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Biography

  • The Company

    SOPRANO: Mary Coffield   Maryann Dorgan   Julia Heal   
      Liz Roberts   Paulina Rossi   Olive Taylor
    ALTO: Sue Clements   Geraldine Johnson   Ruth Lackenby-Jones   Lucie Nicholson
    TENOR: Alan Phelps   Luca Riccere   Richard Severn   Paul Severn
    BASS: Laurence Davison   Paddy Duffy   Adam Hegarty   Bill Lewis   Clive Robins

     

     

  • Alan Phelps

    Alan is a tenor in popular demand for opera, operetta and oratorio. His recent roles for Opera Nova include Don Jose 'Carmen', Camille 'The Merry Widow', Tamino 'The Magic Flute', and Rudolfo 'La Bohème'. He has recently played several leading roles for Opera San Miguel, Murcia including Turiddu opposite Paulina Rossi in Cavalleria Rusticana and Alfredo with Mary Coffield as Violetta in La Traviata. 

  • Bill Lewis

    Bill joined the Rosedale Gilbert and Sullivan Society in 1993 after answering an advertisement in the local press seeking male singers. He joined Opera Nova in 2005 and has performed in many of their concerts. Having portrayed King Nebuchadnezzar in Verdi’s Nabucco he will be portraying a variety of roles in the 2015 programme including the mighty Falstaff.

  • Mary Coffield

    Mary is a classically trained lyric-soprano who is equally at home on the operatic stage and in the concert hall, where performances have included Mozart’s Requiem and Vespers with Darlington Choral Society and Rossini’s Stabat Mater with Stokesley Choral Society.  Most recent operatic roles include Violetta in La Traviata for Opera San Miguel, Spain and Abigail in Opera Nova’s concert production of Verdi’s Nabucco.

  • Paulina Rossi

    Paulina began singing alongside her late father Gus under the baton of the late John Potter. She has played leading roles in Carmen, The King and I, Bartered Bride, Tales of Hoffman, The Magic Flute, La Forza del destino and sung extensively in recitals and oratorio across the region. Oratorio performances include works by Handel, Bach, Vivaldi and Mozart. Paulina is a principal soprano with Opera Nova making her debut with them in 2001.

  • Ruth Lackenby-Jones

    Ruth gained a Graduate Diploma in Music from Newcastle College and then won a scholarship to attend the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama graduating with a BA in Music. Whilst at the Academy Ruth had the opportunity to sing in master-classes with Benjamin Luxon, Willard White and locally with Janice Cairns.