Isobel Rose (Artistic Manager/Soprano) is a recent Music Graduate of University College, Oxford. As a student of Giles Underwood, she began singing in the city as a Choral Scholar at University College before joining Schola Cantorum of Oxford in 2015. Since then, she has performed as a member of the Magdalen College Consort of Voices,The Martlet Voices, The Oxford Bach Soloists, Ensemble E45, and the newly-established vocal consort, Untune The Sky. In 2016, she was the recipient of the Mendl-Schrama Prize for solo singing, which has since allowed her to develop her skills as a young Soprano. Her repertoire of operatic performance includes Henry Purcell’s The Fairy Queen in Oxford’s Playhouse theatre and New Chamber Opera’s production of The Rake’s Progress. Her career as a soloist continues to develop, with recent local engagements including performances with The Oxford New Choir, The Oxford University Chorus, and latterly as an invited singers for events held by the Vice Chancellor of Oxford University, a collaboration which saw her perform for Secretary Hillary Clinton in June 2018. She is enjoying her current role as a Graduate Waynflete Intern in the Music Department at Magdalen College School, Oxford, alongside her voluntary work in Oxford’s thriving music scene.
Caroline Lesemann-Elliott (Ensemble Manager/alto) recently graduated from the University of Edinburgh. She is a singer, conductor, composer, and violist. Caroline’s compositions have been performed around the U.K., featuring performances by Christ Church Cathedral Choir, the Edinburgh Composer’s Orchestra, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, St. John’s Chapel (Oxford), and more. She is currently the student Composer-in-Residence at the Picture Gallery of Royal Holloway, in conjunction with the New Voices Consort.
Over her time as a Bachelor’s student, Caroline studied conducting with Greg Batsleer and Russell Cowieson. She also completed a choral conducting internship with the Scottish Chamber Choir, under Iain McLarty. Caroline has conducted the Information Services Group Choir, Voces Inauditae, New College Choir at the University of Edinburgh, the Royal Dick Veterinary School Orchestra, and served as Musical Director for Le Petit Verre Opera Production’s premiere production, Hansel and Gretel. She has also assisted as conductor with the Dalkeith Singers, the Edinburgh Practice Choir, the choir of Greyfriars Kirk, and the Edinburgh University Singers while they were on tour in Poland (alongside Dr. John Kitchen, MBE).
Now in Oxford, Caroline currently conducts Wolfson College Choir, as well as studying conducting as part of her Master’s in Musicology at Royal Holloway. As a musicologist, Caroline is particularly interested in developing feminist historiographical approaches and programming techniques, as well as sacred music by 16th and 17th century English religious women (particularly Catholic women). For this research, she has received funding from both Royal Holloway and the St. Matthias Trust, and is working towards putting together a collection of repertoire designed for use in Anglican worship.
Toronto-born Emily Brown Gibson (soprano) is a performer equally at home in repertoire ranging from Medieval to Present-day. Having recently completed her Master’s degree in music at Oxford University, Emily is currently studying with mezzo-soprano Caitlin Hulcup and tenor Florian Thomas. While completing her degree, Emily performed with the company New Chamber Opera, on several occasions, including singing as the soprano soloist in J. S. Bach’s Peasant Cantata and Coffee Cantata, singing the role of Anne Trulove in Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress, as well as Galatea in Handel’s Acis and Galatea. Emily also had the opportunity to sing in masterclasses with Jonathon Swinard, Andreas Scholl, and Catherine Wyn-Rogers.
Prior to moving to the U.K., Emily completed a Bachelor’s degree in Classical Voice Performance at McGill University in Montreal, Canada. There she studied with Dominique Labelle and completed a minor in Early Music. At McGill, Emily was a soloist in works including Jesu Meine Freude with McGill’s Baroque Orchestra, as well as a soloist during the Bach Cantata project at Salle Bourgie with L’Ensemble de la Fondation Arte Musica. Previous opera credits include, Spirit in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas (Opera McGill), Laura Secord in Errol Gay’s The Legand of Laura Secord (Canadian Children’s Opera Compnay), Shepherd Boy in Puccini’s Tosca (Canadian Opera Company), Second Spirit in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte (Canadian Opera Company), and Mrs Cratchit in Errol Gay’s A Dickens of a Christmas (Canadian Children’s Opera Company).
Originally from Oxford, Rosalind Dobson (soprano) began her career singing with the Oxford Girls’ Choir. During her gap year she sang with Schola Cantorum of Oxford before going up to Magdalene College Cambridge to read English Literature. During her time at university she sang as a choral volunteer with the chapel choir of Sidney Sussex, as well as performing regularly with the university chamber choir and the opera society. She recently gained her masters in vocal performance at the Royal College of Music with distinction.
Operatic roles include Miss Wordsworth (Albert Herring), Cunegonde (Candide), Fiordiligi (Cosí fan tutte), Miss Jessel (The Turn of The Screw), Susanna (Le Nozze di Figaro), Tytania (A Midsummer Night’s Dream), Nella (Gianni Schicchi). She has also appeared as Semele (Semele), Agnes (Written on Skin), Despina (Cosí) and Elmira (Sosarme) in the RCM opera scenes, as well as creating the roles of Horatia and Hipster Cake in the RCM’s contemporary opera scenes in collaboration with Tête-à-Tête.
Rosalind is also an experienced oratorio soloist and recitalist, performing everything from Bach to Birtwistle. She has performed in masterclasses with Iestyn Davies and Brindley Sherratt. Rosalind studies under Sally Burgess.
Having started singing as a choral scholar at St Mary’s Metropolitan Cathedral in Edinburgh, Shannon Miller (alto) recently graduated from Lady Margaret Hall, University of Oxford, and is currently an Alto Lay-Clerk at Pusey House, as well as singing with the choir of St John’s College, and numerous other small consort groups.
Some of her most exciting opportunities so far have come through singing with the National Youth Choir of Scotland, under the direction of Christopher Bell. With NYCoS she has performed in prestigious venues across the world, including at the opening of the 2014 Commonwealth Games, the BBC Proms, televised BBC Christmas Service, and the Festival Berlioz with Sir John Eliot Gardiner, as well as at the Chicago Jay Pritzker Pavilion for the July 4th celebrations, and the Grand Teton Festival with Donald Runnicles. Recent solos include Bach’s Mass in B Minor, Durufle’s Requiem, Handel’s Messiah, Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Mozart’s Mass in C Minor, Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater, and Vivaldi’s Gloria.
Alice Habisreutinger (alto) grew up in Oxford and was largely a pianist and organist until starting university, where she studied Ancient & Modern History. As organ scholar of University College, under Giles Underwood, she frequently directed the choir and organised their international tours. She became interested in singing while at Univ and began learning under Rebecca Outram. She also set up the ‘Univ Consort’, a small ensemble designed to give choral scholars the opportunity to sing a more challenging range of one-per-part music. This choir had two projects, one focusing on English Renaissance polyphony and the other on more recent part-songs from the British Isles. She appeared on two CD recordings as organist and singer and was a choral soloist in venues such as St Martin-in-the-Fields and La Madeleine, Paris.
A highlight of her time at Univ was working with the ‘Martlet Voices’, a group set up by Giles Underwood, which allowed students to sing music alongside professionals such as Carys Lane, Anna Crookes, Lucy Ballard and James Oxley. She also enjoyed the opportunity to sing alongside musicians such as Ian Bostridge and Instruments of Time and Truth in a recent concert exploring ‘Bach and the Voice’ in the Holywell Music Room. Aside from choral and consort singing she has recently started performing at Open Mic nights and particularly enjoys singing the music of Julie London, Etta James and Marilyn Monroe, to name but a few! Alice currently resides in London.
Margaret Lingas (soprano) was born in Cyprus, raised (mostly) in Oxfordshire, and recently completed her BMus at the University of Victoria, Canada, where she studied with Benjamin Butterfield.
In North America, Margaret was a choral scholar at Christ Church Cathedral (Victoria), a member of the Pacific Opera Victoria chorus, and a soloist with groups including the Sooke Philharmonic (Bach Magnificat and Christmas Oratorio), the UVic Chorus and Orchestra (Knoxville: Summer of 1915, Nelsonmesse), the Victoria Baroque Players (St John Passion), Christ Church Cathedral Choir (Mozart, Fauré Requiem), UV Vocal Jazz, Cappella Romana, and Fretwork.
Here in the UK, Margaret has performed with groups including Schola Pietatis Antonio Vivaldi, the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Vespri Segreti, and the Christ Church Cathedral Consort. She teaches at Oxford Girls’ Choir, and is a current member of the Magdalen Consort of Voices, St John’s College Choir, Schola Cantorum, and Genesis Sixteen.
A graduate of the University of Edinburgh in English Literature and French, Georgie Malcolm (soprano) now works full-time in publishing in Oxford, but enjoys a busy schedule of singing engagements alongside this, with a mind to the possibility of pursuing music professionally in the future. She continues to study singing with Christine Cairns.
Georgie has performed recitals in Oxford, Salisbury, Chepstow, Chester, and as part of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, and has sung solos at Poole Lighthouse, St John’s Smith Square, the Sheldonian, Oxford, and as part of the English Music Festival at Dorchester Abbey. She enjoys performing across a range of styles, recently tackling the jazz soprano solo line in a performance of Will Todd’s Mass in Blue.
As well as singing as a soloist, Georgie performs widely in choirs and consorts – including the Sarum Consort, the Newman Consort, and the Oxford Bach Soloists – and has previously held scholarships with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra Chorus and the choir of Somerville College, Oxford.
Indyana Schneider is a trained opera singer, currently studying with renowned Italian Soprano, Nuccia Focile. Off of the stage, she works in financial strategy in the charity sector; she was the Development Manager of both Olivier Award-winning OperaUpClose and PRS-award winning Spitalfields Music, and currently works as Head of Development for Just Like Us, an LGBT+ charity aiming to empower young LGBT+ people and combat homophobic, biphobic, and transphobic bullying in schools.
Whilst at university, Indyana was president of TEDxOxford, a sell-out speaker conference at Oxford’s New Theatre and founded Hat Tricks Improvised Musical Theatre concert series to raise money or Oxford Homeless Pathways. Now in London, she is co-founder of ‘Opus Club’, a chamber music concert series raising money for CRISIS.
Sophie is a British Mezzo-soprano studying at the Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien Hannover, Germany. She graduated from Durham University in 2016 with a BA in Combined Honours in Arts (Music, English and German).
At University, Sophie was President of Durham Opera Ensemble, a choral scholar for The Chapel of St Hild and St Bede, and held the Chris Higgins Music Bursary. In the past two years, she has been awarded the Claire Castle Memorial Scholarship (2018) and the Joyce Mostert Memorial Scholarship (2019) to be part of Berlin Opera Academy.
Operatic roles include: Cherubino (Le Nozze di Figaro, Mozart), Ottone (L’incoronazione di Poppea, Monteverdi) for Berlin Opera Academy, Orlofsky (Die Fledermaus, Strauss), Aunt Norris (Mansfield Park, Dove), Carmen (cover) (Carmen, Bizet), Orpheus (Orpheus & Euridice, Gluck), Dorabella (Cosi fan tutte, Mozart), and Proserpina (Orfeo, Monteverdi). Concert performances include Haydn Stabat Mater, Beethoven Choral Fantasy, Bach Cantatas BWV 109 and 161, Handel Messiah, Fauré Requiem and Duruflé Requiem.
Sophie has been a soloist at The Royal Festival Hall, The Sage Gateshead, and many cathedrals in England, including Durham and St Paul’s. She was a member of the National Youth Choir and has sung in the chorus of the St Endellion Festival for the past four seasons, recently singing Russian Nanny in Britten's Death in Venice. Sophie was a Samling Academy Scholar for 2015-16, where she worked with leaders such as Patricia MacMahon and Caroline Dowdle of the Royal Opera House. She has also performed in masterclasses with many esteemed artists, including Anna Huntley, Catherine Wyn Rogers, Dame Emma Kirkby, David Butt Philip, Rachel Nicholls, Roderick Williams and Sir Thomas Allen.
Future engagements include Martinů's Greek Passion for the Staatsoper Hannover, Erster Herr in Martinů's Juliette for the HMTM-Hannover as well as a recording with Naxos of Mahler's Des Knaben Wunderhorn arranged for mezzo-soprano, guitar and chamber ensemble by Gregg Nestor.
