MEET THE CAST
Bronwen Stephens-Harding
Founder, Director and Scriptwriter
Mezzo-Soprano
At the age of eight, Bronwen declared her wish to be an opera singer. After a varied career, combining corporate marketing with busking, choral singing, opera performance and singing studies, she is now pursuing her dream full-time. After achieving a Diploma in Opera & Performance from Associated Studios in London and working in the UK and Europe, Bronwen founded Rogue Opera in 2018 with a vision of bringing opera to new audiences and unconventional spaces. As well as singing the title role in Rogue Opera’s inaugural season of Bizet’s Carmen, Bronwen directed the production and saw it performed in a variety of venues.
Working with a dedicated troupe of musicians and seeing her concepts come to life on the stage have been a high point in her musical career, which continued with the company’s second season, presenting a vibrant, contemporary reimagining of Mozart’s Don Giovanni in 2019, which Bronwen directed. In the second revival tour she also performed the role of Donna Elvira. The challenges presented by Covid-19 in 2020 have taken Bronwen and Rogue Opera into new ventures, broadcasting over 45 livestream performances and building an archive over 100 video performances of arias and ensembles, providing creative work for Rogue Opera artists and introducing new audiences to opera. Delighted to be back to in-person events, Bronwen has created, written the English libretto and directed this new production 'A Modern Opera Love Story' for Fuller’s Opera in the Garden.
Guy Murgatroyd
Music Director
Pianist
British pianist Guy enjoys a modest reputation as one of a leading generation of pianists pliable to many musical roles.
Having worked with diverse musicians, including Leslie Howard, Elly Ameling and Andrew Lloyd Webber, along with contemporary composers including Rolf Hind, Edward Rushton and Nikolai Kapustin, Guy is no stranger to most corners of the repertoire. He had a scholarship at Birmingham Conservatoire in 2012 and recently completed postgraduate studies at the Royal Academy of Music in London. Guy is also the founder and director of the London Art Song Collective which aims to further the performance of 20th century art song, an undervalued and untapped repertoire. The collective features over 50 singers, hand-chosen for various projects spanning over 450 composers and 25 languages.
Having assisted with Carmen in 2018, Guy took on full musical direction for Rogue Opera in 2019 and was integral to the company’s 2020/21 pandemic online program. Guy has the superhuman ability to fill in for a whole orchestra in Rogue Opera’s compact productions and is the essential fifth character in Fuller’s Opera in the Garden.
Claire Filer
Soprano
London-based soprano Claire Filer was born in New Zealand where she began a career that has involved studying and performing in the US, UK and Europe. Claire holds an MA (Distinction) from the Wales International Academy of Voice, an MMus from The Boston Conservatory in the US and a BMusHons (1st class) from The University of Auckland. Claire’s operatic engagements include Dido Dido and Aeneas (Armonico Consort, Kentish Opera), Mimì La Bohème (Richmond Orchestra), Fiordiligi Così fan tutte (Auckland Opera Studio), Lola Cavalleria Rusticana (Wedmore Opera), Livia The Italian Girl in London (Opera at Rannoch), Zweite Dame Die Zauberflöte (Woodhouse Opera), Annina La Traviata (London Festival Opera), Mother Hansel and Gretel (Opera Holloway), Cathleen Riders to the Sea (Cantata Singers), and Suor Dolcina Suor Angelica (Talent Unlimited), as well as chorus work with Opera Holland Park and West Green House Opera. Oratorio engagements include Handel Messiah, Beethoven 9th Symphony, Mozart Requiem, Bach Magnificat and St John Passion, Rossini Petite Messe Solennelle, Cecilia McDowall Magnificat, Pergolesi Stabat Mater, Fauré Requiem, Dvořák Stabat Mater, Haydn Mass in Time of War, Lord Nelson Mass, Missa Cellensis in Honorem and Missa Sancti Nicolai. www.clairefiler.com
Philip Clieve
Tenor
British tenor Philip Clieve was born in Lancashire. He is a graduate of London's prestigious National Opera Studio and gained both his MMus and Bachelor degree from the Royal Northern College of Music.
Operatic roles include Max Der Freischütz, Alfred Die Fledermaus, Prince Philippe A Dinner Engagement, Gherardo Gianni Schicchi, Zorn Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Ralph H.M.S. Pinafore, The Defendant Trial by Jury, Mr Box Cox and Box and Colonel Fairfax Yeoman of the Guard. He has also performed many Oratorios, including Handel’s Messiah, the Mozart Requiem, Elijah Mendelssohn, Gloria Puccini, Petite messe solennelle Rossini, Magnificat J.S. Bach and The Crucifixion Stainer.
Philip enjoys a varied concert portfolio, having sung Strauss, Schubert and Schumann lieder, English song of the 19th and 20th century and the songs of Paolo Tosti.
Sam Young
Baritone
British baritone Sam Young trained at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, having previously studied at Bath Spa University. His awards include the Chartered Surveyor’s Vocal Prize at GSMD and the Bath Spa University Music Performance Award. He was a finalist in the Dean and Chadlington Singing Competition in 2015.
This year, Sam will be making his debut with Glyndebourne Festival Opera as part of the chorus in their upcoming semi-staged concert production of Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde.
As well as numerous opera roles, including Papageno in The Magic Flute and Guglielmo in Così fan tutte, Sam has appeared in concerts across the UK, Europe and China. In 2019 he performed as a soloist for Downton Abbey Live with the Chamber Orchestra of London at Highclere Castle, and again with the City Lights Symphony Orchestra at KKL Luzern, Switzerland. Sam’s Rogue Opera debut was as Leporello in Don Giovanni and he portrayed ‘Escamillo – The Alpha Male’ in Rogue Opera's A Modern Opera Love Story production for Fuller's in 2021.
Thank you for coming with us on this Rogue Opera journey through some of opera's best arias, duets and ensembles. If you haven't had a chance to see the fantastic stories these pieces are borrowed from, we hope your interest is piqued to explore further!