Top opera personality to conduct workshop

The Gaulitanus Choir is organising an opera workshop for singers and accompanists/repetiteurs, which will be conducted by Joyce Fieldsend, an international renowned opera coach. It will be co-ordinated by Mro Colin Attard, the choir's founder-director.

The workshop will be held in the week after Easter from April 9 to 14. The first five days, being held alternately in Gozo and in Malta, will be devoted to individual and group work with the singers and accompanists/repetiteurs given coaching in how to approach professionally an opera performance or an operatic recital.

Among others, emphasis will be placed on how to approach an opera score, style, interpretation, presentation, language, dramatic reaction, tackling recitatives and working in an operatic environment.

The workshop will end with a concert by the participants on April 14.

Ms Fieldsend has worked with top professionals as well as young artists. She has been a guest opera coach and repetiteur with opera companies and festivals all over the world. Since moving to Italy in 2003 she has been regularly engaged as maestro di sala for the Teatro San Carlo of Naples and La Fenice of Venice.

She began her career with the Scottish Opera with which she did five European tours as the keyboard player in the chamber operas of Benjamin Britten. In 1984 she became a permanent member of the Glyndebourne Festival music staff and appears in many of their video recordings and live broadcasts, such as Britten's Death in Venice, Mozart's La Clemenza di Tito and Rossini's Ermione.

During her 16 years at Glyndebourne, Ms Fielsend worked with many great conductors such as Simon Rattle, Andrew Davies, Bernard Haitink, Charles Mackerras and Yves Abel. From 1992 till 2002, she was a member of the San Francisco Opera music staff and prepared over 30 operas for their autumn season, including the world premiere of Andrè Previn's A Streetcar Named Desire.

Presently she is doing Bernstein's Candide at the San Carlo while her next important commitment is Wagner's Siegfried at the Fenice, with Jeffrey Tate conducting.

For more information and applications contact Mro Attard on 2156-0200 or 9925-8592; e-mail: colinatt@maltanet.net. Applications are received till February 7.