Biographies

the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment; Bach’s Geist und Seele with the Oxford Bach Soloists; Handel’s Messiah with Instruments of Time and Truth and Edward Higginbottom; Purcell Odes for a Queen with The English Concert and Kristian Bezuidenhout, and a performance of Bach and Handel arias with the Hanover Band and Laurence Cummings.

A former choral scholar at St John’s College, Cambridge, Hugh Cutting is a recent graduate of the Royal College of Music where he was a member of the International Opera Studio. On graduating, he was awarded the Tagore Gold Medal, presented by King Charles III. In the autumn of 2021, Hugh became the first countertenor to win the Kathleen Ferrier Award and is the first countertenor to become a BBC New Generation Artist (2022 – 24).

In the 2021 / 22 season Hugh was a member of Les Arts Florissants 10th Jardin des Voix and received critical acclaim for his portrayal of Arsace in Handel’s Partenope conducted by William Christie. Further highlights included his Carnegie Hall debut singing Bach’s St Matthew Passion with the Orchestra of St Luke’s and Bernard Labadie; Refugee in Dove’s Flight and Bertarido in Handel’s Rodelinda with the RCM International Opera Studio, Vivaldi’s Stabat Mater at the London Handel Festival with Adrian Butterfield; Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater with the Southbank Sinfonia; Tavener’s The Hidden Face with the City of London Sinfonia; Bach’s St Matthew Passion with

This season Hugh makes his debut at Opernhaus Zürich singing Monteverdi madrigals in Christian Spuck’s ballet setting. Upcoming concert engagements include multiple appearances at the Wigmore Hall alongside Iestyn Davies and Ensemble Guadagni, La Nuova Musica, The English Concert, and The Sixteen; a world premiere with the BBC Philharmonic and an appearance at the Oxford Lieder Festival; Handel’s Messiah with The Sixteen and Harry Christophers and with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and Adrian Lucas; Bach’s Christmas Oratorio with Monteverdi Choir & Orchestras and John Eliot Gardiner; Bach’s B minor Mass with The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and Vaclav Luks; Bach’s St Matthew Passion with the Finnish Radio Orchestra and Nick Collon and in a European tour with Collegium Vocale Gent and Philippe Herreweghe, as well as multiple projects with Les Arts Florissants and William Christie including Polinesso in Handel’s Ariodante and Arsace Partenope.

Song is central to Hugh’s ambition, and he seeks to expand the possibilities of countertenor repertoire in this sphere. In 2022 / 23 he appears in recital at the Wigmore Hall, Ryedale Festival, and at the Thames Recital Series with ‘Untethered’, a programme based on Michael A. Singer’s book ‘The Untethered Soul’, which centres around the concept of liberation, namely from the thoughts and perspectives that disturb our daily lives. Many of these works will be recorded as part of Hugh’s involvement in the BBC New Generation Artist scheme for later broadcast on Radio 3. He frequently collaborates with pianist George Ireland, lutenist Danny Murphy and composer Piers Connor Kennedy both in recital and concert.

Hugh works regularly with SoundVoice UK and composer Hannah Conway, most recently performing at Snape Maltings and King’s Place alongside Roderick Williams and Lucy Crowe in a project exploring identity and voice loss in terminal health conditions.

He has recorded Purcell Royal Odes and Birthday Odes for Queen Mary with The King’s Consort and Robert King alongside Iestyn Davies and Carolyn Sampson, and Lamento with Iestyn Davies and Fretwork for Signum Classics.

In 2022 / 23, Anna Devin will perform the title role in Lucia di Lammermoor in Hamburg as well as Fiordiligi in Cosi fan tutte with the Irish National Opera.

In recent years, Anna Devin’s successes have included Elisabetta in Maria Stuarda with the Irish National Opera; Almirena in Rinaldo with Glyndebourne on tour and Michal in Saul in Paris Théâtre du Châtelet; Melissa in Amadigi with Garsington Opera; Celia in Lucio Silla in Madrid; the title role of Semele with the Händel-Festspiele; Tusnelda in Arminio at the International Handel Festival in Göttingen; Michal in Saul at Glyndebourne and Cleopatra in Giulio Cesare for the Early Opera Company, in which her Cleopatra was described as: ‘one of the finest London has heard’ (Opera Magazine). She has sung Galatea in Acis and Galatea for Mozartwoche Salzburg; the title role in Handel’s Rodelinda with the Moscow Philharmonic; Nannetta in Falstaff and Lauretta in Gianni Schicchi for Covent Garden; Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro for Welsh National Opera, Glyndebourne Tour and Scottish Opera; Sophie in Werther and Zerlina in Don Giovanni for Scottish Opera; la bergère Louis XV and la chauve-souris in L’enfant et les sortilèges for La Scala; Poppea in Agrippina for Opera Collective, Ireland; and Clotilde in Faramondo for Brisbane Baroque, which earned her the Best Supporting Singer in an Opera at the 2015 Helpmann Awards, Australia.

Irish soprano Anna Devin is widely admired for her “vocal control, artistry and musicodramatic intelligence” (Opera News). An alumna of the Royal Opera House’s Jette Parker Young Artist programme, the Royal Irish Academy of Music, Guildhall School of Music and Drama, and the National Opera Studio, Ms Devin has gained recognition across the world for her work in the Baroque and Bel Canto repertoire.

Other roles have included Governess in Turn of the Screw, la Comtesse Adèle in Le Comte Ory, Marie in La fille du Régiment, Morgana in Alcina, Gretel in Hänsel und Gretel and Ilia in Idomeneo.

A frequent concert performer throughout Europe and the USA, Ms Devin’s repertoire encompasses a vast range of sacred and secular works and she has appeared at the London Handel, Göttingen Handel, Lausanne Bach, Brighton Early Music and Belfast festivals, the BBC Proms and Carnegie Hall. She has worked with the Vienna Philharmonic, Hallé, RTÉ NSO, Ulster and Minnesota orchestras and Houston, Charlotte and Seattle symphonies, among others. Recent season highlights, Mozart Concert Arias with the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra conducted by Harry Bicket; and a concert tour performing Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater and Mozart’s Exsultate Jubilate with frequent collaborator Marc Minkowski and Les Musiciens du Louvre. Other conductors she has worked with include Sir William Christie, Laurence Cummings, Christian Curnyn, Ottavio Dantone, Ivor Bolton, Sir Colin Davis, Yannick Nézet-Séguin and Sir Antonio Pappano.

Anna Devin’s recordings include Arminio and Faramondo for Accent from the International Händel Festspiele Gottingen; Mozart in London, Il re Pastore and Mitridate, Re di Ponto with Classical Opera for Signum Classics; and ‘Arias for Benucci’ with Arcangelo for Hyperion. She was also an Associate Artist with Classical Opera, with whom she records and performs regularly.

In addition to her work on stage, Ms Devin is proud to be an Ambassador for the British Dyslexia Association. She has also been open with the public through the media and events about growing up with dyslexia, saying: “Being different is not a bad thing. Not fitting in with the crowd is a blessing as we all have our own journey, and being forced to find your own path brings originality.” She is passionate about nurturing new talent and gives masterclasses at the Royal Irish Academy of Music, Dublin, as well as coaching at the Royal Academy Opera Course, London.

When not on stage, Ms Devin is a keen runner and enjoys keeping fit and relaxing with her husband, young children and Norwegian Forest cat in their Bedfordshire, UK home.

Julia Doyle

Born and educated in Lancaster, Julia read Social and Political Sciences alongside a Choral Scholarship at Cambridge. She made her professional debuts singing Messiah with The King’s Consort at the Cadogan Hall and with the Britten Sinfonia / Polyphony at St John’s Smith Square and continues strong relationships with both. Since then she has performed all over the world and become established as a specialist soprano in Baroque repertoire.

She has worked with conductors including Frieder Bernius, Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Matthew Halls, Philippe Hereweghe, Richard Tognetti, Alfredo Bernadini, Györgi Vashegyi, Robert King, Nicholas Kraemer, Juanjo Mena, Sir Roger Norrington, Arsys Bourgogne, Gianandrea Noseda and Trevor Pinnock.

Highlights include performances with the BBC Philharmonic, Monteverdi Choir and Orchestra, Britten Sinfonia, Royal Philharmonic, RTE Symphony, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, London Handel Orchestra, The English Concert, The King’s Consort, London Bach Society, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, The Sixteen, Collegium Vocale, Netherlands Bach Society, Le Concert Lorrain, Bayerische Rundfunk, Kammerchor Stuttgart, Australian Chamber Orchestra, Seville Baroque Orchestra, B’Rock, J.S. Bach Stiftung, Tafelmusik, Music of the Baroque and at the Wigmore Hall and Cadogan Hall, London and Concertgebouw, Amsterdam. baroque and renaissance repertoire enjoying collaborations with the foremost practitioners of the genre.

Recent and future engagements include Mozart Mass in C minor in Toronto, Vivaldi Juditha Triumphans at the Concertgebouw, Palace of Versailles and Theater an der Wien, Handel Aci, Galatea e Polifemo at Halle Handel Festival, recordings of Bach St John Passion with J.S. Bach Stiftung, tours of Europe with The Monteverdi Choir and Orchestra, concerts with the OAE, English Concert and La Serenissima at the early music festival in Valetta, a tour and recording of Messiah with the Rias Kammerchor, concerts at the Halle Handel Festival with the MDR Chor, Tisbe at the Buxton Festival, Handel Occasional Oratorio and Alexander’s Feast both with Bayerische Rundfunk and Ensemble Cantatio, concerts in the UK and Scotland with the Dunedin Consort, recitals in London and at the York Early Music Festival as well as an appearance at the 2021 BBC Proms with the Monteverdi Choir and Orchestra and performances at the Wigmore Hall with La Nuova Musica and the London Handel Orchestra.

She recently released her first solo recording of Purcell with the lutenist, Matthew Wadsworth.

Recent performances include Purcell and Handel with the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra directed by Kristian Bezuidenhout; Handel La Resurrezione with The English Consort and Harry Bicket; Monteverdi Vespers and Bach St Matthew Passion with Dunedin Consort and John Butt; Handel Il Trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno with the Croatian Barokk Ensemble (Lawrence Cummings) and Haydn Die Schöpfung with Les Arts Florissants (William Christie) in New York.

Amongst Hugo’s opera roles to date are Indian Boy and Fame in Purcell The Indian Queen with Opera de Lille as well as concert performances of the composer’s King Arthur with The Gabrieli Consort and at the Teatro Real, Madrid; Eurimaco Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino and Servus in the premiere of Georgio Battistelli Julius Caesar at the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma. He also took part in a tour of a semi-staged Handel Semele with the Monteverdi Choir under Sir John Eliot Gardiner which included his début at Teatro alla Scala, Milan.

Hugo studied Music at the University of Durham. He is a former Britten-Pears Young Artist and was a member of the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment

‘Rising Stars’ scheme, appearing with the group on many occasions.

British tenor Hugo Hymas is much in demand for his interpretations of the

Amongst his 2022 / 23 season highlights are Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and Tempere Philharmonic débuts singing the St Matthew Passion; a tour of the B minor Mass with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and Václav Luks and performing and recording Purcell with Arcangelo and Jonathan Cohen.

Václav Luks studied at the Pilsen Conservatoire, the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague, and crowned his training with the specialised study of early music at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis in Switzerland in the studios of Jörg-Andreas Bötticher and Jesper Christensen in the fields of historical keyboard instruments and historical performance practice. During his studies in Basel and in the years that followed, he gave concerts all over Europe and overseas as the principal horn player of the Akademie für Alte Musik in Berlin.

After returning from abroad in 2005, he transformed the chamber ensemble Collegium 1704, which he had already established during his studies, into a baroque orchestra, and he founded the vocal ensemble Collegium Vocale 1704. Under his leadership, the ensembles perform at prestigious festivals and at renowned concert halls. Their recordings have earned both public success and critical acclaim, including awards such as Trophées, Diapason d’Or, Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik or Edison Klassiek.

In addition to his intensive work with Collegium 1704, Václav Luks also collaborates with other distinguished ensembles including the Netherlands Bach Society, Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo, Camerata Salzburg, the Akademie für Alte Musik in Berlin and La

Cetra Barockorchester Basel, from 2022 also with Händel & Haydn Society Boston. At a benefit concert for the restoration of the Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris, Václav Luks conducted the Orchestre nationale de France. The French radio station France Musique devoted five episodes of the programme Grands interpretes de la musique classique to Václav Luks in 2021. In May 2021, he conducted Collegium 1704 in the opening concert of the international festival Prague Spring.

He has worked with internationally renowned soloists including Karina Gauvin, Vivica Genaux, Ann Hallenberg, Martina Janková, Philippe Jaroussky, Magdalena Kožená, Bejun Mehta, Sarah Mingardo, Adam Plachetka, and Andreas Schöll.

Václav Luks has collaborated on operatic and theatrical performances with such stage directors as Willi Decker, Ondřej Havelka, Ursel Herrmann, Louise Moaty, J. A. Pitínský, and David Radok. Recently, he participates on the international co-production of Händel’s opera Alcina directed by Jiří Heřman. Under his direction, Collegium 1704 recorded the music for Petr Václav’s documentary Zpověď zapomenutého (Confession of the Vanished) and for his upcoming feature film Il Boemo about the life of Josef Mysliveček, where Václav Luks also serves as chief music advisor.

His activities have played an important part in the revival of interest in the works of Czech composers such as Jan Dismas Zelenka and Josef Mysliveček, and in strengthening CzechGerman cultural links through rediscovery of the two countries’ shared musical heritage.

In June 2022, he received the Order of Arts and Letters (Ordre des Arts et des Lettres) from Ambassador Alexis Duterteur at a ceremony at the French Embassy in Prague. The Order is awarded by the French Minister of Culture for significant merits in the field of art and literature.

Roderick Williams is one of the most sought after baritones of his generation. He performs a wide repertoire from baroque to contemporary music, in the opera house, on the concert platform and is in demand as a recitalist worldwide.

He enjoys relationships with all the major UK opera houses and has sung opera world premieres by David Sawer, Sally Beamish, Michael van der Aa, Robert Saxton and Alexander Knaifel. Recent and future engagements include the title role in Eugene Onegin for Garsington, the title role in Billy Budd with Opera North, Papageno for Covent Garden, and productions with Cologne Opera, English National Opera and Netherlands Opera.

Roderick sings regularly with all the BBC orchestras and all the major UK orchestras, as well as the Berlin, London and New York Philharmonic Orchestras,

Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Ensemble Orchestral de Paris, Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome, Cincinnati Symphony, London Symphony and Bach Collegium Japan amongst others. His many festival appearances include the BBC Proms (including the Last Night in 2014), Edinburgh, Cheltenham, Bath, Aldeburgh and Melbourne Festivals.

Roderick Williams has an extensive discography. He is a composer and has had works premiered at the Wigmore and Barbican Halls, the Purcell Room and live on national radio. In December 2016 he won the prize for best choral composition at the British Composer Awards. From 2022 / 23 season he takes the position of Composer in Association of the BBC Singers.

He recently completed a three year odyssey of the Schubert song cycles culminating in performances at the Wigmore Hall and has subsequently recorded them for Chandos. Future releases include more Schubert, Schumann in English as well as works by Vaughan Williams.

He was Artistic Director of Leeds Lieder in April 2016, is Artist in Residence for the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra from 2020/21 for two seasons and won the RPS Singer of the Year award in May 2016. He was awarded an OBE in June 2017.

In 1986, a group of inquisitive London musicians took a long hard look at that curious institution we call the Orchestra, and decided to start again from scratch. They began by throwing out the rulebook. Put a single conductor in charge? No way. Specialise in repertoire of a particular era? Too restricting. Perfect a work and then move on? Too lazy. The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment was born.

And as this distinctive ensemble playing on period-specific instruments began to get a foothold, it made a promise to itself. It vowed to keep questioning, adapting and inventing as long as it lived. Residencies at the Southbank Centre and the Glyndebourne Festival didn’t numb its experimentalist bent. A major record deal didn’t iron out its quirks. Instead, the OAE examined musical notes with ever more freedom and resolve.

That creative thirst remains unquenched. The Night Shift series of informal performances are redefining concert formats. Its former home at London’s Kings Place has fostered further diversity of planning and music-making. The ensemble has formed the bedrock for some of Glyndebourne’s most groundbreaking recent productions.

In keeping with its values of always questioning, challenging and trailblazing, in September 2020, the OAE became the resident orchestra of Acland Burghley School, Camden. The residency – a first for a British orchestra – allows the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment to live, work and play amongst the students of the school.

Now more than thirty years old, the OAE is part of our musical furniture. It has even graced the outstanding conducting talents of Elder, Rattle, Jurowski, Iván Fischer and John Butt with a joint title of Principal Artist. But don’t ever think the ensemble has lost sight of its founding vow. Not all orchestras are the same. And there’s nothing quite like this one.

Andrew Mellor