Daisy Evans works in opera, film and theatre as a director and writer. She received a nomination for her production of Bluebeard’s Castle at the 2022 South Bank Awards and is a recipient of the Sky Arts Futures Fund for her work as an opera director. Productions include Bluebeard's Castle (Theatre of Sound), films of The Telephone (Edinburgh International Festival) and of Hansel and Gretel (Scottish Opera), Strozzi (Shakespeare’s Globe), Don Pasquale (WNO), Opera Highlights (Scottish Opera), Disney Fantasia (The Vaults, Disney), La traviata (Longborough Festival Opera), King Arthur and the Fairy Queen (Barbican, Academy of Ancient Music), Carmen remastered (Barbican, ROH), Falstaff (Wilton’s Music Hall, Fulham Opera) and Wakening Shadow (Glyndebourne Festival), among others. She is Founder Director of Silent Opera, where she has directed a new version of Hansel and Gretel, Vixen, Don Giovanni, L'Orfeo, La bohème and Dido & Aeneas.

Stephen Higgins is a conductor, musical director, arranger and producer who has worked extensively in the UK and abroad.

He has conducted many world premieres: 'The Way Back Home', directed by Katie Mitchell, at the Young Vic and Opera de Paris, 'Dr Dee' by Damon Albarn, directed by Rufus Norris, at the Manchester Festival and at ENO, and 'The Duchess of Malfi', a collaboration with ENO and punchdrunk.

Other conducting credits include 'Magic Flute' for ENO, ‘Owen Wingrave’ for the Bastille, ‘Thais’ for Chelsea Opera Group, 'L'Elisir d'amore' and ‘Hansel and Gretel’ for Opera Holland Park and ‘Don Pasquale’ for WNO with a cast including Bryn Terfel and Andrew Shore.

Stephen worked with Sondheim on revivals of 'A little Night Music' and 'Sunday in the park with George' at the Châtelet theatre in Paris, conducted Gershwin’s ‘Crazy for You’ in Gothenburg, ‘Sweeney Todd’ in Bergen with the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra and 'Phantom of the Opera' in London's West End.
Stephen is musical director of ‘Silent Opera’ where he has created electronic scores presented alongside live performances of Don Giovanni and Janacek’s Vixen, as well as a new staging of the entirety of Disney’s ‘Fantasia’
2020 saw Stephen write and musically direct an update of the Carmen story as a Scandi-noir thriller which premiered on Norwegian network NRK
Stephen’s new company, ‘Theatre of Sound’ launched with a production of ‘Bluebeard’s Castle’ With 5 star reviews from across the national and international press, and a nomination for the South Banks awards, it is now set to tour the US and Canada.

Jake designs extensively both across the UK and Worldwide. His work has been seen with major UK opera companies inc WNO and ENO, Garsington Opera, the Barbican centre, many regional opera festivals and companies as well as nearly all of the UK’s senior music Conservatoires. Internationally, he’s worked in New York, Beijing and across Europe in a variety of spaces from traditional proscenium arch venues to unique site specific spaces including disused tram depots and an alpine mountain road tunnel.

Recent credits include: Amadigi and Le Comte Ory for Garsington Opera; Don Pasquale for Welsh National Opera; La donna del lago, Viva La Diva and Gypsy for Buxton International Opera Festival;The Cunning Little Vixen and La traviata, for Longborough Festival Opera; Margot La Rouge, Le villi and Pirates of Penzance for Opera Holland Park; Blue Beards Castle for Theatre of Sound (nominated for the Sky Arts opera Award) and Vixen for Silent Opera in association with ENO, (London, Helsinki, Trento and Beijing).

He is an Honorary Associate of the Royal Academy of Music (HonARAM).

Gerald Finley
Bass- Baritone
Grammy Award-winning Canadian bass-baritone Gerald Finley is one of the most revered and influential artists of our time, with celebrated performances at the world’s major opera and concert venues and recordings on CD and DVD with major labels in a wide variety of repertoire. His extensive career is devoted to the complete spectrum of vocal art, encompassing operatic, orchestral and song repertoire, collaborating with the greatest composers, orchestras and conductors.

Recent appearance highlights include the 2018 BBC Last Night of the Proms where he performed a range of songs including Stanford’s Songs of the Sea and ‘Soliloquy’ from Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Carousel, Iago in a new production of Otello at the Bayerische Staatsoper and the Canadian Opera Company, the title role in Bluebeard’s Castle and Count Almaviva Le Nozze di Figaro at the Metropolitan Opera, Count Almaviva at Bayerische Staatsoper, the title role in Falstaff at the Vienna State Opera, Beethoven Symphony No.9 conducted by Bernard Haitink in Munich and at the Salzburg Festival with Riccardo Muti, the opening gala concert at the Paris Opera with Gustavo Dudamel; Bluebeard’s Castle in a highly acclaimed production at Stone Nest in London and with l’Orchestre de Paris, the Vienna Symphony and Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra; Vaughan Williams Symphony No.1 at the Festival Radio France Occitanie Montpellier. Recent recitals include the Wigmore Hall, Middle Temple Hall, the NDR Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, Vienna, Prague and the USA.

The 2022/23 season sees Finley return to San Francisco Opera as Anthony in the world premiere of John Adams’ Anthony and Cleopatra; the Opéra national de Paris as Scarpia Tosca and Count in Neta Jones’ new production of Le Nozze di Figaro; The Royal Opera House as Wolfram Tannhäuser; Bayerische Staatsoper in one of his signature roles: Iago Otello and Staatsoper Unter den Linden to make his debut as the title role in Der fliegende Holländer. On the concert platform, Finley joins Lahti Symphony Orchestra for Kaija Saariaho’s True Fire under the baton of Dalia Staveska and a concert and recital at the Tongyeong International Music Festival.

Born in Montreal he began singing as a chorister in Ottawa, Canada, and completed his musical studies at the Royal College of Music, King’s College, Cambridge, and the National Opera Studio. He is a Fellow and Visiting Professor at the Royal College of Music. In 2014 he climbed Kilimanjaro for the charity Help Musicians UK. In 2017 he was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire.

A compelling stage performer with a repertoire ranging from the baroque to contemporary classics, Charlotte Hellekant is one of Scandinavia’s leading mezzo-sopranos with a career equally successful on both the opera stage and concert platform. She has made her mark on opera stages on both sides of the Atlantic, notably at the Metropolitan Opera, Opéra national de Paris and Glyndebourne Festival; and has inspired some of the world’s leading composers to write especially for her. This includes Toshio Hosokawa who created the role of Murasame for her in his acclaimed Matsukaze, and subsequently wrote his monodrama The Raven for her. Lyric roles include Charlotte (Werther) with Deutsche Oper Berlin and Carmen with Royal Swedish Opera, whilst Handel interpretations include Ino (Semele) at the Théâtre des Champs Elysées and Cornelia (Giulio Cesare) for Opernhaus Zürich. She appeared as Marguérite in La Fura dels Baus’ spectacular production of La damnation de Faust at Salzburg Festival and sang the role of Judith in Duke Bluebeard’s Castle in concert at the Bergen International Festival.

Anna Theodosakis is a stage director and choreographer based in Toronto. For the 2021/2022 season she directed The Magic Flute (Canadian Opera Company), Carmen (Saskatoon Opera), The Bells of Baddeck (Parks Canada), L’elisir d’amore (Western University), a workshop of The Limit of the Sun (Opera McGill), Love Songs by Ana Sokolovic (University of Ottawa/Musique 3 Femmes) and she choreographed The Tender Land (University of Toronto). Anna is a dramatic coach for the Canadian Opera Company’s Ensemble Studio. She has been a sessional lecturer for the University of British Columbia and a guest lecturer with McGill University, University of Toronto, Dalhousie University, Wilfrid Laurier University, University of Lethbridge, the Glenn Gould School, the University of Ottawa, and the University of Manitoba. Anna is a RBC Future Launch Artist Mentor with the Association for Opera in Canada and a mentor for Pacific Opera Victoria’s Civic Engagement Quartet. www.annatheodosakis.com

Holly is an operatic vocal coach, collaborative pianist and répétiteur based in Montreal, QC. A graduate of Opera de Montreal’s Atelier Lyrique Young Artist Training Program (2018-2021), she currently works as pianist and assistant to musical formation for the program.
In the 2021-2022 season, her activities included principal rehearsal pianist for a double bill of Riders to the Sea/Le Flambeau de la nuit by Vaughn Williams/Tanguay-Labrosse (Opera de Montreal), Bizet’s Les pecheurs de perles (Jeunesse Musicales du Canada) , Cosi Fan Tutte (Edmonton Opera) and Die Zauberflote (Opera de Montreal).
In the summer of 2022, Holly was on faculty at the Banff Centre for the Arts & Creativity’s Opera in the 21st century program. Previously, she has participated as an intern pianist/coach in the program, where she worked on Prestini/Vavrek’s Silent Light, as well as a production of Bernstein’s Candide. She has also served as faculty pianist for ICAV/CVAI in Montreal.