Wasfi Kani
   HOME
*





Wasfi Kani
Wasfi Kani (born London, 7 March 1956) is the founder and CEO of Pimlico Opera and Grange Park Opera. Kani was born in Cable Street in London's East End where her parents lived after leaving India at partition. She attendeHarry Gosling Primary Schooluntil 1962 when the family moved to Kilburn, London. Kani played the violin in the National Youth Orchestra and went on to study music at St Hilda's College, Oxford (197579). Career On leaving Oxford, Kani spent 10 years programming and designing financial computer systems in the City. Kani continued to play the violin and piano and she began to study conducting. In 1986 she started a small computer consultancy. In 1987 Kani founded the small-scale touring company Pimlico Opera, staging productions in places such as banks, hospitals, country houses and prisons. In 1992 Kani was made Chief Executive of Garsington Opera. During her five years’ tenure, she gained a reputation as a fundraiser, entrepreneur and administrator. Aft ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Pimlico Opera
Pimlico Opera is an opera company and registered charity founded in 1987 by Wasfi Kani. The company aims to use participation in opera to advance personal developmentparticularly with younger people and to engender a sense of community. The most recent production from Pimlico Opera was ''Sweet Charity'' staged in HMP Bronzefield in November 2018. Olivier award-nominated actress Laura Pitt-Pulford played the leading role of Charity Hope Valentine. History Though its focus today is solely in prisons and primary schools, Pimlico Opera was known for 19 years (1990-2008) as an Arts Council-funded small-scale touring company. In those years, repertoire included the Da Ponte trilogy, Cenerentola, Falstaff, Pagliacci, Turn of the Screw, Rigoletto, Gianni Schicchi and the company travelled from Berwick-upon-Tweed to Padstow in Cornwall. Pimlico Opera staged the European première of Shostakovich's musical comedy '' Cheryomushki'' at the Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith on 20 October 1994. A ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Joseph Calleja
Joseph Calleja (born January 22, 1978) is a Maltese operatic tenor. Early life and career Calleja was born in Attard, Malta. He began singing at the age of 16, having been discovered by tenor Brian Cefai and continued his studies with Maltese tenor Paul Asciak. He attended De La Salle College. At the age of 19 he made his operatic debut as Macduff in Verdi's '' Macbeth'' at the Astra Theatre in Gozo and went on to become a prize winner at the Belvedere Hans Gabor Competition the same year. In 1998 he won the Caruso Competition in Milan and was a prize winner in Plácido Domingo's Operalia in 1999. On November 2, 2012, the University of Malta presented Calleja with a Doctor of Literature Honoris Causa in acknowledgment of his achievements as an internationally renowned tenor. On October 8, 2015, Calleja was elected to the board of directors of the European Academy of Music Theatre. Concerts in Malta In 2009, Calleja began a series of annual concerts at the Granaries in M ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Officer Of The Order Of The British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established on 4 June 1917 by King George V and comprises five classes across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two of which make the recipient either a knight if male or dame if female. There is also the related British Empire Medal, whose recipients are affiliated with, but not members of, the order. Recommendations for appointments to the Order of the British Empire were originally made on the nomination of the United Kingdom, the self-governing Dominions of the Empire (later Commonwealth) and the Viceroy of India. Nominations continue today from Commonwealth countries that participate in recommending British honours. Most Commonwealth countries ceased recommendations for appointments to the Order of the British Empire when they cre ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

The Proms
The BBC Proms or Proms, formally named the Henry Wood Promenade Concerts Presented by the BBC, is an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events held annually, predominantly in the Royal Albert Hall in central London. The Proms were founded in 1895, and are now organised and broadcast by the BBC. Each season consists of concerts in the Royal Albert Hall, chamber music concerts at Cadogan Hall, additional Proms in the Park events across the UK on the Last Night of the Proms, and associated educational and children's events. The season is a significant event in British culture and in classical music. Czech conductor Jiří Bělohlávek described the Proms as "the world's largest and most democratic musical festival". ''Prom'' is short for ''promenade concert'', a term which originally referred to outdoor concerts in London's pleasure gardens, where the audience was free to stroll around while the orchestra was playing. In the conte ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Royal Albert Hall
The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London. One of the UK's most treasured and distinctive buildings, it is held in trust for the nation and managed by a registered charity which receives no government funding. It can seat 5,272. Since the hall's opening by Queen Victoria in 1871, the world's leading artists from many performance genres have appeared on its stage. It is the venue for the BBC Proms concerts, which have been held there every summer since 1941. It is host to more than 390 shows in the main auditorium annually, including classical, rock and pop concerts, ballet, opera, film screenings with live orchestral accompaniment, sports, awards ceremonies, school and community events, and charity performances and banquets. A further 400 events are held each year in the non-auditorium spaces. Over its 151 year history the hall has hosted people from various fields, including meetings by Suffragettes, speeches from Winston Churchi ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Oliver!
''Oliver!'' is a coming-of-age stage musical, with book, music and lyrics by Lionel Bart. The musical is based upon the 1838 novel '' Oliver Twist'' by Charles Dickens. It premiered at the Wimbledon Theatre, southwest London in 1960 before opening in the West End, where it enjoyed a record-breaking long run. ''Oliver!'' ran on Broadway, after being brought to the U.S. by producer David Merrick in 1963. Major London revivals played from 1977–1980, 1994–1998, 2008–2011 and on tour in the UK from 2011–2013. Additionally, its 1968 film adaptation, directed by Carol Reed, won six Academy Awards including Best Picture. ''Oliver!'' received thousands of performances in British schools, becoming one of the most popular school musicals. In 1963 Lionel Bart received the Tony Award for Best Original Score. Many songs are well known to the public, such as "Food, Glorious Food", "Consider Yourself" and " I'd Do Anything". ''Oliver!'' was one of eight UK musicals featured on Roy ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Fiddler On The Roof
''Fiddler on the Roof'' is a musical with music by Jerry Bock, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, and book by Joseph Stein, set in the Pale of Settlement of Imperial Russia in or around 1905. It is based on ''Tevye and his Daughters'' (or ''Tevye the Dairyman'') and other tales by Sholem Aleichem. The story centers on Tevye, a milkman in the village of Anatevka, who attempts to maintain his Jewish religious and cultural traditions as outside influences encroach upon his family's lives. He must cope with the strong-willed actions of his three older daughters who wish to marry for love; their choices of husbands are successively less palatable for Tevye. An edict of the tsar eventually evicts the Jews from their village. The original Broadway production of the show, which opened in 1964, had the first musical theatre run in history to surpass 3,000 performances. ''Fiddler'' held the record for the longest-running Broadway musical for almost 10 years until '' Grease'' surpassed its run. ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Alastair Miles
Alastair Miles (born 11 July 1961, Harrow, England) is a British operatic and concert bass who has had an international career since the late 1980s. Biography Education Alastair Miles was educated at The John Lyon School, Harrow, and subsequently at St Marylebone Grammar School. He began flute lessons at the age of fourteen with the composer Albert Alan Owen, a pupil of Nadia Boulanger, who inspired him to think about a career in music. Miles studied flute at the Guildhall School of Music under Trevor Wye, Peter Lloyd and Edward Beckett. He became an orchestral player and taught at Stowe School and Chetham's School of Music before embarking on his vocal career. From 1982 to 1985 he sang as a Lay Clerk in the choir of St. Albans Cathedral under the direction of Stephen Darlington. Having studied with bass-baritone Richard Standen whilst at the Guildhall, he was prompted by English National Opera baritone Geoffrey Chard, a near-neighbour of his parents, to have lessons with ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  




Sara Fulgoni
Sara Fulgoni is a British mezzo-soprano. She graduated from the Royal Northern College of Music where she studied under Barbara Robotham. Kennedy, Michael (October 2013)"Obituary: Barbara Robotham" ''Opera''. Retrieved 16 March 2015. She made her Royal Opera House debut in Verdi's ''Luisa Miller'' debut in 2003 and has sung at the Salzburg Festival, La Scala and other important houses. She sang the title role at the world premiere of ''Thérèse Raquin'' by Tobias Picker for Dallas Opera. Her repertoire also includes ''Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria'', ''Dido and Aeneas'', Marguerite in ''La Damnation de Faust'', Juno in ''Semele'' and many others. Her signature role is perhaps ''Carmen'' – the ''Daily Telegraph'' referred to her as "the Carmen of the Decade" – a role which she has sung for the English National Opera, Welsh National Opera, Geneva Opera, Santa Fe Opera, Toulouse Capitole, and at the Beijing Music Festival. In addition to her operatic roles, Fulgoni has also ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Alfie Boe
Alfred Giovanni Roncalli Boe (born 29 September 1973) is an English tenor and actor, notably performing in musical theatre. He is best known for his performances as Jean Valjean in the musical ''Les Misérables'' at the Queen's Theatre in London, the '' 25th Anniversary Concert'', the 2014 Broadway revival and the '' All-Star Staged Concert''. He played the lead role in '' Finding Neverland'' on Broadway beginning 29 March 2016. As well, Boe shared a Tony Award with the other members of the ensemble cast of Baz Luhrmann's 2002 revival of ''La bohème'' in 2003. He has sold more than one million albums in the United Kingdom. One of his most recent performances include Together in Vegas (with Michael Ball). On October 2022 he announced that he would be doing a solo tour in 2023. Background Boe, the youngest in a family of nine children, was born in Blackpool, Lancashire, and brought up in nearby Fleetwood. He is of Irish and Norwegian descent. His mother and father named him a ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Sally Matthews
Sally Helanna Matthews (born July 1975) is a British operatic soprano. Early life She was born in Southampton; her father was an aspiring popular musician. She recalls that, coming from a musical family, she "sang constantly just to pass the time. When I was ten, I started studying with Cynthia Jolly, who had a career as a singer and later became a writer". Studies with Jolly continued until she was 18, and later her teacher at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama was Johanna Peters, although her technique was already set. She attended The Gregg School, a local independent school. She went to the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Andrew Porter noted in ''Opera'' that her rendition of 'O mio babbino caro' in a Guildhall School performance, was "with pure timbre, emotional phrasing, and a swell that would break a heart of stone". Career She made her professional debut at the Royal Opera House in January 2001 as Nannetta in Verdi's ''Falstaff'' conducted by Bernard Haitink. ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Wynne Evans
Wynne Evans BEM MStJ (born 27 January 1972) is a Welsh singer and actor, known for his role as Gio Compario and laterly himself in the Go.compare insurance adverts on television in the United Kingdom. Evans sang the role of Ubaldo Piangi in the 25th anniversary production of Andrew Lloyd Webber's ''The Phantom of the Opera at the Royal Albert Hall'', and sang "Glory Glory Tottenham Hotspur" at the last game at White Hart Lane. He reprised the song at the opening of Spurs' new stadium. Opera singer Born in Carmarthen, Wales, Evans studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and the National Opera Studio. In late 2011 Evans was cast as the opera singer Ubaldo Piangi, in the 25th anniversary celebratory production of Andrew Lloyd Webber's ''The Phantom of the Opera at the Royal Albert Hall'' Evans enjoys a close association with Welsh National Opera where his roles include Nemorino in ''L'elisir d'amore'', Cassio in ''Otello'' (S4C Broadcast),
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]