October

 

Cheryl Duvall 

Canadian pianist Cheryl Duvall will present a programme of works written for her by long-time collaborators, Canadian composers Anna Höstman and Patrick Giguère. Both of these works share themes of intimacy, exhilaration and safety. The cornerstone work of Duvall's 2020 release, Harbour, will be performed, which was ranked #1 Modern Recording in the Wire and featured in the year end list of Tim Rutherford Johnson.  

Matthew Durkan and Jonathan Fisher

From Ireland to Italy 

A selection of some of John Ireland's most powerful and interesting works for voice and piano, traditional Irish ballads and Italian opera and songs by Mozart, Verdi and Tosti. Download the Full Programme.

Biography

As a Harewood Artist at the English National Opera (2015-2020), Matthew gave over 100 performances for the company, including Demetrius A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Schaunard La Bohème, Marullo Rigoletto, Dancairo Carmen, Ormonte Partenope, Yamadori Madama Butterfly, Polythemus Acis and Galatea, Counsel Trial by Jury, Fiorello Il barbiere di Siviglia, Hel Helson Paul Bunyan and Malcolm Fleet Marnie. 

In the 2022/23 season, Matthew’s highlights include a return to the Royal Opera House to sing Flemish Deputy in Don Carlo and Dancairo Carmen for the English National Opera. 

His recent roles include Belcore L’elisir d’amore for Glyndebourne on Tour, Demetrius A Midsummer Night’s Dream for Opéra National de Montpellier, Marcello La Bohème for English National Opera, the title role in Don Giovanni with Diva Opera, Brabantischer Edler Lohengrin for the Royal Opera House and Escamillo Carmen for Longborough Festival Opera. 

Elsewhere, he has sung Masetto Don Giovanni with Opéra de Rouen Haute Normandie, Opéra Royal de Versailles and Longborough Festival, Melisso Alcina and Elviro Serse with Longborough Festival Opera and Belcore L’elisir d’amore at Iford Arts Festival. 

Matthew was winner of the 2014 Stuart Burrows International Voice Award and a finalist in the 2014 Kathleen Ferrier Competition. 

Jean-François Laporte

A concert featuring works for Babel table and electronics written by Huddersfield postgraduate composers. 

Biography: 

Jean-François Laporte (Québec, 1968) pursues an hybrid approach integrating visual arts and sound exploration. Taking an intuitive approach to create music, Laporte learns art through concrete experimentation on soundmatter. He has written over 80 works that have been performed in Montréal, across Canada and all around the world. The composer received several awards from Opus, Luigi Russolo, and Citta’di Udine, and his company Productions Totem Contemporain has received the Music Award during the Grand prix du Conseil des Arts de Montréal. 

For the past eighteen years, along with his activities as a composer, Jean-François has been developing and making new musical instruments (Tu-Yo, Bowl, FlyingCan, Siren Organ, Vibrating Membrane, Acoustic Oscillator, Tube, the Pipe, Sax-trunk,) which he integrates in his works and in his visual & sound installations using computerized and robotized controls. The composer is still very active in the creation of works for traditional instruments but very often used in a non-traditional manner. 

Jean-François Laporte is artistic director of Productions Totem Contemporain, an organization he founded in Montréal in 2003. He holds a doctorate degree in music Composition from University of Huddersfield (UK) with Pierre-Alexandre Tremblay. 

The musical works of Jean-François Laporte are published on Babel Scores Edition.