Saturday, March 1

Fundraising Gala performance and dinner

Kinga Dobay, mezzo soprano
Roger Braun, piano

Gioachino Antonio Rossini (1792-1868)
Naqui alla fanno

Franz Lehár (1870-1948)
Messze a nagy erdo

Georges Bizet (1838-1875)
Habanera from Carmen

Ruperto Chapí (1851-1909)
Carceleras, Zarzuela

Francis Jean Marcel Poulenc (1899-1963)
Les Chemins de l'Amour

Gioachino Antonio Rossini (1792-1868)
The cat duet

The London K&T Jazz Trio
Melinda Hughes, soprano

Dave Frishberg
Peel me a grape

Melinda Hughes & Jeremy Limb
Carbon Footprints in my Jimmy Choos

Jeremy Limb
Smoker’s Lament

Pink Martini
Sympathique

Steven Sondheim
I never do anything twice

Anthony Newley
Typically English

Rob Mellin
My one and only love

Kurt Weil
I'm a stranger here myself

Kurt Weil
Surabaya Johnny

Nina Simone
My Baby just cares for me

Peggy Lee
He's a Tramp

Steven Sondheim
Sooner or later

A.J Lerner
Spring will be a little late this year

Henry Mancini
Meglio sta sera

KINGA DOBAY, mezzo soprano

Education:

Studied violin, musical theatre and opera at the Musikhochschule Leipzig
Studied with Julia Hamari, Teresa Berganza and Grace Bumbry
Won the DAAD scholarship and studied with Mya Besselink at the Conservatorio Maastricht in the Netherlands , where in 2006 she postgraduated with a “ Cum Laude”

Awards:

2nd Prize and Audience Prize at the: Hertogenbosch International Vocal Competition
Winner of the Zarzuela Prize at Placido Domingos Operalia
2nd Operetta Prize at the Hans Gabor Belvedere Competition Vienna
Laureate at the Shizuoka Opera Competition Japan 2005
Won the “Orpheus Prize” in 2002 and 2005

Performances:

Japanese debut at the New National Theatre in Tokyo singing “ Orsola ” in Il campiello by Wolf Ferrari
Chosen by Francesca Zambello for “ Anita” in Bernstein's West Side Story at the Bregenz Festival, Austria
Sang the role of “ Carmen ” under the button of Myung Whun Chung in Toyama , Japan 2005, and in in Italy ( Catanzaro and Reggio Calabria) with Guillaume Tourniaire, in 2006
Gave her debut at the State Opera Prague singing Poulenc's La voix humaine with Pier Luigi Pizzi as stage director
Performed at the Bregenzer Festspiele, New National Theatre Tokyo, Teatro Real Madrid, State Opera Prague, Teatro Catansaro, Teatro Reggio Calabria, Staatstheater Karlsruhe, Konzerthaus Berlin , Opera Leipzig, Opera Halle, Friedrichstadtpalast Berlin , Staatsoperette Dresden, among others

Repertoire:

includes roles as Rossini´s Angelina in “La Cenerentola' and Rosina in “Il barbiere di Siviglia”, Mozart´s, Sesto in “La clemenza di Tito”, Dorabella in “Cosi fan tutte” and Cherubino in “Le nozze di Figaro”, Ravel´s Conception in “L´ heure espagnole”, Gounod´s Siebel in “Faust”, Offenbachs Niklausse in “Les Contes d´ Hoffmann”, Boulotte in “Barbe-Bleue” and as Popova in “The bear” by Walton

Conductors performed with:

Myung Whun Chung, Yakov Kreizberg, Placido Domingo, Daniele Callegari, Guillaume Tourniaire, Shuya Okatsu and others.

ROGER BRAUN, piano

Education:

Studied piano with Frédéric Meinders at the Maastricht Academy and then with Jan Wijn in Amsterdam
Specialized in song accompaniment and chamber music with Rudolf Jansen and with Konrad Richter in Stuttgart

Awards:

Winner of the Steinway-concours in Eindhoven
Winner of the Eduard Flipse-concours in Rotterdam
Winner of the International Paula Lindberg-Salomon Wettbewerb in Berlin
Awarded the best song accompaniment prize by the jury of the prestigious Wigmore Hall International Song Competition in London
Concerts in Holland , Belgium , Germany , France , Spain , Switzerland , Austria , Kroatie, the United Kingdom and Russia . He was the official accompanist of ARD Musikwettbewerb in Munich and the International Singing Competition Cologne.

Activities:

Roger Braun has accompanied masterclasses of Elly Ameling, Brigitte Fassbaender, Sarah Walker, Marijana Mijanovic, Thomas Hampson, Robert Holl, the Vogler quartet and the atrium quartet
He teaches at the Musikhochschule in Cologne

THE K&T JAZZ TRIO  

The K&T Jazz trio formed by Melinda Hughes under the musical direction of Jeremy Limb for a two week cabaret run at Volstead in London in October 2007. Since then the trio have appeared regularly at many private parties and corporate events in London . Jeremy and Melinda collaborated on many newly written songs in the genre of social satire to much critical acclaim.

MELINDA HUGHES, soprano

Education:

Studied opera and drama at the Maastricht conservatory of Music and then as a post graduate at The Royal College of Music, London
Completed her studies in 1997 at the Brussels Opera Studio

Opera Roles:

Madame Butterfly (Diva Opera, Longborough Opera & Columbia artists touring USA) The Countess, Mimi, Fiordiligi, Violetta (Central Festival Opera & European Chamber Opera)  Gilda , Frasquita, Donna Anna, Pamina (Chateau La Hulpe Festival Brussels), Euridice, Frau Fluth & Nedda in I Pagliacci, touring Europe

Concerts:

Concerts include Mendelssohn's Midsummer-night's Dream at Auditorio Nacional, Madrid, Britten's War Requiem (Norwich Cathedral), Opera Gala for the Czech Ambassador at St John's Smith square, Handel's Messiah at The Mesquita, Cordoba, A concert with Miranda van Kralingen at The Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, an Opera Gala with The City of London Sinfonia in Hamburg in September and most recently an opera Gala with Dimitri Korchak in London for The Royal Bank of Scotland

Activities:

Toured for two years as the special guest with The Andre Rieu Strauss Orchestra often appearing on televison and radio
C o-wrote and produced “From Love to Decay” -a bittersweet musical comedy at The Jermyn Street Theatre,  London  in 2002
Appeared with her own cabaret at Pizza on the Park, The Chelsea Arts Club in London , many private parties as well as The Waldorf Astoria in New York

JEREMY LIMB, musical director

Education:

Read music at Queen's College, Oxford , then studied piano at the Royal College of Music

Awards:

Won 1st Prize in the 18th Brant National Piano Competition, in 1997

Activities:

Broadcasted on BBC Radio 3 as part of their Young Artists' Forum concert series
Given numerous recitals round the country
A freelance musician in various capacities – soloist, accompanist, repetiteur (including English National Opera and The South Bank Centre), as well as arranger and performer of all types of music including jazz/pop
Writer and performer of comedy and is part of the Award winning Act "The Trap"
Performs regularly at the Pleasance at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe
Had material used on BBC1 by Harry Enfield
Wrote and performed on ITV2, BBC3 and BBC Radio 4
Nominated for the LWT New Comedy Writing Award 1998 for his play ‘Play Wisty For Me - The Life of Peter Cook
Wrote all the original music for "Carbon Footprints in my Jimmy Choos", "Smoker's Lament", "My Heart belongs to Vladi", "Why can't I find me a man" & "I'm a D List Celebrity"