sold-out James, Rachelle and Jillian show in the ASB Theatre. So, we are doing it again with the Robert, Rachelle, Helen and Declan show, Opera Unboxed.
Opera Unboxed will feature:
Blenheim-based baritone Robert Tucker has had a busy twelve months, appearing in the NZ Opera productions Mikado, Sweeney Todd and La Traviata, directing Marlborough Singers, which under his tutelage has grown in number and ambition, culminating in his exciting production of Gloria, a wonderfully successful collaboration with Marlborough Civic Orchestra and Marlborough Brass (another sell-out) - and a young family. Busy, busy!
Opera Unboxed is Robert's conception and he will direct it with his NZ Opera friends, Rachelle, Helen and Declan and accompanist Catherine Norton.
Mezzo soprano Rachelle Pike is flying in from her New York home. She is looking forward to performing in New Zealand again after her very successful Blenheim concert in 2017 with her NZ Opera associate, tenor James Rogers.
She, too, has had a busy year, most recently making her Lincoln Centre debut in Verdi's La Traviata with the Philharmonic Orchestra of New York.
Rachelle is a past pupil of Marlborough Girls who discovered her love of singing in Blenheim's thriving musical and theatre community. She now has her home and her career in New York. It will be wonderful to welcome her "back home" to perform for us once more.
We are delighted that Helen Medlyn one of New Zealand's most versatile singer-actresses has accepted our invitation to join the team. She too is a NZ Opera regular, having recently appeared alongside Robert in the NZO productions of The Mikado (a wonderful Katisha!) and Sweeney Todd.
Helen has often performed in this part of the world, appearing in Nelson's Night with the Stars and Opera in the Park and in Marlborough at a memorable concert with Penny Dodd at Framingham Wines, and more recently in an Alzheimer fund-raiser at the ASB Theatre - which included a dramatic entrance on her beloved Harley-Davidson. One of the great characters of the NZ stage, Helen also presents master classes for young performers most recently at Marlborough Boys.
We are also delighted to welcome exciting young tenor Declan Cudd to perform in Blenheim and Nelson for the first time. Declan's musical education has included a Bachelor of Music at Victoria University's New Zealand School of Music, followed in 2015 by a Victoria post-graduate diploma.
He attended the New Zealand Opera School in 2016 through 2018 under the tutelage of Della Jones, Cesar Ulloa and Simon O'Neill.
Among his scholarships are Orpheus Choir, New Zealand School of Music Directors, Freemasons New Zealand Opera Artist and RECT Young Achiever Scholarship.
Declan is another busy man, rehearsing to perform for NZ Opera in Wellington's Cuba Dupa festival, preparing his audition for the Sydney Aria Contest, and for his move next year to San Francisco to further his vocal studies.
We are fortunate to have this opportunity to hear one of New Zealand's leading young tenors.
Accompanying on the big Steinway will be Wellington-based pianist Catherine Norton, who is herself a performer of note.
Catherine studied in Wellington. She was an emerging Artist with NZ Opera, before post-graduate studies in London at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, where she was awarded the accompaniment prizes and was appointed an Artist Fellow.
She was a 2013 Britten-Pears Young Artist in the UK, and is an alumna of Austria's acclaimed Franz-Schubert Institut for Lieder. She is the winner of numerous awards including the Victoria University Concerto Competition, and Britain's AESS National English Song Competition.
She has appeared in recital in London's Barbican Hall, LSO St Luke's, at the Oxford Lieder Festival and in concert in England, France, Germany Northern Ireland and Malta.
