CHRISTOPHER FLETCHER Conductor
Christopher Fletcher considers himself to be both fortunate and privileged to have been Plymouth Philharmonic Choir’s conductor since 1996, during which time the choir has come to be recognised as one of the best in the South West. As well as the choir’s regular concerts with professional orchestras and soloists in Plymouth he has conducted the choir in cathedrals and churches all over Europe, including Notre Dame in Paris.
Christopher was born in Leeds. At an early age he began to show considerable musical talent. At the age of ten he won the Northern Choirboy’s Championship in Harrogate singing Hear ye Israel from Mendelssohn’s Elijah and two years after this he became the first boy treble in the Bradford Diocese to be awarded the R.S.C.M. St. Nicolas Award.
In 1978 Christopher was awarded a scholarship to study at Trinity College of Music, London. After graduating Christopher moved to South Devon, since when he has been actively involved in choral singing, church music and teaching. He has been organist and Master of Music at Plymouth R. C. Cathedral since 2001, previously holding a similar post at the Parish and Priory Church of St. Mary, Totnes.
In addition to Plymouth Philharmonic Choir, Christopher is also currently conductor of the Stanborough Chorus, Kingsbridge, and is a former conductor of The Lupridge Singers, The Chagford Singers and the South Devon Choir.
As well as being in demand as a workshop teacher, Christopher helped to found the annual Rotary Club Come and Sing in1999.This is now an annual event which, under his direction, regularly attracts two hundred singers from all over Devon and beyond.
In 2008 he was awarded a Paul Harris Fellowship by Rotary International.
Soprano: Susanna Fairbairn
Mezzo – soprano: Kate Symonds-Joy
Tenor: Matthew Minter
Baritone: Thomas Humphreys
Susanna Fairbairn
English soprano Susanna Fairbairn spent her early years growing up in South Africa, where she learnt to sing in Afrikaans and Setswana. Born into a musical family, Susanna toyed with various instruments (including, aged six, playing a viola her grandfather had converted into a mini cello by adding a spike), until settling on the flute, which she studied until the end of her BA at Magdalen College, Oxford.
After Oxford, looking for adventure, Susanna moved to Dublin to sing as a Lay Vicar Choral at Christchurch Cathedral. That summer as a flute scholar at Dartington International Summer School, she seized a chance to sing to Dame Emma Kirkby, who urged her to switch to studying voice. Susanna immediately won a place at Trinity College of Music, learning with Alison Wells and winning many prizes. Simultaneously, Sir John Eliot Gardiner offered her a place to train on his Apprenticeship Scheme in the Monteverdi Choir, with whom she subsequently toured internationally.
Susanna found her voice and confidence growing and enjoyed increasing amounts of solo and operatic work, so she went to study with Dennis O’Neill at the Wales International Academy of Voice. She recently won the Dvořák Prize at the Emmy Destinn Young Singers Awards, and won the Selma D and Leon Fishbach Memorial Prize at the 2014 London Handel Competition. Current and future highlights include her Wigmore Hall recital debut with Park Lane Group; Countess Le nozze di Figaro for Longborough Festival Opera; and 1st Priestess and Greek Woman Iphygénie en Tauride, Bice Pia de’ Tolomei, and cover Donna Anna Don Giovanni for English Touring Opera.
When not singing, Susanna can most often be found in the heat of a Bikram Yoga studio, riding her red Brompton or eating taramasalata. Please see www.susannafairbairn.com for future events.
Kate Symonds-Joy graduated with a First Class music degree from Cambridge University and a DipRAM from the Royal Academy Opera Course.
Concert highlights include Bach’s Christmas Oratorio in Sydney Opera House, Ravel’s Chansons Madecasses at the Purcell Room, Rutter’s Feel the Spirit at the Barbican, Bach’s St John Passion in the Aldeburgh Festival, Mahler’s Symphony no.2 at Cadogan Hall, Elgar’s Dream of Gerontius, Handel’s Messiah with Bordeaux Opera and at Birmingham Symphony Hall, Mozart’s Requiem with Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Elgar’s Sea Pictures with Cheltenham Symphony Orchestra, and Verdi’s Requiem at the Royal Albert Hall.
Kate has sung Berio’s Sequenza III and Berberian Stripsody for nonclassical, Berio Folksongs with the Psappha Ensemble and cycled to the most northerly inhabited part of the UK to sing Judith Weir’s King Harald’s Saga in the Shetland Islands’ Muckleflugga lighthouse. Operatic roles include Mrs Herring in Aldeburgh, Noye’s Fludde in Westminster Cathedral, and Wild Girl in A Village Romeo & Juliet for Wexford. Kate also joined The Prison Choir Project to sing the role of Carmen with a chorus of inmates in Dartmoor and Wandsworth Prisons.
Kate sings regularly as a core member of Solomon’s Knot Baroque Collective, making their Wigmore Hall debut with Bach’s St John Passion in April. Kate recorded a CD of Robin Holloway’s Song Cycles for Delphian, and also appears as soloist on Giles Swayne’s Stabat Mater (NAXOS), Strauss’ Deutsche Motette (Delphian), Villa Lobos’ Magnificat for Contraltino and Choir (Delphian) and Bach’s B minor mass (Sir John Eliot Gardiner/SDG).
Kate teaches the choral scholars of both Gonville and Caius College and St John’s Voices, Cambridge. Future projects include a Proms debut singing Bach Cantatas with Solomon’s Knot and Elgar’s Sea Pictures with Christopher Robinson and the RPO.
Matthew Minter
English tenor Matthew Minter studied singing at the Royal Northern College of Music. Renowned for his versatility as a soloist, Matthew is in demand throughout Britain and on the international concert platform and has received critical acclaim for his communication, delivery, and clarity of text. Matthew works regularly with many of Britain’s leading orchestras, including the English Symphony Orchestra, Northern Sinfonia, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. He has had the privilege of working under the direction of such distinguished conductors as Pierre Boulez, Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Bernard Haitink, Richard Hickox and Sir David Willcocks and he has performed at a number of the most prestigious venues including the Bridgewater Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Royal Albert Hall, the Concertgebouw, and the Lincoln Center. In 2013 Matthew premièred and recorded a Mass of Reverence and Devotion written especially for him by Daniel Gillingwater.
Further career highlights include a gala performance for the British Prime Minister, singing at a private party for the Duchess of York and various members of the British Royal Family, and notably appearing on the BBC’s Top Gear programme performing O Sole Mio whilst being driven in a Maserati sports car by Michael Schumacher!
Thomas Humphreys began singing as a chorister at Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford and studied at the Royal Academy of Music.
In opera, he has been praised for his “captivating” and “powerful” voice. He has sung the title role in Don Giovanni for the Opera Holland Park Young Artist Programme, as well as returning for their 2018 season to sing the roles of L’araldo Maggiore (Isabeau) and The Wigmaker (Ariadne auf Naxos). He made his debut with Glyndebourne Touring Opera as Servo di Flora (La Traviata), as well as covering the role of The Captain (Eugene Onegin) for Glyndebourne Festival Opera. He has been critically acclaimed for his performance of Jake Wallace (La Fanciulla del West) for Grange Park Opera. He has also sung and understudied roles for Opera Holland Park, English Touring Opera, the Merry Opera Company, and the King’s Head Theatre, recently singing Le Grand Pretre de Dagon (Samson et Dalila) for the Grimeborn Festival.
Thomas is in high demand on the concert platform, regularly performing with the premiere orchestras and choirs of the UK at venues such as the Barbican Hall, Cadogan Hall, Wigmore Hall, St. John’s, Smith Square among many others. He has formed a close working relationship with many of the country’s foremost choral conductors, such as Gavin Carr, Hilary Davan Wetton, David Pipe and Jonathan Willcocks. He has recently performed Ein deutsches Requiem (Brahms) at Barbican Hall with the London Concert Choir and Southbank Sinfonia, under the baton of Mark Forkgen, Mass in C Minor (Mozart) and Requiem (Faure) with the City of London Choir and Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, under the baton of Hilary Davan Wetton and Missa in Tempori Belli (Haydn) in York Minster with York Musical Society under the baton of David Pipe. His repertoire includes Messiah (Handel), Elijah (Mendelssohn), St. John Passion (Bach), Christmas Oratorio (Bach), Ein deutches Requiem (Brahms), Requiem (Mozart), Requiem (Faure), The Creation (Haydn), Nelson Mass (Haydn), Five Mystical Songs (Vaughan Williams).
Thomas is also a keen recitalist, performing his first Winterreise (Schubert) at South Hill Park Arts in Bracknell. He has performed a wide ranging repertoire of Russian, German, French and English Song across the UK and abroad. Notable highlights include a recital of Rachmaninov and Vaughan Williams in the Chaliapin House Museum in Moscow, recitals as part of the Armonie della Magna Graecia Festival in Calabria, Italy and a recital of Russian and Bulgarian Song in the National Radio Hall, Varna, Bulgaria.
In competition, Thomas won the 1st Prize and Art Song Prize at the Thelma King Award, 2nd Prize in the John Warner Memorial Award, 3rd Prize in the Maureen Lehane Vocal Awards at the Wigmore Hall and 3rd Prize in the International Bromsgrove Young Musician Awards.
Future plans include the role of Conte Almaviva in Le nozze di Figaro (Mozart) for Dorset Opera Festival, Requiem (Verdi) with Lewisham Choral Society and the London Mozart Players at the Royal Festival Hall, Petite Messe Solenelle (Rossini) in Tewkesbury Abbey and St. John Passion (Bach) with the Bournemouth Symphony Chorus and Orchestra.
Thomas lives in West Dorset with his partner and two daughters. During the pandemic, he served as a response police officer for two years before returning to singing full time. In his spare time, Thomas loves to go for walks in the countryside with his family, he keeps fit by boxing and loves to try his hand at writing some very amateur poetry!
Thomas Humphreys began singing as a chorister at Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford and studied at the Royal Academy of Music.
In opera, he has been praised for his “captivating” and “powerful” voice. He has sung the title role in Don Giovanni for the Opera Holland Park Young Artist Programme, as well as returning for their 2018 season to sing the roles of L’araldo Maggiore (Isabeau) and The Wigmaker (Ariadne auf Naxos). He made his debut with Glyndebourne Touring Opera as Servo di Flora (La Traviata), as well as covering the role of The Captain (Eugene Onegin) for Glyndebourne Festival Opera. He has been critically acclaimed for his performance of Jake Wallace (La Fanciulla del West) for Grange Park Opera. He has also sung and understudied roles for Opera Holland Park, English Touring Opera, the Merry Opera Company, and the King’s Head Theatre, recently singing Le Grand Pretre de Dagon (Samson et Dalila) for the Grimeborn Festival.
Thomas is in high demand on the concert platform, regularly performing with the premiere orchestras and choirs of the UK at venues such as the Barbican Hall, Cadogan Hall, Wigmore Hall, St. John’s, Smith Square among many others. He has formed a close working relationship with many of the country’s foremost choral conductors, such as Gavin Carr, Hilary Davan Wetton, David Pipe and Jonathan Willcocks. He has recently performed Ein deutsches Requiem (Brahms) at Barbican Hall with the London Concert Choir and Southbank Sinfonia, under the baton of Mark Forkgen, Mass in C Minor (Mozart) and Requiem (Faure) with the City of London Choir and Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, under the baton of Hilary Davan Wetton and Missa in Tempori Belli (Haydn) in York Minster with York Musical Society under the baton of David Pipe. His repertoire includes Messiah (Handel), Elijah (Mendelssohn), St. John Passion (Bach), Christmas Oratorio (Bach), Ein deutches Requiem (Brahms), Requiem (Mozart), Requiem (Faure), The Creation (Haydn), Nelson Mass (Haydn), Five Mystical Songs (Vaughan Williams).
Thomas is also a keen recitalist, performing his first Winterreise (Schubert) at South Hill Park Arts in Bracknell. He has performed a wide ranging repertoire of Russian, German, French and English Song across the UK and abroad. Notable highlights include a recital of Rachmaninov and Vaughan Williams in the Chaliapin House Museum in Moscow, recitals as part of the Armonie della Magna Graecia Festival in Calabria, Italy and a recital of Russian and Bulgarian Song in the National Radio Hall, Varna, Bulgaria.
In competition, Thomas won the 1st Prize and Art Song Prize at the Thelma King Award, 2nd Prize in the John Warner Memorial Award, 3rd Prize in the Maureen Lehane Vocal Awards at the Wigmore Hall and 3rd Prize in the International Bromsgrove Young Musician Awards.
Future plans include the role of Conte Almaviva in Le nozze di Figaro (Mozart) for Dorset Opera Festival, Requiem (Verdi) with Lewisham Choral Society and the London Mozart Players at the Royal Festival Hall, Petite Messe Solenelle (Rossini) in Tewkesbury Abbey and St. John Passion (Bach) with the Bournemouth Symphony Chorus and Orchestra.
Thomas lives in West Dorset with his partner and two daughters. During the pandemic, he served as a response police officer for two years before returning to singing full time. In his spare time, Thomas loves to go for walks in the countryside with his family, he keeps fit by boxing and loves to try his hand at writing some very amateur poetry!
HANDEL: Samson
SATURDAY 25 NOVEMBER 2023 START TIME 7.15PM
Following on from the tremendous success in 2022 of Judas Maccabaeus, the season opener is another of Handel’s great oratorios, Samson. The plot upon which this work is based is as dramatic and captivating as that in any modern-day soap opera.
Samson, Judge of Israel, married Delilah, a Philistine woman, who discovered the secret of his supernatural strength. Betraying him whilst he slept, she cut his hair. Captured by the Philistines, enemies of the Israelites, he was made blind and imprisoned. The oratorio begins on a festival day in honour of the Philistine god Dagon when Samson is allowed to come out of his cell and be visited by friends all of whom are shocked by his transformation.
Delilah attempts to re-seduce him and bring about a reconciliation, but there is only loathing. The Philistine Harapha challenges Samson to a duel and then insults him, claiming it is beneath his dignity to fight a blind man. Instead, he takes Samson to the festival to show him off and cause further humiliation. Quickly the songs to Dagon turn to noise and panic as Samson pulls down the buildings on to himself and his tormentors. His final deed brings redemption to God’s people and the work ends with a great hymn of praise.
Handel’s music brings to life the characters with alluring violins for Delilah’s seductive aria, the swagger of the music for Harapha, the solemn gravity for the Israelites and the hedonistic choruses for the Philistines.
