St Mary’s Church, Hay-on-Wye, HR3 5EB. Doors open 3.30pm. Refreshments.

Tickets: tba

Programme                             

Erich Korngold: Liebesbriefchen, Schneeglöckchen, Sterbelied

Sergei Rachmaninov:  Lilacs Op. 21, No. 5                                                                                             

Sergei Rachmaninov:  At my window Op. 26, No. 10                                                                        

Frédéric Chopin:  Mazurkas Op. 24, Nos. 2 and 4                                                                               

Edvard Greig:  Zur Rosenzeit Op. 48, No. 5                                                                               

Edvard Greig:  Peer Gynt Suite No. 2, Op. 55: IV.  Solveig’s song                

Kaija Saariaho:  Leino Songs                                                                                                

Arnold Schoenberg:  4 Lieder, Op. 2, Nos. 1 and 2                                                                             

Alberto Ginastera:  Danzas Argentinas No. 2                                                                         

Antonín Leopold Dvořák:   Gypsy songs Op. 55, Nos. 1, 3 and 4

Kurt Weill: Youkali                   

Praised for her ‘pure and vibrant’ timbre (Olyrix), British soprano Alysia Hanshaw is a member of the 2023-25 Opera Studio at the Opéra National du Rhin.  She completed her studies at the Royal College of Music and the Royal Northern College of Music and has performed in masterclasses with celebrated artists including Sarah Connolly, Edith Wiens, Mary Bevan and Michael Chance. 

Highlights from her past season at the Opéra National du Rhin include performing the roles of Nerea in Porpora’s Polifemo and Ombre d’une Vierge in Guercœur by Albéric Magnard, conducted by Ingo Metzmacher; a breakthrough production which was awarded the Prix du Syndicat de la Critique, given to exceptional artists, shows and creatives in France. This season she will perform in OnR productions of Peer Gynt by Grieg (Solveig) and Les Noces by Stravinsky, as well as covering the roles of Giuditta and Anita in Giuditta by Lehar. Alysia will sing in Mozart’s Mass in C minor with the Orchestre Symphonique de Mulhouse and appear in recitals in Strasbourg, Colmar and Mulhouse. Alysia will make her German debut at the Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe as Armida in Rinaldino, an abridged ‘Fantasy-Kozert’ version of Handel’s Rinaldo. In the UK, she will give a solo recital tour of Cornwall with pianist, Jay Carroll, performing in a range of venues supported by the Countess of Munster Trust.

Alysia made her Glyndebourne Festival Opera debut in 2023 as Soeur Antoine in Dialogues des Carmélites and in the ensemble of L’elisir d’amore. Past opera roles include Une Pastourelle and La Chauve-Souris in L’enfant et les sortilèges, The Dew Fairy in Hansel und Gretel, Soeur Constance in Dialogues des Carmélites (Scenes), Héro in Béatrice et Bénédict and Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro (Scenes). She created two roles in new chamber operas written for the 2022 Tête-à-Tête Festival, in Darren Sng’s My Days as a Zombie and Michael Hughes’ Cue Action. In 2022 she was a young artist at the Lyrique-en-mer Festival in Brittany, performing in Gluck’s Orphée, Dvorak’s Stabat Mater and Handel’s Messiah.

An experienced song performer, Alysia’s past recital engagements include Britten’s Songs from the Chinese with the RNCM Songsters and Copland’s Poems of Emily Dickinson at the RNCM Chamber Music Festival, for which her performance was described by the Sunday Times as “a high point of a fascinating group-recital”. Her recent concert work includes Mahler’s 4th Symphony with the Royal College of Music Orchestra, Brahms’ Ein Deutsches Requiem in Ripon Cathedral with Orchestra D’Amici and Bach’s Magnificat with the Bournemouth Bach Choir and Orchestra.  

Manchester-born pianist Jay Carroll graduated from the Royal Northern College of Music where he studied with both Sally Ann Macleod and Kathryn Stott. During his time in the College he won both the Nossek Trio Prize and Cronshaw/Brownson Song Prize, and in 2021 he won Best Accompanist in the Courtney Kenny Song Prize.

The versatility of collaborative piano and the dynamic nature of ensemble playing have spurred him forward throughout his career. During his time in Trio Déanach he performed in the RNCM Chamber Music Festival and enjoyed studying with internationally-acclaimed chamber groups such as Trio Gaspard and Trio Karenine. His piano-violin duo playing highlights include performing at the Royal Dublin Society and Blackwater Valley Opera Festival with Mollie Wrafter (Feis Ceoil winner 2022) and with his piano duo (The Denore Duo) he has enjoyed performing in local piano festivals throughout Spain.

Jay’s love of collaboration has extended beyond classical music and into the realms of jazz and contemporary music. In 2022 he was assistant Musical Director for the UK premiere of the cabaret ‘It’s In The Air!’ and in the same year worked under composer Harvey Brough as the rehearsal pianist for the new opera The Hive.