Saturday, 1 November 2025
11:00 am
in Emmanuel
Admission is free, with a retiring collection
Before coffee
Piccadilly Quartet
Olivia Trezise violin
Joshua Gill violin
Hannah Killick viola
Teresa De Oliveira cello
| Felix Mendelssohn | String Quartet in A minor Op 13 i. Adagio – Allegro vivace ii. Adagio non lento iii. Intermezzo: Allegretto con moto – Allegro di molto iv. Presto – Adagio non lento |
| Danish Trad arr Danish String Quartet | The Peat Dance |
After coffee
RNCM Songsters
Artistic Director Jonathan Fisher
Jenny Sykes piano
Alaw Evans soprano 1
Lucy Breakwell soprano 2
Merel-Magali Cox mezzo-soprano 3
| Claude Debussy | {Fêtes Galantes I, L.86} No.2 Fantoches 1 |
| Claude Debussy | {Ariettes oubliées, L.63} C’est l’extase langoureuse 1 |
| Francis Poulenc | {Banalités, FP107} No.5 Sanglots 1 |
| Rhys Jones | Cilfan y coed 1 |
| Jean Sibelius | {5 Songs, Opus 37} No.5 Flickan kom ifrån sin älsklings möte 2 |
| Henri Duparc | L’invitation au voyage 2 |
| Richard Strauss | {4 Lieder, Opus 27} No.3 Heimliche Aufforderung 2 |
| Peter Warlock | My Own Country 3 |
| Lodewijk Mortelmans | Als de Ziele Luistert 3 |
| Charles Trenet | Boum! 3 |
| Ben Moore | Sexy Lady 3 |
All RNCM performers appear by kind permission of the RNCM.
Profiles
Piccadilly String Quartet
The quartet is an emerging ensemble consisting of second year students at the RNCM. Despite only forming in 2024, they have already begun to establish themselves and give regular performances. Earlier this year, they played Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater alongside vocal soloists in the Basilica di Santa Trinita in Florence, Italy.
In March, they were selected as finalists of the prestigious RNCM Weil Prize and were commended for being the only first year quartet to be chosen, performing an ambitious programme of Shostakovich’s String Quartet No 8 and Haydn’s String Quartet Op 77 No 1. In October they performed alongside singers in an arrangement of Mozart’s Idomeneo as part of the RNCM’s Spotlight concert series.
During their first year together, they also recorded two brand new works by student composers with whom they collaborated closely during the process. They are fortunate to receive regular coaching from renowned musicians including Petr Prause, Donald Grant, Callum Smart and Jennifer Langridge. The Piccadilly String Quartet are so excited and enthused by their future prospects, dedicated to performing to the highest standard and filling their audiences with the same joy as they feel whilst making music together.
Jonathan Fisher (piano)
Jonathan is an accomplished and sought after collaborative pianist having had notable performances at Leeds Lieder, Oxford Lieder Festival, Ryedale Festival, Harrogate Festival, and The Richard Strauss Society, along with many other recitals for music societies across the United Kingdom. He has performed in many prestigious venues throughout the UK including The Purcell Room, The Wigmore Hall, The Bridgewater Hall, and Philharmonic Hall Liverpool.
Jonathan has built his career around art song collaboration, having worked with internationally recognised singers such as Roderick Williams, Benjamin Appl, Sir John Tomlinson, Rachel Nichols, Kathryn Rudge, Anna Stéphany, Lynne Dawson, Linda Richardson, Paul Nilon, and Louise Winter. He has served as a collaborative pianist for the London Master Classes, working alongside tutors Sir John Tomlinson (2018), Nelly Miricioiu (2012 and 2016), and Jennifer Larmore (2017).
Jonathan also regularly performs with award winning instrumentalists. He has performed and toured with the young and vibrant Saxophonist Jess Gillam and has collaborated with Józef Bazsinka (tuba), Chris Swann (clarinet), and Jonathan Rimmer (flute).
In addition to his active performance schedule, Jonathan is committed to working with the next generation of musicians. He works as a Staff Pianist and Coach for the RNCM, where he is the co-founder and Artistic Director of the RNCM Songsters. The RNCM Songsters are a specially selected group of singers and pianists who are trained to excel in song repertoire and promote the unique and intimate setting of recital performance; as part of their 2017-2018 season, Jonathan led the RNCM Songsters in a joint project with The Paris Conservatoire that culminated in a final performance at The Opéra Comique. He is also Artistic Director of the RNCM’s annual Day of Song and holds the position of Head of Keyboard and Pianist-in-Residence at the University of Huddersfield.
Jonathan graduated with first class honours from The University of Huddersfield and has a Master of Music in Performance from the RNCM. He has taken masterclasses and private tuition from Malcom Martineau, Julius Drake, and Roger Vignoles.
Jenny Sykes (piano)
Jenny is from Wiltshire. She has recently begun her Master of Music in Piano Accompaniment at the RNCM, studying under the tutelage of Harvey Davies. Since receiving her First-Class Bachelor’s degree in Music from Newcastle University, Jenny has worked as a freelance accompanist and piano teacher.
Jenny enjoys performing both as a soloist and a collaborative pianist. Recent highlights include Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 20 with Newcastle University Symphony Orchestra and Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue for solo piano at the King’ Hall, Newcastle University, as well as masterclasses with Sarah Beth Briggs, Adam Johnson and Martin Roscoe. She has also conducted and performed as a clarinettist with the Corsham Windband Association.
Jenny is delighted to be a member of the RNCM Songsters this year and looks forward to playing in the Smallwood lecture series with David Owen Norris. She is also excited to be taking part in the RNCM Children’s Opera project, continuing her passion for community engagement and working with aspiring young musicians.
Alaw Grug Evans (soprano)
Alaw is from Carmarthenshire in South-West Wales. A first-class Music graduate from The Queen’s College, Oxford, she is now studying for her Master’s degree postgradyuate at the RNCM. This year, she is generously supported by the Dobie Award, and was the recipient of the Maurice Pearton Scholarship during her undergraduate studies.
Recent professional highlights include Lucy (The Telephone, Menotti), performed at the British Embassy in Rome, Cupid (King Arthur, Purcell) and soprano soloist (Cantata 150, Bach), both with New Chamber Opera. She is also a named soloist on That Sweet City (album, Choir of The Queen’s College 2024). Her interest in music has always been propelled forward by her Welsh heritage. Contributing to the National Eisteddfod as both a singer and composer, she won the Principal Composer Prize in 2021 and was spotlighted by Classic FM for her work.
An experienced ensemble singer, Alaw has worked with various groups across the UK, including Kantos Chamber Choir, The Delius Singers, and Coro Spezzato. Alaw is delighted to be a member of the RNCM Songsters this year.
Lucy Breakwell (soprano)
Lucy is twenty-one and comes from Dorset. She is in her fourth year of study on the GRNCM Joint Course, a prestigious undergraduate program from which Lucy has gained a first-class degree with Dean’s Award in Music from the University of Manchester, and will also gain a degree from the RNCM (BMus), under the guidance of her principal study tutor, Yvonne Howard.
During her time in Manchester, Lucy has been able to work with and perform for renowned musicians and creatives such as the Quatuor Danel, Michael Chance, and Peter Sellars. She was also highly commended in the Elsie Thurston Prize at the RNCM (2023) and was recently awarded the Proctor-Gregg Prize for Performance for highest third year recital mark from the University of Manchester (2025).
Recent solo operatic roles include First Alms Sister in Suor Angelica (Dorset Opera Festival, 2025), Sifare in Mitridate, re di Ponto (RNCM Opera Scenes, 2025), Eurydice in Orpheus in the Underworld (Manchester University Opera Society, 2025), and Bastienne in Bastien et Bastienne (Bread and Bus Stop, 2024). Chorus appearances include The Snow Maiden (RNCM, 2023), and Madama Butterfly, Paul Carr’s Under the Greenwood Tree, and Cavalleria Rusticana (Dorset Opera Festival, 2024/2025).
Merel-Magali Cox (mezzo-soprano)
Merel-Magali is Dutch and is currently studying for her Master of Music at the RNCM under the tutelage of Mary Plazas. Her studies are generously supported by Help Musicians, Het Cultuurfonds, Peter Snook, the RNCM and the Dame Eva Turner Award.
Operatic roles include Cherubino, Solomon, Idamante, and Linette in RNCM’s upcoming production of L’Amour des Trois Oranges. Merel-Magali has performed with Dorset Opera Festival, Opera de Baugé and will join Buxton International Festival as a Young Artist this summer.
Now enjoying a diverse solo career across oratorio and recital work, recent highlight’s include Handel’s Messiah; Haydn’s Nelson Mass; Mozart’s, Haydn’s and Duruflé’s Requiem; Rutter’s Feel the Spirit (various choral societies) and Bach’s Johannes-Passion with Manchester Baroque. Upcoming performances include Vivaldi’s Gloria, Rutter’s Gloria, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, Bach’s Matthäus-Passion and her international debut in Elgar’s The Music Makers.
Most recently, Merel-Magali was selected to join the prestigious RNCM Songsters. Through this platform she hopes to share both the intimacy and extravagance song can present. Competition successes include First Prize in the RNCM Song-Cycle Competition, Second Prize in the Williams-Howard Prize and reaching the finals of the David Clover Competition for Singing.
During her undergraduate Merel-Magali was a Lay-clerk for Manchester Cathedral and currently records with various ensembles such as The Mancunium Consort, Edvard Grieg Korene and VOCES8 Scholars Ensemble taking her to Italy and Columbia later this year.