Opera in the Garden returns for 2024 - and Jazz too!
Following the success of Opera in the Garden in June 2023, we are hugely grateful to Amanda Mann who is organising two events supporting força - strength against cancer in 2024.
Hot off the press! In 2024 there will be two events: Opera in the Garden on the evening of Saturday 8th June, followed on Sunday 9th June by an afternoon of Jazz in the Garden.
These two unique open-air performances by internationally renowned singers and musicians will be in the most stunning settings! Bring chairs and rugs, relax and enjoy a picnic on the lawn with picturesque views of the Lymington-Keyhaven Nature Reserve and Solent shore across to the Isle of Wight. Then settle down and enjoy a world-class performance.
Tickets are now on sale... and read on for more details about the performances.
Saturday 8th June 2024 - Opera in the Garden
Enjoy Saturday Night at the Opera with some of the world's most beautiful Operas and Operettas performed by four of the UK's most inspiring and talented singers. We're delighted to be welcoming back tenor Colin Judson and soprano Ellie Laugharne, who will be joined in 2024 by mezzo Victoria Simmonds and bass Will Thomas, accompanied once again by the outstanding Matthew Fletcher on the piano. Read on for more information about the performers.
Saturday ticket holders will be welcome to picnic in the garden from 4.30pm, with the performance starting at 6.45pm.
Sunday 9th June 2024 - Jazz in the Garden: Barb Jungr My Marquee
We're delighted to be welcoming to Lymington world-renowned singer Barb Jungr, accompanied by Jenny Carr on piano, Dudley Phillips on bass and Jonathan Lee on drums.
One of the most accomplished British singers of her generation. Barb Jungr’s formidable talent as a singer, composer and lyricist is only outshined by her ability to re-interpret familiar songs and reveal new depths of meaning and beauty. Internationally acclaimed, Jungr continues to evolve her signature style while her transcendent artistry both live and recorded continues to delight audiences. Read on for more information about Barb Jungr.
“The brilliant jazz singer on world-beating form. Barb Jungr proves she's a genuine jazz marvel... A true musical alchemist” (The Telegraph)
Sunday ticket holders will be welcome to picnic in the garden from 12:00 noon, with the performance starting at 2.00pm.
Welcoming some of Europe's most talented and inspiring performers to Lymington in June 2024...
Colin Judson - Tenor - Saturday 8th June, Opera in the Garden
A frequent guest soloist at the Royal Opera House, Glyndebourne Festival and English National Opera, Colin Judson has established himself as one of the most sought-after character tenors of his generation.
Current engagements include a return to the Royal Opera House as Monostatos Die Zauberflöte, Old Prisoner From the House of the Dead at Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, Don Basilio and Don Curzio with Glyndebourne Festival, Mime in Wagner’s Siegfried with the Grimeborn Opera Festival and return to Opera North.
Recent appearances include his debut with Opera de Paris as Funeral Director A Quiet Place, Youth, Hotel Porter and Guest Death in Venice, Pang Turandot, Snout A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Kunz Vogelgesang Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Night Porter Death in Venice at the Royal Opera House, Vogelgesang Die Meistersinger, Gamekeeper Rusalka, Bardolfo Falstaff, Squeak Billy Budd and the Schoolmaster Cunning Little Vixen with the Glyndebourne Festival, Spoletta Tosca, Don Basilio Le nozze di Figaro and High Priest of Amon Akhnaten for English National Opera, Flute A Midsummer Night’s Dream for Opera North, Mime Siegfried for Longborough Opera Festival, Opéra national du Rhin, Teatro Nacional de São Carlos, Lisbon, Laca Jenůfa for Pacific Opera Victoria, Dr Caius for Garsington Opera, Bob Boles Peter Grimes for Bergen National Opera and Pedrillo Die Entführung aus dem Serail for Cologne Opera.
Ellie Laugharne - Soprano - Saturday 8th June, Opera in the Garden
Ellie Laugharne is a graduate of the Guildhall School of Music & Drama and Birmingham University. She began her career as a Jerwood Young Artist at the Glyndebourne Festival and more recently was an Associate Artist for Opera North and a Company Artist for The Mozartists.
Career Highlights include: Susanna Le nozze di Figaro (The Grange Festival); Eliza Doolittle My Fair Lady (The Grange Festival and Gran Teatro del Liceu, Barcelona); Frasquita Carmen, Cupid Orpheus in the Underworld, Phyllis Iolanthe, Barbarina The Marriage of Figaro (English National Opera); Gianetta The Gondoliers, Princess Zara Utopia Limited, Adina L’elisir d’amore, Frasquita Carmen, Mabel The Pirates of Penzance (Scottish Opera); Pamina The Magic Flute, Despina Cosí fan tutte, Gretel Hänsel und Gretel, Susanna Le nozze di Figaro (Opera North); Polissena Radamisto (English Touring Opera); Susanna Le nozze di Figaro, Lucia The Rape of Lucretia (Glyndebourne on Tour); Governess The Turn of the Screw, Tina Flight, Zerlina Don Giovanni (Opera Holland Park); Bastienne Bastien&Bastienne, Zerlina Don Giovanni, Temperantia Applausus, Emirena Adriano in Siria (The Mozartists); Helene La Belle Helene (Blackheath Halls); Sandrina La Finta Giardiniera, Edna Tobias and the Angel (Buxton Festival); Valencienne The Merry Widow (International Gilbert and Sullivan Festival).
Victoria Simmonds - Mezzo Soprano - Saturday 8th June, Opera in the Garden
Victoria Simmonds studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and her made her professional debuts with performances of Rosina for British Youth Opera, Erika in the UK premiere of Barber’s Vanessa, and Sesto La Clemenza di Tito for Glyndebourne Touring Opera.
She became a company principal at English National Opera from 2000 to 2005 where her roles included Cherubino Figaro, Mercedes Carmen, Zaida The Turk in Italy, Pitti-Sing The Mikado, Ascanius The Trojans, Rosina The Barber of Seville, Dorabella Così fan tutte, Hermia A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Zerlina Don Giovanni. She notably sang the title role in the world première of Jonathan Dove’s Pinocchio for Opera North to much critical acclaim. Festival performances have included a staged performance of Handel’s solo cantata La Lucrezia at the Batignano Festival in Italy, the title role in La Perichole and Ines Maria Padilla both for the Buxton Festival, the title role of Carmen for Raymond Gubbay Limited at the Royal Albert Hall, Isolier Le Comte Ory for Garsington Opera, Meg Page Falstaff for Grange Park Opera and Olga Eugene Onegin for Opera Holland Park. Abroad she has sung Lucienne Die Tote Stadt (Korngold) for Netherlands Opera, Wellgunde Das Rheingold conducted by Sir Simon Rattle at the Aix Festival as well as in concert with the Berlin Philharmonic in Berlin and at the Salzburg Easter Festival and the title role in Ravel L’enfant et le sortiligès at the Concertgebouw.
Victoria appears in recital and concert throughout the UK and Europe and recent concert engagements have included the Philharmonia in the Royal Festival Hall, Janacek Diary of one who disappeared for the Hallé, Ascanius/Les troyens with the London Symphony Orchestra and Sir Colin Davis at the BBC Proms, Mendelssohn’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the BBC Proms, de Falla’s El sombrero de tres picos with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra under Neeme Järvi at the Edinburgh International Festival, Mozart Coronation Mass in the Salzburg Festival with the Mozarteum Orchester and Ivor Bolton, and a recording and concert of Rossini’s Ermioni for Opera Rara.
Will Taylor - Bass - Saturday 8th June, Opera in the Garden
A recent graduate of the Opera Course at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, British bass William Thomas is fast making a name for himself as one of today’s most promising young singers. He is a member of the Harewood Artists programme at English National Opera and a BBC New Generation Artist 2021-2023.
As a Jerwood Young Artist, he sang the role of Nicholas in the British premiere of Samuel Barber’s Vanessa at the Glyndebourne Festival, he has sung Shepherd Pelléas et Mélisande for Garsington Opera and he made his debut at the Vienna State Opera as Snug in a new production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Other engagements have included Zweiter Priester/Zweiter Geharnischter Die Zauberflöte for Glyndebourne and Colline La bohème at Alexandra Palace for the English National Opera.
Upcoming engagements include Priest/Badger/Harašta in concert performances of The Cunning Little Vixen with the CBSO/Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla; Parsi Rustomji Satyagraha, Sciarrone Tosca and Colline La bohème for the English National Opera and his debut for the Opéra National de Paris as Gralsritter Parsifal. He will also return to Glyndebourne and make debuts with the Opéra de Rouen Normandie and Teatro alla Scala, Milan.
Concert engagements have included Mozart’s Requiem (BBC Proms); Bach’s Johannes-Passion (Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique/Sir John Eliot Gardiner); Handel’s Messiah (Orchestra of the English National Opera/Laurence Cummings); Bartok’s Cantata Profana (London Symphony Orchestra/François-Xavier Roth) and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 (Orchestre national de Lyon/Alan Gilbert). He is winner of a number of major prizes, which include the Kathleen Ferrier Award and John Christie Award in 2018, and the Veronica Dunne International Singing Competition in 2019.
Matt Fletcher - Piano - Saturday 8th June, Opera in the Garden
Matthew Fletcher is an award-winning accompanist, chamber musician and répétiteur. Recent highlights include several televised performances with Danielle De Niese for the BBC, an appearance with Dame Kiri Te Kanawa on Sky Arts, recitals with Sir Thomas Allen, and Wigmore Hall debut recitals with Sam Furness, Gareth Brynmor John and Keri Fuge. He has worked as a répétiteur at Glyndebourne since 2012.
Matthew has won numerous awards for piano accompaniment, including the Help Musicians UK prize for accompaniment at the 2014 Kathleen Ferrier Awards. He is also a vocal coach and Associate at the Royal Academy of Music. Matthew studied at the Royal Academy of Music, with Michael Dussek and Pascal Nemirovsky. He holds a double 1st class degree in music from Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge.
Barb Jungr - Sunday 9th June, Jazz in the Garden
Described as “Britain’s most gifted song stylist” and “one of Europe’s most intriguing and intelligent interpreters of the contemporary song” multi-award-winning vocalist Barb Jungr has successfully combined the intricacies of cabaret with the power of jazz to create a unique concept of popular music. This new collection “Barb Jungr My Marquee” is also the name of Barb's recent album. Read on for more information about Barb Jungr.
“Britain’s finest interpreter of song” and “One of the best cabaret artists in the world” (Time Out New York), Barb turns her attention to some of the greatest songs in British pop history. Taking classic songs from bands and songwriters who performed at the legendary Soho venue The Marquee, Barb and her long-standing collaborator Jenny Carr reimagine, reinvent and shine new light on these great songs including Substitute (The Who), Paper Sun (Traffic), Living In The Past, (Jethro Tull), Shapes of Things to Come (The Yardbirds) and Flower In The Rain (The Move) among many more.
Jungr truly found her forte and international acclaim by interpreting the songs of Bob Dylan. On Dylan’s recent 80th birthday she was named among The Times top ten artists who have covered his work, no mean feat to be on the same page as Johnny Cash, The Byrds, Jimi Hendrix, Bryan Ferry, Chrissie Hynde and Stevie Wonder! In a career spanning 45 years, she has released over twenty solo albums and is a world-renowned artist. Barb has also been lauded for her work on the songs of Leonard Cohen, Jimmy Webb, Nina Simone and Bruce Springsteen. Now, in “Barb Jungr My Marquee” she is returning to her love of the great British songbook.
“…with their deep personal connection to the material, Jungr and Carr put on a magical show which lets us appreciate these timeless tunes anew.” – Musical Theatre Review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
“Barb Jungr is a force of nature and if you want to hear Dylan and Cohen’s songs given a whole new lease of life, then get to one of her shows over the next few months – you won’t be disappointed.” – LondonTheatre1 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
“Leonard Cohen and Bob Dylan knew how to write the perfect love song – Jungr certainly knows how to sing them.” – The Spy In The Stalls⭐⭐⭐⭐
