Harry trained at Italia Conti and Bird College, he has performed with Julie Cunningham and Company, worked on projects with Lea Anderson and appeared in McQueen the Play at the Theatre Royal Haymarket in 2015. In 2017 Harry was recognised as Best Emerging Artist at the Critics’ Circle National Dance Awards.

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Composer Toby Anderson focuses on queering musical narratives through texture and colour. Based in Oxford, his compositions explore intimate and vulnerable musical relationships. He was Composer in Residence at the National Youth Orchestra and graduated from the University of Oxford with a first class degree and a Gibb’s Prize for attaining the top marks in his year.

Formed at the Royal College of Music in 2020, the Astral Quartet specialises in a diverse repertoire spanning classical, jazz and contemporary music. Winners of the RCM Woodwind Chamber Competition, they actively participate in educational outreach and have performed internationally. The members are Leopoldo Mugnai, Oliver Lee, Annabella Chenevix Trench and Ethan Townsend.

Sehyogue Aulakh is a versatile percussionist studying at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire. She collaborates across multiple musical genres and media and has performed with major orchestras and ensembles including Chineke! and Engines Orchestra and is currently on the CBSO timpani scheme.

Born in Edinburgh, Nigerian–Scottish trumpeter Aaron Azunda Akugbo is developing a following as a leading exponent of his instrument. He brings a musical breadth to his artistry and while classically trained in both trumpet and singing, cites Louis Armstrong as his biggest musical inspiration. He is a charismatic performer with an abundance of natural humour, which translates into an effortless engagement with colleagues and audiences.

Akugbo made his London concerto debut at the Royal Festival Hall in 2020 and his BBC Proms concerto debut in 2023, performing the Haydn Trumpet Concerto both times with Chineke!, Europe’s first black and minority ethnic orchestra. His concerto performances often feature standard works alongside lesser-known pieces, for example by Eric Erwazen and Florence Price. 

Recent highlights include recitals at St George’s, Bristol, and Royal Conservatoire, Glasgow, as well as visits to Bath International, Lichfield, Petworth, Ryedale, Chipping Campden, Bedford Park, St Magnus and Lammermuir festivals and he led the Emerging Talent programme at the 2024 Edinburgh Festival.

Freddie Ballentine is a Grammy Award-winning tenor from Norfolk, Virginia, and recipient of the Kennedy Center’s 2021 Marian Anderson Award. An alumnus of the Washington National Opera Cafritz Young Artist Program and Los Angeles Opera’s Domingo-Colburn-Stein Young Artist Program, he has appeared with many of the world’s leading opera companies, including the Metropolitan Opera, English National Opera, Dutch National Opera, Seattle Opera, and Los Angeles Opera. Highlights of his 2025–2026 season include his Bayerische Staatsoper debut in Salome, a return to the Metropolitan Opera as Sportin’ Life in Porgy & Bess, and his Ruhrtriennale debut in We Are The Lucky Ones.

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Self-titled “London drag slag” Barbs studied composition at the Royal College of Music and has performed all over the world, shaking up the London drag scene by performing Philip Glass’s Metamorphosis solo works in Dalston basements, and appearing at major events such as The Stonewall Awards, Mighty Hoopla, Miss Sink The Pink and the National Theatre’s River Stage.

Barnaby is an award winning choreographer, theatre maker and lighting designer. His work in contemporary dance has been seen all across Europe, in China, Singapore, South Korea, Mexico and the United States. This year he completed his second dance theatre work for Club Guy & Roni (Netherlands) and in previous years has choreographed for English National Opera at the London Coliseum, Sub-Lab Pro Dance Company (Hungary), Los Little Guys (USA/Mexico), NSCD Verve (UK) Folkwang Tanzstudio of Folkwang University of the Arts (Germany), TRAK Dance Ensemble (Austria) and Dantzaz Dance Company (Spain). Barnaby's solo for dancer Samuli Emery won them multiple prizes at the Stuttgart solo competition, and continues to tour internationally. As well as creating his own work, Barnaby is also a guest lecturer and mentor at Northern School of Contemporary Dance and London Contemporary Dance School. His lighting credits include work for Sita Ostheimer, DeNada Dance Theatre/Carlos Pons Guerra, Xie Xin Dance Company in Shanghai, Żfin Malta, Andrea Costanzo Martini, Jamaal Burkmar/Extended Play Dance, National Dance Company of Wales among many others.

Samuel most recently played Benjamin Britten at the RSC in Mark Ravenhill’s Ben and Imo. He is a two-time Tony Award, Olivier and BIFA nominee, and has won a Drama Desk, Fringe First, Stage Edinburgh, Offie and two Whatsonstage awards. Born in Whitby, he went on to train at LAMDA. His career spans the last twenty-three years in the UK and America working across theatre, film, television, radio, video games, audiobooks and voiceovers. TV credits include BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Sky, Netflix and HBO, theatre credits include the National Theatre (History Boys, His Dark Materials) and Shakespeare’s Globe (Twelfth Night, Richard III) and film credits include The History Boys, Lee and Polite Society.

Jamie Barton’s career launched with her double victory at the 2013 BBC Cardiff Singer of the World with Richard Tucker and Beverly Sills Artist Awards following, she has since become one of the world’s leading mezzo-sopranos. Named  2020 Personality of the Year by BBC Music Magazine, Barton is a trailblazer for inclusion, making history at the 2019 Last Night of the Proms, raising the rainbow flag in a globally broadcast performance conducted by Sakari Oramo.

Barton is a frequent presence at the Metropolitan Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, and Houston Grand Opera. In Europe, she regularly appears at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Bayerische Staatsoper, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Teatro Real Madrid, and made her house debut this season at Opéra National de Paris.

An avid concert performer, Barton has appeared with Orchestre de Paris, Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Danish National Symphony, NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester, Wiener Philharmonic, WDR Sinfonieorchester, and San Francisco Symphony.

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André Bertoncini is a Brazilian collaborative pianist specialising in vocal repertoire, and studied at the Royal Academy of Music, where he graduated with distinction. He has won several accolades, including the accompanist prize at the Bampton Classical Opera Young Singers' Competition.

British soprano Harriet Burns is in demand for her "polished, witty, expressive and sweet toned" singing (the Times) both in recital and on stage. An acclaimed interpreter of song, Harriet has performed at the Wigmore Hall, Philharmonie Luxembourg, Oxford International Song Festival, Leeds Lieder Festival, International Lied Festival Zeist, Ryedale Festival and de Singel with pianists including James Baillieu, Imogen Cooper, Christopher Glynn, Graham Johnson, Sholto Kynoch, Malcolm Martineau and Joseph Middleton. 

With her regular duo-partner, Ian Tindale, she released Schubert Lieder Love's Lasting Power to critical acclaim with Delphian Records in January 2024. Their next album with Delphian A short story of falling will be released later this year. 

On the operatic stage, recent roles include Berta (Il barbiere di Siviglia) for West Green House Opera, King Harald's Saga (Judith Weir) for Waterperry Opera, Sifare (cover, Mitridate, re di Ponto) and Oriana (cover, Amadigi) for Garsington Opera. In concert, she has appeared with the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, the Royal Northern Sinfonia, the Oxford Millenium Orchestra and the Southbank Sinfonia.

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Nicholas Chalmers is Principal Conductor of the National Youth Choir and one of the leading conductors in the UK. His energy and vision have seen the establishment of highly successful artistic and education projects and his work impacts thousands of young people each year. Nicholas is driven by a passion to bring classical music to the next generation and to ensure that people in areas of under provision have better access to training and engagement in the performing arts. As founder Artistic Director of Nevill Holt Opera, his 10-year leadership of the company saw the creation of an exquisite new theatre in Leicestershire, which won plaudits for its acoustic design and reached the final of the RIBA Stirling prize in 2019. He is a Senior Associate Artist of the Royal Opera House, where he will make his conducting debut in autumn 2024. Nicholas was conductor of Northern Ireland Opera and works with all leading orchestras and opera companies.

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Nicholas is the Associate Conductor, Learning of the BBC Singers and made his BBC Proms conducting debut in 2020 with the group. With the BBC Singers, he has programmed and conducted numerous broadcasts and concerts throughout the UK and helped establish the Singers’ partnership with youth choral groups in Stratford East, the future home of the BBC performing groups. From September 2024, Nicholas takes up the role of Fernside Chair of Choral Conducting at The Royal Academy of Music.

Dana Cholod is a refugee supported by Rainbow Railroad, who was selected to compose a text for the new Classical Pride commission for The Fourth Choir by Isobel Waller-Bridge.

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Dana Cold started writing poetry when she was 10 years old as a way to express her feelings. She has been considered a ‘white crow’ in her Muslim conservative family since childhood, when she used to write poems and burn them. Initially, the poems were dedicated to her mother, the source of much coldness. From the age of 14, when she became aware of her romantic attraction to girls, the poems began to be dedicated to unrequited, impossible love, reflecting the impossibility of lesbain relationships in her society. Now 24, poetry provides solace from her hectic life, and she likes to write by the sea or in the forest.

The City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (CBSO) is an internationally celebrated symphony orchestra, at home in Birmingham. A family of 90 incredible musicians, led by Chief Conductor and Artistic Advisor Kazuki Yamada, proud to make exciting musical experiences that matter.

Resident at Symphony Hall, the orchestra performs over 150 concerts each year in Birmingham, the UK and around the world, with music that ranges from classics to contemporary, soundtracks to symphonies, and everything in between. For more than 100 years, it has been involved in every aspect of music-making in the Midlands, and through its wide-reaching community and education projects, and family of choruses and youth ensembles, this continues to grow. Helping to build a life-long love of music for audiences, communities and musicians across Birmingham, the West Midlands and beyond.

Grammy-winning countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo came to international attention in 2010 as the First Prize winner at Operalia and went on to win Musical America’s Vocalist of the Year in 2019, the Beverly Sills Award from The Metropolitan Opera and the Opera News Award in 2020.

In 2024, Costanzo became General Director and President of Philadelphia Opera, alongside maintaining a busy international performing career at leading opera houses and concert halls worldwide.

Recent highlights include Akhnaten at Gran Teatre del Liceu and Gandhi (Satyagraha) at Opéra national de Paris where he made his debut last season as Francisco (The Exterminating Angel). Next season, he returns to The Metropolitan Opera in the world premiere of Lincoln in the Bardo and reprises Francisco at Gran Teatre del Liceu.

James Cousins is an Olivier Award-winning choreographer, movement director and director working across live performance, film, fashion and large-scale events. He is Artistic Director of James Cousins Company, founded in 2013.

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Theatre credits include: GUYS AND DOLLS, RICHARD II, THE BOOK OF DUST: LA BELLE SAUVAGE, A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM (Bridge Theatre); MEASURE FOR MEASURE (RSC); ENTERTAINING MR SLOANE (Young Vic); EQUUS (Menier Chocolate Factory); VOGUE WORLD LONDON (West End); COLD WAR (AlmeidaTheatre).

Dance credits include: WE ARE AS GODS (James Cousins Company/Battersea Arts Centre/National Theatre); ELYSIUM (British Council Colombia).

Film credits include: THE CHORAL; SANDMAN (Netflix).

Ryan is a lighting designer, working in theatre, dance, opera, fashion and concerts. Ryan enjoys working in close collaboration with the creative team, introducing and containing positive working relationships. He is a member of the Association for Lighting Production and Design and trained at The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, studying theatre lighting design. Credits include, Henry V at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre RSC, Pimpinone with the Royal Ballet and Opera and A marvellous party, directed by Daniel Evans at the Prince of Wales. 

Bruno de Sá is one of the most distinctive voices of his generation, acclaimed internationally for his remarkable soprano range and commanding stage presence. Following early success in Brazil, he made his European debut in 2019 and has since appeared at leading houses and festivals including the Bayreuth Baroque Opera Festival, Komische Oper Berlin and Theater an der Wien. Highlights include performances under Philippe Jaroussky and alongside Cecilia Bartoli. An exclusive Warner Classics artist, his acclaimed albums include Roma Travestita and Mille Affetti. Bruno de Sá has received the OPER! Award, the ForumOpéra Trophy, and the Austrian Music Theatre Prize.

After feeling like an outsider for the longer part of his childhood, fighting his true feelings to blend in societies that were not ready to accept differences, whether in the Caribbean or in Morocco, Karl Sanchez finally made it to Paris where he saw his first drag show.

A life defining moment where he realized that all the bullying he had suffered from would now fuel the unstoppable power of his dream creature he would now be able to live through : Nicky Doll.

From working as a NYC based make up artist to being the first French drag queen on RuPaul’s Drag Race to hosting the globally acclaimed French version of the show (5th season to launch on national public TV channel France 2 in June) to co-writing and hosting an exploration 6 episodes documentary series on the LGBT communities around the world is just the highlights of Nicky Doll’s past few years achievements.

She has also been commentating the semi finals of the Eurovision Song Contest for French national TV, bringing her modern and fun tone to the show and performed at the Paris Olympic opening Ceremony in 2024. 

All of this while writing, producing and releasing new tracks and videos, with her first EP to be released through Universal Music France and working on her first solo tour announced for early 2027. 

More than an entertainer, Nicky Doll remains a necessary advocate for equality, integration and communion.

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Daniel grew up in South Wales and was educated in Welsh before training at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. He left college early in 1994 to join the Royal Shakespeare Company and returned to the company a decade later. His work as an actor has spanned Shakespeare, Sondheim and Sarah Kane, at the RSC, National Theatre, Royal Court, Donmar Warehouse, Menier, Sheffield and on Broadway. He’s the recipient of two Olivier Awards for his Sondheim performances.

In 2009, Daniel was appointed Artistic Director of Sheffield Theatres where he directed, among others, Shakespeare, Ibsen, Hare and Lerner and Lowe, as well as acting in Sondheim.

In 2016, he was appointed Artistic Director of Chichester Festival Theatre. During his tenure, CFT produced 17 world premieres, while 5 shows transferred to London or Broadway.

New Zealand baritone Jonathan Eyers trained at the National Opera Studio, Guildhall School of Music and Drama, and The University of Waikato. Recent operatic experience includes Pirate King The Pirates of Penzance (Tarantara UK Tour), Papageno Die Zauberflöte (Nevill Holt Festival), Figaro Il barbiere di Siviglia (Charles Court Opera), Official and Fiorello (cover) Il barbiere di Siviglia (Glyndebourne), Harlekin (cover) Ariadne auf Naxos (Garsington Opera), and Ernie (cover) It’s a Wonderful Life (English National Opera). Jonathan was awarded Third Prize at the 2024 Wigmore Hall/Bollinger International Song Competition. He is an Oxford Song Young Artist, a City Music Foundation Artist, a Britten-Pears Young Artist, and a founding member of Whānau Voices. He has performed at the Oxford International Song, London Song, Aldeburgh, Glasperlenspiel, and Edinburgh International Festivals.

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The Fourth Choir was formed in 2013 with the aim of representing the LGBTQ+ community on London’s classical music scene. The Choir is as at home singing polyphony in Heaven nightclub or the Royal Vauxhall Tavern as at London's top cultural venues such as the British Museum, the V&A, the Royal Albert Hall, the Wigmore Hall, and the Chapel Royal at Hampton Court Palace. It performs regularly at Shakespeare’s Globe (both in productions and solo concerts) and was featured in the 2022 Festival of Remembrance on BBC1. Overseas, it has performed in Amsterdam, Antwerp and Rome. Recently it has recorded its first album, Songs of Ourselves, for release next year.  The Choir is delighted to be returning to Milton Court for the third time, previously having performed A Meeting Place, a collaboration with professional D/deaf musicians in 2021, and Shoulder to Shoulder, a celebration of Dame Ethel Smyth in 2023.

Nick Grimshaw has worked in the UK broadcast industry for over 17 years and is firmly established as one of the country’s most successful radio and TV personalities.

Nick can currently be seen on C4’s award winning Celebrity Gogglebox alongside his niece Liv and he also co-hosts Dish podcast alongside Angela Hartnett. In addition, the paperback of his acclaimed debut book, Softlad was released last autumn.

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Born in Oldham in 1984 Nick took his first steps into broadcasting on student radio while studying Communications & Business Studies at the University of Liverpool. During holidays he interned at a music PR agency, and on graduation threw himself into the music industry as a radio plugger and DJ promoter. He was spotted by Channel 4 in 2006, beginning his on-screen presenting career for E4 Music before being signed up to BBC2 and then Radio 1.

Starting in 2008, Nick has been the solo presenter on various BBC Radio 1 shows, including six years at the flagship Breakfast Show and three years on Drive Time. Alongside radio, Nick has presented numerous TV shows, live events and award ceremonies, and is also a supporter of the Royal Academy of Arts, sitting on the committee for their annual Summer Exhibition.

Jodie Harsh is one of the most distinctive figures in global dance music. Instantly recognisable for her trademark blonde beehive and electrifying DJ sets, she has become a club culture icon, performing everywhere from Glastonbury and Creamfields to Pacha Ibiza, Printworks and Brooklyn Mirage. As a producer, songwriter and remixer, her releases have amassed over 40 million streams, with collaborations spanning SOPHIE, SG Lewis and Clementine Douglas, alongside remixes for Beyoncé and Charli XCX. Having toured with artists including Fatboy Slim, Jessie Ware and Kylie Minogue, Harsh continues to sell out her own headline shows while bridging underground credibility and mainstream success.

Described as “arguably the world's most popular 21st-century opera and art song composer” by The Wall Street Journal, American composer Jake Heggie is best known for Dead Man Walking (2000), the most widely performed new opera of the last 20 years, with a libretto by Terrence McNally, which London audiences will remember from its “extraordinarily powerful” performance (Financial Times) at the Barbican in 2018. In addition to 10 full-length operas and numerous one-acts, Heggie has composed more than 300 art songs, as well as concerti, chamber music, choral, and orchestral works. His compositions have been performed on five continents, and he regularly collaborates with some of the world’s most beloved artists as both composer and pianist. This season is a major moment for Heggie, opening with the world premiere of his new opera Intelligence at Houston Grand Opera and Dead Man Walking’s long-awaited debut at the Metropolitan Opera, where he returns next season for the Met premiere of his 2010 opera Moby-Dick, with a libretti by Gene Scheer. It also marked the world premiere of Heggie’s Fire (Elements), part of a co-commissioned project with violinist Joshua Bell and five major orchestras including the NDR Elbphilharmonie, New York Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, and Seattle Symphony orchestras.

London-based classical guitarist Declan Hickey specialises in British music of the past century and 19th-century guitar music. He performs at major UK venues such as Kings Place and the Purcell Room. Declan is involved in several chamber partnerships, has performed with the London Sinfonietta and is dedicated to premiering new works. He studied at the University of Cambridge and the Royal Academy of Music.

Beau Jangles is usually seen onstage as a vintage-style/period drag king who blends live vocals, comedy and old school charm. A finalist in Man Up, one of the world’s biggest drag king battles, they command a cult following on the London drag circuit. They recently performed at Kew Gardens, the Southbank Centre, and they starred in Dick Whittington in the West End.

UK-based Archie John is a composer and conductor at the Royal Academy of Music. Known for integrating spiritual themes into his compositions, his works have been performed at major venues including Wigmore Hall. He is a Leverhulme Arts Scholar and an LSO SoundHub Associate.

Llywelyn Ifan Jones is an internationally acclaimed harpist known for his expressive musicianship, innovative programming, and versatility across classical, theatrical, and commercial performance. Winner of the 2020 Camac Harp Competition, a Gold Award recipient at the 2026 Vienna International Music Competition, and a World Harp Competition semi-finalist, he has performed throughout the UK, Europe, and North America. Trained at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama and the Universität Mozarteum Salzburg, he has appeared with leading organisations including the Royal Opera House and British Philharmonic Concert Orchestra. Appointed Pencerdd Cymru (Chief Musician of Wales), he is a passionate advocate for Welsh music and culture. From concert halls and international festivals to theatrical tours and contemporary media collaborations, Llywelyn Ifan Jones continues to redefine the role of the harp for modern audiences.

Kinna is a British composer, singer, visual artist and musician. Her work is multi-faceted and includes songwriting, concert compositions, art film, music/sound production and performing. Inspired by American minimalist composers, British art rock musicians and installation artists, Kinna draws influences from many artistic disciplines to create eclectic and exciting new work.

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Recorder player Lizzie Knatt’s work spans the worlds of early music and contemporary performance, and she enjoys collaborating with composers to expand the instrument’s repertoire. She recently showcased a recital in Amsterdam of works written for her.

Lizzie graduated from the Royal Academy of Music, where she was awarded the Rory Burcher prize for the highest recital mark in Historical Performance.

In 2012 pianist Pavel Kolesnikov became a sensation at the Honens International Piano Competition when he took home the world’s largest piano prize. The London-based pianist was born in Siberia into a family of scientists. He studied both the piano and violin for ten years, before concentrating solely on the piano. Following his Wigmore Hall debut in 2014, The Telegraph gave his recital a rare five-star review and called it “one of the most memorable of such occasions London has witnessed for a while”. 

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Last season, as well as a recital tour of North America and concerto appearances with major international orchestras, Pavel completed a seven-concert residency at the Aldeburgh Festival and made his sixth appearance at the BBC Proms. Pavel is also well known for his cross-genre collaboration and narrative programmes, and for his discography including Chopin, Reynaldo Hahn and Louis Couperin.

The Komuna Collective is a group of artists, DJs and musicians committed to experimentation. Formed in 2022, Komuna launched in an underground nightclub in Oxford. Since then, they have performed at London Fashion Week, Riposte Queer Raves, as well as in nightclubs and concert halls around Oxford and London. Their work has been supported by the Ralph Vaughan Williams Trust, Arts Council England and The Oxford Research Centre for Humanities. Their debut album ‘Views from the Real World’ will be released in Autumn 2024.

Founded in 1973 by Terry Edwards, former Director of the Royal Opera House Chorus, London Voices has performed throughout Europe, Asia and the USA and can range from a small vocal consort through to a choir of more than 100 singers. The choir has tackled a vast array of repertoire ranging from Renaissance polyphony (Tallis at Luzern Festival) to contemporary music (Frank Zappa at Southbank Centre, London) as well as featuring on recordings as diverse as opera, oratorio, Coldplay, German Heavy Metal and Ozzy Osbourne.

The ensemble has collaborated with many distinguished composers and conductors including John Adams, Semyon Bychkov, Bernard Haitink, Vladimir Jurowski, György Ligeti, Vasily Petrenko, Sir Simon Rattle and Georg Solti. It had a particularly close association with composer Luciano Berio, performing his Sinfonia on many occasions (most recently at the 2018 BBC Proms), as well as works including Coro, Cries of London, A‑Ronne, Laborintus II and Folk Songs. The choir also performed in the world première of Stockhausen’s Mittwoch aus Licht, staged by Birmingham Opera in 2012. It has given concerts globally, in locations including Aldeburgh, Beijing, Berlin, Birmingham, Munich, Jordan, Lucerne, New York, St Denis, Shanghai and Turkey.

London Voices is well-known for singing on hundreds of movie and computer game soundtracks, including Abzu, Distant Worlds (Final Fantasy), Halo 5, the Harry Potter, Hobbit, Star Wars, Hunger Games and Lord of the Rings film series, Spectre, Grand Budapest Hotel (Oscar® for Best Soundtrack) and recently appearing on-screen in Mission: Impossible - Fallout. London Voices provided singers for Bradley Cooper's recent biopic of Maestro, singing the solos in Bernstein's Chichester Psalms, Symphony no.3 and The Mass. It has participated on many operatic and choral recordings and has collaborated with musicians including Dave Brubeck, Renée Fleming, Ellie Goulding, Sir Paul McCartney, Sam Smith, Sting, Sir Bryn Terfel and Roger Waters.

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The London Symphony Orchestra is built on the belief that extraordinary music should be available to everyone, everywhere.

The LSO was established in 1904 as one of the first orchestras shaped by its musicians. Today it is ranked among the world’s top orchestras, with a family of artists that includes Chief Conductor Designate Sir Antonio Pappano, Conductor Emeritus Sir Simon Rattle, Principal Guest Conductors Gianandrea Noseda and François-Xavier Roth, Conductor Laureate Michael Tilson Thomas and Associate Artists Barbara Hannigan and André J Thomas.

The LSO is Resident Orchestra at the Barbican in the City of London, and reaches international audiences through touring and artistic residencies, and through digital partnerships and an extensive programme of live-streamed and on-demand online broadcasts.

Through a world-leading learning and community programme, LSO Discovery, the LSO connects people from all walks of life to the power of great music. LSO musicians are at the heart of this unique programme, leading workshops, mentoring bright young talent, performing at free concerts for the local community and using music to support neurodiverse adults. LSO musicians also visit children’s hospitals and lead training programmes for teachers.

In 1999, the LSO formed its own recording label, LSO Live. It has become one of the world’s most talked-about classical labels, and has over 200 recordings in the catalogue so far. The LSO is a leading orchestra for film, and uses streaming services to reach a worldwide online audience totalling millions every month. Through inspiring music, learning programmes and technological innovations, the LSO’s reach extends far beyond the concert hall.

For over a century, the LA Phil has been as vibrant as Los Angeles, one of the world's most open and dynamic cities. Under the leadership of Music & Artistic Director Gustavo Dudamel, it presents nearly 300 events per year, harnessing the transformative power of live music to build community, foster intellectual and artistic growth, and nurture the creative spirit, while redefining what an orchestra can be.

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Star of Just For One Day at the Old Vic and But I’m A Cheerleader, Freddie Love (they/them) is a multifaceted artist who has captivated audiences worldwide. Their new show Queer Cowboys will be at the King’s Head Theatre later this summer.

As soloist and concertmaster of the Sinfonia of London, Welsh violinist Charlie Lovell-Jones (b.1999) has been recognised as “one of our greatest young violinists” (Simon Heffer, The Telegraph). A graduate of Oxford University, the Royal Academy of Music, and the Yale School of Music, his love of music has taken him all over the world, and he enjoys a busy concert and recording schedule. His extensive discography includes his Bicentenary Scholarship album, ‘Piercing Silence’, and the Walton Violin Concerto, nominated for a Gramophone Award. He plays a fine 1777 G.B. Guadagnini violin on loan from a generous benefactor.

Lucia Lucas, celebrated for her powerful and emotionally resonant performances, has captivated audiences internationally in operatic staples such as Wagner’s Die Walküre, Verdi’s Rigoletto, and Mozart’s Don Giovanni, and Puccini’s Tosca, and numerous contemporary operas. Lucia Lucas has performed with opera companies worldwide including the New York Metropolitan Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, London’s English National Opera, and Deutsche Oper Berlin.  At Theater St. Gallen in Switzerland, she created the title role of Lili Elbe in the world premiere of Tobias Picker’s eponymous opera, expressly composed for her and for which she also served as dramaturg. Her performance as Lili was described by Tagblatt as “...sung in a ravishing and extremely multifaceted manner...” and Mannschaft raved, “Lucia Lucas brings a fundamental credibility to Lili Elbe that is important... [she] sings the title role with an impressive baritone and carries the production confidently...”. The production won ‘Best World Premiere’ at the 2024 Opera Oper! Awards.

By day, Dinah Lux is Lecturer in Music at both Oxford and Cambridge Universities; by night, she transforms into a burlesque, cabaret star, found everywhere from London’s queer underbelly to the Venice-Simplon Orient Express. Having been an interviewer for the BBC’s Last Night of the Proms and with a TEDx talk under her belt, Dinah is excited to be making her orchestral debut this evening at Classical Pride. Dinah has been featured in Vogue, Dazed, i-D, AnotherMan, Love, GQ, L’Officiel, The Sunday Times Style, and has graced the cover of Attitude. She has also walked fashion shows for Charles Jeffrey Loverboy, and worked with Jean-Paul Gaultier for an exclusive video shoot with Dazed. Her pianistic career includes performances at Wilton’s Music Hall and the prestigious Festival d’Hyères held at Villa Noailles, and she will soon be starting a residency at The EDITION Hotel later this month.

Theatre artist Taylor Mac is a MacArthur ‘genius’ who uses the pronoun ‘judy’. Judy is a Pulitzer Prize Finalist, a Tony nominee for Best Play, and the recipient of the International Ibsen Award, the Kennedy Prize, the Doris Duke Performing Artist Award, a Guggenheim, a Drama League Award, a NY Drama Critics Circle Award, two Obie’s, and two Bessies.

Manchester Camerata is a registered charity working and performing in Manchester and worldwide since 1972. Be it opening Glastonbury festival in front of 40,000 people or working intimately in care homes with people living with dementia, we believe in the transformative and connecting nature of music. That connection drives us, and we work with the best creative talent to make this happen.

With our live performances, we play music with no boundaries. From an orchestral rave performed in isolation to over one million people during the Covid-19 pandemic, to touring Mozart in the most beautifully intimate concert halls, or re-imagining classical music with electronic producers at the top of their game, we believe great music is great music and we present this to you at the highest level.

To achieve our artistic excellence and forward-thinking ethos, collaboration is at the heart of everything we do. Led by our visionary Music Director, Gábor Takács-Nagy, we collaborate with diverse international artists, from New Order to Martha Argerich to Aziz Ibrahim to Lewis Capaldi.

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South African soprano Pumeza Matshikiza, an exclusive Decca Artist since 2014, has performed at many of the leading opera houses across Europe and the United States. She has released two solo recordings with Decca: “Voice of Hope,” her debut album combining well-known arias with traditional and popular African songs, and “Arias”, for which The Guardian praised her ‘versatility, range and huge personality’. In recent seasons Pumeza has won critical acclaim for performances at the Staatsoper Hannover, Garsington Opera and English National Opera. Throughout her career Pumeza has championed numerous contemporary operatic works, and she made her debut at Teatro alla Scala in the world premiere of Giorgio Battistelli’s CO2, staged by Robert Carsen. 

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Highlights from Pumeza’s upcoming engagements include a concert in Paris’s Olympia Hall under the auspices of Le Festival de Paris, a world premiere of Jake Heggie’s “Good Morning, Beauty” at the Barbican in London, a Christmas tour around the UK with Bryn Terfel and her role debut in the title role of Tosca at the Staatsoper Hannover.

From New York City, Monét X Change is a multi-hyphenate performer most well known for her appearance on RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 10, winning the fourth season of its All-Stars franchise and most recently showcasing her classical opera training on the all-winners season of All-Stars 7. In the past year, Monét has debuted with the Minnesota Opera in a production of La Fille du Règiment, premiered a one-woman comedy show headlining at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, performed with the San Francisco Symphony, the New Jersey Symphony, and the Cincinnati Symphony, co-wrote and performed in a show commissioned by New York City’s Lincoln Center and released her R&B album Grey Rainbow Vol. 1.

Dylan Mulvaney is an actress, comedian, and content creator best known for her viral series Days of Girlhood, which has amassed over one billion views across social media platforms. She was named to Forbes 30 Under 30 in 2023 and was honored on the Out 100 list, as well as Attitude Magazine’s Woman of the Year. To celebrate her first year of transition, Dylan produced a live show, DAY 365, at The Rainbow Room benefiting The Trevor Project, raising nearly two hundred thousand in support of queer youth. On stage, Dylan just made her Broadway debut starring as “Anne Boleyn” in the hit musical SIX at the Lena Horne Theatre. She previously had a West End run of WE ARE NOT KIDS ANYMORE at the Savoy Theatre. Dylan additionally starred in her one woman show THE LEAST PROBLEMATIC WOMAN IN THE WORLD which incubated at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and went on to have a run at the Lucille Lortel Theater in New York.

Charles Owen enjoys an international career performing at leading venues including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Vienna’s Musikverein and the Concertgebouw. A renowned chamber musician, he has collaborated with artists including Steven Isserlis and Augustin Hadelich, and performed with orchestras such as the London Philharmonic Orchestra and Philharmonia Orchestra. His acclaimed discography spans solo and chamber repertoire from Bach to contemporary composers. Charles is Co-Artistic Director of the London Piano Festival, Professor of Piano at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, and a Steinway & Sons UK Ambassador.

Ben Parry is a conductor, composer, arranger, singer, and producer with over 300 recordings to his name. His choral works and arrangements, published by OUP, Stainer & Bell, Peters Edition, and Faber, have been performed at the BBC Proms and by King’s College Choir. After 11 years leading the National Youth Choir, he is currently Director of London Voices, working on notable film soundtracks (Harry Potter, The Hobbit, Avengers) and classical collaborations (Stockhausen’s Mittwoch, Berio’s Sinfonia). A Cambridge graduate and former member of King’s College Choir, he toured internationally with the Swingle Singers, co-founding the Dunedin Consort and directing the Scottish Chamber Orchestra Chorus. He has appeared with ensembles including the Academy of Ancient Music, London Symphony Orchestra, BBC Orchestra, and Vancouver Youth Symphony. Formerly Assistant Director of Music at King’s College Cambridge, he has also served as Director of Music at St Paul’s School and the Junior Royal Academy of Music.

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Edward Picton-Turbevill is a prize-winning pianist and composer, recently selected as both a Britten Pears Young Artist 2024-25 and a 2024 City Music Foundation Artist. He has performed alongside internationally renowned artists including Ben Appl, Laurence Kilsby, Ben Johnson, Carolyn Sampson, Paul Huang and Eldbjørg Hemsing, and can regularly be heard on Radio 3.

His first large-scale composition Out of Eden receives its premiere this season at Smith Square Hall and his first album of his song cycles will be released on Delphian Records in November 2025, with Helen Charlston, Alex Chance, Harriet Burns and Elgan Llŷr Thomas.

Edward studied at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, where he graduated with Distinction in Piano Accompaniment and the Concert Recital Diploma for exceptional performance. This followed a year at the University of Heidelberg and an MPhil in Environmental Policy at St John’s College, Cambridge. He was organ scholar at St John’s from 2012-2015, graduating with a First in Music. Edward’s first book Talking Through Trees was published in 2017 by the Old Stile Press.

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Adam Possener, a composer and violist, is pursuing an MRes in Anthropology and Music at UCL after earning his music degree from Oxford University. Winner of several awards including the Royal Philharmonic Society Duet Prize for Composition, Adam's works have been performed by prestigious ensembles such as the Castalian, Kreutzer and Consone quartets and the BBC Singers, and has been broadcast on BBC Radio 3. His research interests have taken him to New York and Tbilisi, exploring diverse cultural music scenes.

bio

Graham Ross has established an exceptional reputation as a sought-after conductor and composer of a very broad range of repertoire. He is co-founder and Principal Conductor of The Dmitri Ensemble and Director of Music and Fellow of Clare College, Cambridge, with whom his performances around the world and his extensive discography have earned consistently high praise. In demand as a regular guest conductor of other ensembles in the UK and abroad, recent collaborations have included performances with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, London Mozart Players, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, BBC Singers, BBC Concert Orchestra, Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra, Aurora Orchestra, Australian Chamber Orchestra, Aalborg Symfoniorkester, DR Vokal Ensemblet, Gothenberg Symphony Orchestra, and international tours with the Choir of Clare College.

Countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo began performing professionally at the age of 11 and has since appeared in opera, concert, recital, film, and on Broadway. In June 2024, he began his tenure as the General Director and President of Opera Philadelphia.

He has appeared with many of the world’s leading opera houses including the Metropolitan Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, San Francisco Opera, Opera National de Paris, English National Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Opera Philadelphia, Los Angeles Opera, Canadian Opera Company, Glyndebourne Opera Festival, Dallas Opera, Teatro Real Madrid, Spoleto Festival USA, Glimmerglass Festival (where he served as the 2023 Artist in Residence), and Finnish National Opera.

In concert he has sung with the New York Philharmonic (where he was named The Mary and James G. Wallach Artist-in-Residence for the 2021-22 season), The Cleveland Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, Met Orchestra Chamber Ensemble, Boston Baroque, Berlin Philharmonic, NDR at the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, and the London Symphony Orchestra, among others.. Mr. Costanzo’s most recent album, Anthony Roth Costanzo & Justin Vivian Bond: Only an Octave Apart was released in January 2022. His first solo album, ARC was released in September 2018 and nominated for the 2019 GRAMMY Award for Best Classical Solo Vocal Album. He also stars on the Metropolitan Opera’s recording and DVD of Akhnaten which won the 2022 GRAMMY Award for Best Opera Recording.

British-Italian pianist Sofia Sacco appeared as soloist in more than 100 recitals across the globe with recent tours of Europe, America and Asia. She played on BBC Radio 3, Rai Radio 3 and Radio France Musique. Sofia is the recipient of the Francis Simms Prize. She is Artist in Residence at la Società del Quartetto di Bergamo and a City Music Foundation Artist. CMF generously supported her release of Shostakovich: 24 Preludes and Fugues, which earned her a nomination for a Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik. After her studies at RAM, Sofia was appointed a Fellow and Associate of the Royal Academy of Music.

Rising countertenor Cameron Shahbazi, praised for his “full, voluminous” voice and “personal and beautiful” timbre (De Trouw), is celebrated for his acclaimed interpretations of both baroque and contemporary music. In 2023, he was awarded the prestigious Opus Klassik Award in the ‘Innovative Concert of the Year’ category for his brainchild entitled “Woman.Life.Freedom.”, a benefit concert at Oper Frankfurt produced in support of human rights in Iran.

In the 2024-25 season, Cameron made his much-anticipated house debut at the Gran Teatre del Liceu Barcelona as Tolomeo in Giulio Cesare in a production by Calixto Bieto. With the Vancouver Opera, he made his house and role debut as The Refugee in Jonathan Dove’s Flight. Building on the great success of George Benjamin’s new opera Picture a day like this, Shahbazi thrice presents the acclaimed interpretation: at the Opéra Comique in Paris, Opéra national du Rhin, and at the Grand Théâtre de Luxembourg. Together with pianist Sophia Muñoz, Cameron Shahbazi presents Warsaw Sessions, a recital reinterpreting familiar and unfamiliar music in a journal-like setting, fusing musical styles and genres from Henry Purcell to Louis Armstrong complimented by baroque arias and Iranian melodies.

Jaye Simmons (they/them) is a Vienna, Austria–based soprano recognised for their expressive artistry, vibrant stage presence, and versatility across opera, musical theatre, and contemporary repertoire. Recent roles include Adele in Die Fledermaus, Despina in Così fan tutte, Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro, Frasquita in Carmen, and Maria in West Side Story. Previous credits include Anne Truelove in The Rake’s Progress. Passionate about contemporary and newly created works, they are dedicated to championing new music alongside the standard repertoire. Jaye will make their upcoming debut as Musetta in La Bohème.

Canadian soprano Abigail Sinclair is currently studying at the Royal Academy of Music, under the guidance of Kate Paterson. Notable performances include her American debut in Brooklyn and a recent concert at London's Southbank Centre with the London Sinfonietta. She is supported by the Sylva Gelber Music Foundation and other prestigious scholarships.

Sadie Sinner is a spectacular cabaret artiste and creator who founded the Cocoa Butter Club in 2016 after seeing there were no black lesbians visible on London Pride stages. Since then she has performed around the world at festivals, starred in a critically-acclaimed Travis Alabanza show as The Royal Court and she regularly wows crowds at major venues with citywide appeal such as The Hippodrome in Leicester Square.

Scottish tenor Nicky Spence performs internationally at leading opera houses, including the Royal Opera, Berlin Staatsoper, Opéra National de Paris and Glyndebourne Festival. His upcoming season includes returns to Covent Garden, Staatsoper Hamburg and the Brno Janáček Festival, as well as debuts at the Gran Teatre del Liceu, Barcelona and Deutsche Oper Berlin.

Nicky is an award winning recitalist and recording artist, being named BBC Music Magazine ‘Personality of the Year’ in 2022. He was made an OBE in the 2023 King’s Birthday Honours, and in 2024 won the RPS Singer Award.

Standard Issue is a London-based new music collective that challenges the archetypal

boundaries within music and its culture. Bringing fresh perspective to works by eclectic living composers, the group focuses on enhancing accessibility through creating unique concert experiences. As a collaborative group, they have created projects and concerts with

Her Ensemble, HONKUS, Ineffable Sounds, and Musarc Choir.

Vinegar Strokes is a London-based Drag Queen created by actor Daniel Jacob. Vinegar appeared on Season 1 of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK and has starred in the West End musicals Everybody’s Talking About Jamie and Deathdrop - A Dragatha Christie. She has sailed around the world with Virgin Cruises starring in The Miss Behave Show and she performed in Copenhagen World Pride's Curated Opera Begærets Mysterier.

Described as ‘an artist of great originality and vision’, Irish-Italian violinist Violetta Suvini is a City Music Foundation Artist and recipient of the Royal Philharmonic Society’s Emily Anderson Prize 2024. She has performed chamber music in venues such as Wigmore Hall, St Martin in the Fields, Holywell Music Room; for series such as Barnes Concert Society and Leeds International Lunchtime; and at festivals including the Venice Biennale, Cheltenham, Aldeburgh, Bloomsbury, and Oxford Chamber. Her performances have been praised for their ‘exquisite delivery’ (The Arts Desk), ‘powerful body of sound’ (The Strad) and ‘compelling playing’ (The Arts Desk).

Winner of Second Prize at the 2020 Kathleen Ferrier Awards, Ella Taylor is a soprano with a passion for performing contemporary music and works by women and gender non-conforming artists.

Recent engagements have included Meritaten in Akhnaten for English National Opera, Tebaldo in Don Carlo and Fourth Maid in Elektra for The Royal Opera, The Activist in the premiere of Ellen Reid’s The Shell Trial for Dutch National Opera, Górecki’s Symphony of Sorrowful Songs with the Philharmonia Orchestra at the 2022 Bold Tendencies Festival, The Cock in The Cunning Little Vixen on tour with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra conducted by Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla, Messiah with both Huddersfield Choral Society and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at London’s Royal Albert Hall and Vaughan Williams Dona nobis pacem with Britten Sinfonia at the Brighton Festival.

Described as “phenomenal” (The Times) and “devastatingly beautiful” (Gramophone Magazine), award-winning choir Tenebrae is one of the world’s leading vocal ensembles, renowned for its passion and precision.

Under the direction of Nigel Short, Tenebrae performs at major festivals and venues across the globe, including the BBC Proms, Wigmore Hall, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Rheingau Musik Festival and Sydney Festival. The choir has earned international acclaim for its interpretations of choral music from the Renaissance through to contemporary masterpieces, and has commissioned new music from composers including Judith Bingham, Joanna Marsh, Owain Park, Josephine Stephenson, Joby Talbot and Roderick Williams.

Tenebrae has enjoyed collaborations with some of the UK’s leading orchestras, including the London Symphony Orchestra, Aurora Orchestra, the Academy of Ancient Music and Britten Sinfonia. The choir also undertakes regular session work, having contributed the vocals for Max Richter’s Voices (2020), Jean-Jacques Annaud’s Notre Dame brûle (2022), and blockbuster sci-fi movie Avatar: The Way of Water (2022) among others. Its extensive recording catalogue comprises a wide range of music on labels including Signum, LSO Live and Warner Classics, and has earned the choir two BBC Music Magazine Awards, an Edison Classical Award and a Grammy nomination.

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American tenor Russell Thomas is now one of the most sought-after tenors of his generation, performing major roles at international opera house such as the Metropolitan Opera in New York, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Opéra national de Paris, and Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, where he is currently singing the role of Cavaradossi (Tosca) under Alexander Soddy. In 2021, Thomas became the first Artist in Residence at LA Opera, a new role which takes him to the heart of the company not only as a performer but as a curator of the new After Hours recital series and as a mentor to the Russell Thomas Young Artists. Thomas is in great demand on the concert platform; notably, he has performed with Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia and Tugan Sokhiev, the New York Philharmonic and Alan Gilbert, and the Wiener Philharmoniker under Andris Nelsons.

Sophie Thomas is a UK based set and costume designer working in theatre, film and live events. Her recent work includes PLASTIC by Kenneth Emson (Old Red Lion and Mercury Theatre, Colchester )and MY NAME IS RACHEL CORRIE which won the JMK Award 2017 and ran at the Young Vic in October of that year. Sophie also recently designed the costume for Simon Amstell's CARNAGE: SWALLOWING THE PAST on BBC iPlayer. She completed a residency at the Royal Shakespeare Company as Assistant Designer 2015-16. She has also assisted National and International Designers including: Tom Piper, Steven Brimson-Lewis, Niki Turner, Tom Scutt, Takis, Naomi Dawson, Anna Fleischle, Helen Goddard and Lez Brotherston. Assistant and Associate Credits Include: MTV VMA AWARDS 2015, Finnish National Ballet, English Touring Opera, In The Heights, The Barbican and the RSC

One of the most famous drag queens in the world, Thorgy has starred in the American TV seriesRuPaul’s Drag Race &Dragnificent on TLC, but before that, they studied music at the Hartt School of Music and Purchase Conservatory, playing viola, violin and cello and has performed at Le Poisson Rouge, Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall. Thorgy has also staged thier own show 'Thorgy & The Thorchestra' which debuted with Symphony Nova Scotia in 2018. Since then, Thorgy has been invited to perform with dozens of international orchestras including the San Francisco Symphony, Toronto Symphony, Seattle Symphony, NAC Orchestra in Ottawa and the Boston Pops Orchestra.

Davóne Tines, heralded as an artist "changing what it means to be a classical singer (The New Yorker) and “[one] of the most powerful voices of our time” (Los Angeles Times), is a pathbreaking artist whose work encompasses a diverse repertoire, ranging from early music to new commissions by leading composers, and explores the social issues of today.

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A creator, curator, and performer at the intersection of many histories, cultures, and aesthetics, he is engaged in work that blends opera, art song, spirituals, contemporary classical, gospel, and protest songs as a means to tell a deeply personal story of perseverance connecting to all of humanity.

Tines is the recipient of the 2022 Musical America Vocalist of the Year award, the 2020 Sphinx Medal of Excellence, recognizing extraordinary classical musicians of color, and in 2019 was named a Next Generation Leader by Time magazine. He also received the 2018 Emerging Artists Award from Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts and is a graduate of Harvard University and The Juilliard School.

Snow White Trash is UK’s saxy drag queen. She performs up and down country on the cabaret circuit with her unique blend of impressive vocals and singalong saxophone power ballads. She also tours the world playing sax for Scissor Sisters frontman Jake Shears. Snow has performed on the main stage at London Pride in Trafalgar Square and at multiple prides across the UK, including her hometown of Brighton where she’s a firm favourite. She also went down a storm at European Gay Ski Week and has been a judge at Drag Idol UK.

Petroc Trelawny is one of the best-known voices on BBC Radio Three - where he presents the daily Breakfast programme. He was part of the commentary team for BBC Television’s coverage of the Coronation of King Charles III and the funeral of Her Majesty The Queen. He has presented BBC Proms on radio and television for more than two decades and introduces the annual live BBC broadcast of the Vienna Philharmonic New Year’s Day Concert. Last June he hosted BBC Television’s ‘Cardiff Singer of the World’ for the thirteenth time. He has presented the international telecast of Eurovision Young Musician to more than two dozen countries from Edinburgh and hosted Eurovision Choir live from Gothenburg. He presents performances by the Royal Ballet shown in cinemas around the world, and anchors note-by-note coverage of the Leeds Piano Competition for Medici.tv. In 2015 he hosted the first ever BBC Proms Australia, a week of concerts and recitals in Melbourne broadcast live on ABC Radio; he has also twice hosted BBC Proms Dubai at the new Dubai Opera House.

Lauded for the originality and intense drama of his interpretations, pianist Samson Tsoy is a great believer in the importance of establishing meaningful ways to venture outside the familiar and conservative. Recent projects attesting this include a collaboration with the great American artist Richard Serra, and two large-scale projects at a former car park at South East London – two Brahms piano concerti in one evening with the Philharmonia Orchestra and Maxim Emelyanychev and Scriabin’s Prometheus with Gergely Madaras. Praised as “Herculean soloist” by The Observer his performances were included among the best performances of 2020 and 2021 in The Guardian and The Arts Desk yearly reviews.

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Samson Tsoy is a co-founder of the Ragged Music Festival in London. In just a few years of its existence, the festival has gained a strong following both among connoisseurs as well as those seeking an alternative to the formality of traditional concert settings. Despite its informal setting, it has become a platform for some of the most serious and devoted music-making to be experienced in London, by the world’s finest musicians of all generations. The festival earned a highly prestigious nomination for the South Bank Sky Arts Award, and in April 2023 toured to the Muziekgebouw in Amsterdam.

American violist Stephen Upshaw regularly appears in festivals around the world including the BBC Proms, IMS Prussia Cove, Aldeburgh, Aix-en-Provence, Salzburg Chamber Music Festival and Glastonbury, where he recently collaborated with composer Max Richter and actor Tilda Swinton. Much in demand as a chamber musician, he is a member of the award-winning Solem Quartet, praised for their ‘immaculate precision and spirit’ (The Strad) and recognised as one of the most innovative and adventurous quartets of its generation.

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A noted interpreter of contemporary music, he is also a member of London’s Riot Ensemble - winners of the inaugural Ernst von Siemens Foundation Ensemble Prize and cited by the Guardian as “the supergroup of top soloists playing new music.”  He has worked with many of today’s leading composers and taken part in over 300 world premieres. 

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Stephen  serves on the faculty at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance, the Guildhall School of Music and Drama Junior Department, Switzerland’s  Lucerne Festival Academy (where he also co-curates the annual ‘Festival Forward’) and has been invited to adjudicate past editions of the Royal Philharmonic Society Awards and the  Royal Overseas League Competition.

Recipient of the 2025 Royal Philharmonic Society Instrumentalist Award, Laura van der Heijden is recognised as “a shining role model to musicians of her generation” (The Guardian). Celebrated for her versatility, she enjoys a vibrant international career spanning concerto appearances, chamber collaborations, masterclasses and recording projects. Recent and upcoming highlights include appearances with the Ulster Orchestra, PhilZuid, Pilsen Philharmonic, Manchester Collective, Britten Sinfonia, Antwerp Symphony, London Philharmonic and BBC Scottish. A sought-after chamber musician, Laura is a member of the Kaleidoscope Chamber Collective and regularly performs and records as a duo with pianist Jâms Coleman.

She regularly collaborates with musicians including Timothy Ridout, Max Baillie, Her Ensemble and the Doric, Redon and Brodsky Quartets. A graduate of Cambridge University and Hanns Eisler Berlin, Laura performs on a late seventeenth-century cello by Francesco Ruggieri of Cremona, generously on loan from a private collection.

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Isobel Waller-Bridge is an award-winning composer known for her work in film, television, theatre, and contemporary classical music.

Isobel has scored numerous feature films, including Munich: The Edge of War, Emma, I Came By, and the BAFTA and Oscar-winning short The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and the Horse. Recent projects include The Lesson, Embers, Magpie, and Wicked Little Letters. Her television credits include Fleabag, Black Mirror, Roar, and The Way

Down.

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Isobel's notable commissions include Manchester Collective, the Philharmonia Orchestra, fashion houses Alexander McQueen and Simone Rocha, and principal ballerina Francesca Hayward. Her theatre work includes The Son and The Forest with Florian Zeller, Woyzeck by Jack Thorne, and the National Theatre’s The House of Bernarda Alba. She composed the ballet The Limit for the Royal Opera House.

Her releases include the album Music for Strings, the single Illuminations, and multiple soundtracks. Her latest release, VIII, came out in November 2022, with performances at the Purcell Room and Blue Dot Festival in 2023. Isobel has received awards including Best

Composer at Underwire Film Festival and Best Sound Designer at the Off West End Theatre Awards, and was nominated for the RTS Craft & Design Award and World Soundtrack Awards.

The Godfather of East London, Jonny Woo, is one of the biggest names in drag and performance art globally, with a dazzling career spanning over twenty years. His ‘Un-Royal Variety’ show has been a springboard for many TV stars, as has his drag competition LIPSYNC1000. He has written award-winning shows, critically-acclaimed plays, and he is the owner of Dalston’s notorious queer bar The Divine.

Jonny Woo is a London drag and cabaret artist, actor, writer, curator and co-owner of queer performance venue The Divine. He began his career in NYC in 2000 creating performance art at The Slipper Room and Dixon Place and has been making shows and events in London since 2003. He has had a residency with cabaret venue Bistrotheque for over 20 years and with Soho Theatre where he has made solo and group shows since 2006. He currently directs and curates his Un-Royal Variety Show with them at Soho Theatre Walthamstow. He has presented many shows at Edinburgh Fringe including his ‘All-Star Brexit Cabret’ which went on to play The London Colosseum and his show ‘Suburbia’ which is currently touring and returns to Soho Theatre in July. Jonny has been the curator and host of The NYC Downlow at Glastonbury since 2006, has appeared at festivals nationwide, collaborates regularly with Immersive Cult on high end events and parties, has toured extensively across Australia with ‘Night at The Musicals’ with Le Gateau Chocolat and throughout the noughties he was regularly flown across Europe for appearances at clubs and fashion events. Jonny continues to make new work and is writing a play ‘Silvertown’to be presented July 2027. He is delighted to collaborate with Classical Pride for a third year and he appears courtesy of Fitzrovia Talent.

A conductor of "tremendous ardour and shrewd dramatic timing" (The Telegraph), Oliver is widely seen as one of today's most intrepid young musicians. Alongside concerts and recordings with the likes of the London Symphony Orchestra, LA Philharmonic, Philharmonia Orchestra, CBSO, Academy of St Martin in the Fields and the Orchestre national d’Île-de-France, Oliver is known for his ambitious projects and his "record for getting things done" (Gramophone)_.

Polish composer Tymon Zgorzelsk is a recent graduate of the Royal College of Music, incorporating electronics, live instrumental performance and opera in works that have been performed across Europe. His piece ‘Curiosity and the Cat’ won an award from the UK’s Clarinet and Saxophone Society, becoming a set work in their clarinet competition, and he recently completed a sound installation for Kew Gardens.