Alex Galvin – Director
Alex is a Director and Screenwriter with three operas, two feature films, three shorts and over 200 advertisements and corporate videos to his credit. A graduate of Victoria University and the NZ Film and Television School, Alex wrote and directed two feature films: When Night Falls (2007) and the first Hong Kong/NZ film co-production – the sci-fi thriller Eternity (2014).
His third feature film, an adaptation of Henry James’s The Turn of the Screw is currently in post-production for a 2019 release.
Alex’s films have screened at many overseas festivals including Cannes Cinephiles, Shanghai Film Festival, Boston Film Festival, Lucerne Festival and the Madrid Film Festival, winning several awards. Alex’s film Eternity was also a finalist for Best Foreign Film at Golden Roosters (Chinese Oscars) in Lanzhou, China.
Alex has been invited to guest lecture in film in Hong Kong, Los Angeles, Shanghai and London. He is currently a Film Lecturer at Victoria University of Wellington.
Also a trained singer, Alex was a member of the NZ Opera Chorus for many years. This will be the third opera he has directed, after his critically acclaimed productions of Don Giovanni and The Marriage of Figaro.
Matthew Ross – Music Director
As Music Director, Matthew has led seasons of Johann Strauss’ “Gypsy Baron”, the Disney musical “Beauty and the Beast” and conducted Hayley Westenra’s North American DVD “Live from New Zealand”. He has also directed Gilbert & Sullivan’s “HMS Pinafore”, “Trial by Jury” and “Pirates of Penzance.”
He is an alumnus of the Symphony Australia Conductor Development Programme, has directed programmes with the Wellington Orchestra and Southern Sinfonia (Dunedin), and has conducted masterclasses in Vienna, Stockholm and Moscow.
Matthew was Concertmaster of Orchestra Wellington from 2003-2015, and 1st violinist with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra from 1994 – 2003. He has toured with the Jeunesses Musicales World Youth Orchestra, and was Concertmaster of the Stockholm Royal College of Music Orchestra in 1997 and the New Zealand Youth Orchestra in 1990 and 1992.
James Clayton – Rigoletto
In 2018, James Clayton sang Marcello (La bohème), Escamillo (Carmen), Leporello (Don Giovanni) and The Forrester (The Cunning Little Vixen) for West Australian Opera and Angelotti (Tosca) for New Zealand Opera; he appears in concert with the Tasmanian and West Australian Symphony Orchestras and Orchestra Wellington.
Praised for his vocal phrasing and colour, James is one the most versatile singers to emerge from Australia in recent years. He has been lauded by audiences and reviewers alike for his performances throughout the opera houses and concert halls of Australia, New Zealand and Asia.
After ten years as a professional French horn player, James turned to singing and became a Young Artist with West Australian Opera in 2006 and 2007. His many roles since have included Escamillo, Leporello, Papageno in The Magic Flute, Iago in Otello, Schaunard in La bohème, The King in Aida, The Four Villians in The Tales of Hoffmann, Balstrode in Peter Grimes, Alfio in Cavalleria Rusticana, Tonio in Pagliacci, Enrico in Lucia di Lammermoor, Sharpless in Madama Butterfly and the title roles in Rigoletto, The Barber of Seville, The Marriage of Figaro, Falstaff and The Mikado.
James made his Opera Australia debut as Baron Douphol in La traviata – in Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour – and his Japanese debut as Don Alfonso in Cosi fan tutte for Biwako Hall.
2016/2017 appearances included Tonio (Pagliacci) for Victorian Opera, Scully (The Riders) for West Australian Opera, The Speaker (The Magic Flute), Angelotti, Escamillo and the title role in The Mikado for New Zealand Opera; he was soloist with the New Zealand, Christchurch, Melbourne and Tasmanian Symphony Orchestras, the Melbourne Chorale, Melbourne Bach Choir, Christchurch City Choir and Orpheus Choir, Wellington.
He has also enjoyed considerable success on the concert platform with performances of Handel’s Messiah and Le damnation du Faust (New Zealand Symphony Orchestra), Haydn’s Mass in Time of War and Puccini’s Messa di Gloria (Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra), Mozart’s Mass in C Minor, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 and Verdi’s Requiem (West Australian Symphony Orchestra) and Orff’s Carmina Burana (Orchestra Wellington).
Hannah Catrin Jones – Gilda
Hannah returns to Eternity Opera after her critical acclaimed performances as ‘Butterfly’ in Eternity Opera’s 2018 Madam Butterfly.
Hannah has performed roles including the ‘Countess’ in The Marriage of Figaro and ‘Donna Elvira’ in Don Giovanni with Eternity Opera, ‘Saffi’ in Johann Strauss’ Gypsy Baron, ‘Mabel’ in Pirates of Penzance, and ‘Le Feu’ in Ravel’s L’enfant et les Sortileges.
She has also performed as soprano soloist for the Brahms Requiem with the NZ Choral Federation, and has performed excerpts of the role of Marguerite (Faust) with the 1925 original silent film Phantom of the Opera.
Hannah began studying voice with Sr Mary Winefride. Through her, Hannah discovered a true love and appreciation for opera. Hannah has completed her Bachelor of Music in Performance and Post-Graduate Diploma at the New Zealand School of Music, working with Margaret Medlyn, Richard Greager, Lisa Harper-Brown, Bruce Greenfield and Simon O’Neill.
Hannah has attended the New Zealand Opera School and is a member of the New Zealand Opera Chorus.
‘The night belonged to Hannah Catrin Jones. Hannah’s voice was exceptional… A stunning performance.” – DMS Review
“Hannah was absolutely outstanding as Marguerite” – Barry Brinson
“Hannah Jones’s Mabel was truly affecting” – Middle-C
Boyd Owen – The Duke
Boyd, who is a proud citizen of both New Zealand and Australia is making his New Zealand operatic debut with this production. He commenced his studies with Peter Mander at the Melba Conservatorium of Music in Melbourne, Australia. Further studies were with Qilian Chen in Shanghai, China, and Gabriella Ravazzi in Genova, Italy. He has performed with opera companies and symphony orchestras in Australia, Europe, the USA and Asia.
The current season has seen Boyd making his debut in a number of new roles, many of these taking place in China. In Wuhan he sang his first Alfredo in Verdi’s La Traviata, for Melbourne Opera’s New Year China tour; he debuted two Puccini Roles, Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly and Rudolfo in La Bohème, in the MGlam/Canti Classic’s Opera Series in Shanghai; and he debuted the role of the Evangelist in Bach’s St John’s Passion, also in Shanghai, with conductor Fred Sjøberg and the Shanghai International Choral League. Later this year Boyd will return to the Spazio Musica Summer Festival in Orvieto, Italy, to sing his first Elvino in Bellini’s La Sonnambula, quickly followed by his first Rodrigo in Rossini’s Otello, with Melbourne Opera.
Last season began with a very exciting debut for Boyd. He sang the tenor solo in Orff’s Carmina Burana at Carnegie Hall, which marked his classical debut, not only in New York, but also the USA. Immediately following this he returned to Shanghai, China, to sing in Mendelssohn’s Elijah and then won first prize in the Sydney Eisteddfod Operatic Scholarship singing competition, Australia.
Previous seasons included: (Italy) Lindoro in Rossini’s L’Italiana in Algeri conducted by Bruno Campanella (Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Florence). Don Narciso in Rossini’s Il Turco in Italia (Teatro Municipale di Piacenza and Teatro Alghieri di Ravenna). Ernesto in Donizetti’s Don Pasquale and Quint in Britten’s Turn of the Screw (Teatro Comunale di Bologna). Prince Ramiro in Rossini’s La Cenerentola (Teatro dell’Opera Giocosa, Savona). Nemorino in Donizetti’s L’Elisir D’Amore and Don Basilio in Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro (Spazio Musica, Orvieto). (Australia) Riccardo Percy in Anna Bolena (Melbourne Opera).
Boyd’s Symphonic concert work has included: (China) Handel’s Messiah, Orff’s Carmina Burana and Puccini’s Messa Di Gloria (Shanghai). (Italy) Britten’s Ballad of Heroes, conducted by Aziz Shokhakimov (Teatro Comunale di Bologna). Schubert’s Mass in G Major (Alessandria). International Vocal Competitions: First prize in the men’s section of the 18th International Spazio Musica Singing Competition (Orvieto, Italy). Second Prize in the 2015 New Zealand Aria (Rotorua, New Zealand) and the Herald Sun Aria (Melbourne, Australia), and semi-finalist in the Hans Gabor Belvedere competition (Amsterdam, Netherlands).
Kieran Rayner – Sharpless
Kieran Rayner is a London-based New Zealand operatic baritone, recently graduated with an Artist Diploma and a Masters of Performance (Distinction) from the Royal College of Music International Opera School, studying with Russell Smythe. He graduated from the New Zealand School of Music in 2011 with Distinction in a Postgraduate Diploma of Music and a BA in English Literature. He was a Garsington Opera Alvarez Young Artist 2018, Verbier Festival Atélier Lyrique Artist 2018, Samling Artist, Britten Pears Young Artist, a Internationale Meistersinger Akademie artist 2017, and a 2012-13 Freemasons Dame Malvina Major Emerging Artist with New Zealand Opera. He is currently supported by an Independent Opera Voice Fellowship, the Kiri Te Kanawa Foundation and Help Musicians UK.
Since arriving in Britain in late 2014, Kieran has played eight principal roles in Royal College of Music International Opera School productions, and has performed with Garsington Opera, British Youth Opera, English Touring Opera, Park Opera, and Saffron Hall, as well as oratorio solos across the UK.
His operatic engagements include core roles such as Figaro in The Barber of Seville and Guglielmo in Così Fan Tutte, as well as baroque roles including Melisso in Alcina and Gustavo in Faramondo, and contemporary works like new commission The Skating Rink for Garsington Opera, and Philip Sunderland’s The Glass Knight (world premiere). He has a flair for the comedic (Le Mari in Les Mamelles de Tirésias, Eisenstein in Die Fledermaus), and dramatic (The Forester in The Cunning Little Vixen, Demetrius A Midsummer Night’s Dream). Concert highlights include Vaughan Williams’s Serenade to Music with John Wilson at Buckingham Palace, Stravinsky’s Pulcinella with Vladimir Jurowsky, Bach’s Matthäus-Passion at Southwark Cathedral (singing Christus and Choir I arias), Haydn’s Creation at Chichester Cathedral, Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Mahler’s Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen at the Wellington Opera House NZ, and Gounod’s St Cecilia Mass in Nouméa, New Caledonia.
He won the Royal Over-Seas League Philip Crawshaw Memorial Prize for an Outstanding Musician from Overseas 2018, the Emmy Destinn Czech song prize 2017, and 2nd prize in both the 2017 Brooks Van-der-Pump and 2016 AESS Patricia Routledge English Song competitions.
Laura Loach – Suzuki
South Island born and raised soprano, Laura Loach moved to Wellington to study at Te Koki New Zealand School of Music, where she gained both her Bachelor of Music and Post Graduate Diploma of Music in Classical Performance under the tutelage of Flora Edwards, who she continues to study with. Laura is also passionate about teaching and after completing her postgraduate studies she trained as a secondary teacher, gaining her Graduate Diploma in Teaching (Secondary) at Massey University. Laura also holds her ATCL in Performance Speech and Drama with Distinction from Trinity College.
Laura travels for vocal competitions regularly, having been a finalist in many prestigious New Zealand competitions, and this year, Laura was awarded winner of the Dame Malvina Major Foundation Christchurch Aria competition.
Laura’s roles as a performer have been wide and varied, including Juno in Semele (Handel) NZSM, Gianetta in The Gondoliers (Gilbert and Sullivan) WGSLO, Claire in Ordinary Days (Adam Gwon) Backyard Theatre Productions, Marcellina in The Marriage of Figaro (Mozart) Eternity Opera, and Bellaria / Queen in Cymbeline (Shakespeare) Lonely Shakespeare Collective, and La Musica in Orfeo (Monteverdi) Eternity Opera. She has also been a member of the NZ Opera Freemasons Chorus since 2012. This year Laura made her Musical Theatre Directing debut with The Wellington Footlights Society for their production of CHESS The Musical.
Declan Cudd – Goro
New Zealand born tenor Declan Cudd has been a Freemasons New Zealand Opera Artist with New Zealand Opera since 2017. Declan holds a Bachelor of Music and Post Graduate Diploma in Classical Performance Voice from the New Zealand School of Music, where he was awarded the Te Koki New Zealand School of Music Directors Scholarship.
Declan has been a member of the Freemasons New Zealand Opera Chorus since 2013, recently performing in New Zealand Operas tours of Sweeney Todd and The Mikado. Recent roles include Monostatos (understudy), The Priest (understudy) and the First Armed Man (understudy) in The Magic Flute and The Beadle (understudy) in Sweeney Todd. Declan’s concert performances include the tenor solos in Elijah, Mozart’s Mass in C minor, Mozart’s Requiem and Rossini’s Petite Messe Solennelle.
Roger Wilson – Monterone
Roger Wilson is one of New Zealand’s most experienced resident opera singers, having been engaged as a soloist many times by the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, New Zealand Opera, Orchestra Wellington and orchestras, opera companies and choirs throughout the country.
He is a well known as a recitalist, broadcaster and recording artist. Originally from Dunedin, he studied and began his career in Switzerland and Germany in the 1970s and has lived in Wellington since 1978.
This will be Roger’s fourth role with Eternity Opera, after singing ‘The Bonze’ in last year’s Madam Butterfly, the ‘Commendatore’ in Eternity Opera’s inaugural production Don Giovanni in 2016, and Dr Bartolo in 2017’s The Marriage of Figaro.
