Sunday - 16th September 2010 - 3.30 pm

The Catholic Centre, 2 Duke's Avenue, Chiswick, W4 2AE (Opposite Chiswick Library) See a location map

Born in Dublin, Irish mezzo-soprano Máire Flavin represented Ireland at Cardiff Singer of the World 2011, reaching the Song Prize final. She has just finished her studies at the National Opera Studio, London studying with Janice Chapman having completed the opera course at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama (GSMD) where she received a Masters in Music Performance with distinction. Máire began her vocal studies while reading Psychology and Music at Queen's University Belfast with Irene Sandford and continued her studies at the Royal Irish Academy of Music, Dublin with Colette McGahon-Tosh.

Roles include Public Opinion (Orpheus in the Underworld) for Scottish Opera, cover Nerone (L'Incoronazione di Poppea) for Glyndebourne on Tour; Tisbe (La Cenerentola) for Clonter Opera; Máire is an alumna of both the Opera Theatre Company Young Artist and Britten Pears Young Artist programmes.

With an affinity for song Máire has performed at the Estoril Music Festival; Rose Street Recital Series in Belfast; taken part in the Graham Johnson Songmakers Almanac masterclasses and was the first singer to be the recipient of the concerto prize at the Royal Irish Academy of Music and performed Wagner's Wesendonck Lieder with their orchestra in the National Concert Hall Dublin.
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South African born pianist Nico de Villiers is currently based in London and has a varied career as performer, coach and piano instructor. He is an accompanist at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and lecturer in piano at Junior Trinity College of Music and Leeds College of Music. During the summer Nico is a Lieder coach at the American Institute of Musical Studies, Graz, Austria.

Nico holds degrees from the Royal Scottish Conservatoire, University of Michigan and Guildhall School of Music and Drama and studied with Martin Katz, Gordon Back and Charles Owen. Nico took part in various masterclasses lead by esteemed performers including Malcolm Martineau, Eugene Asti, Roger Vignoles (Oxford Lieder Festival Masterclass Series), Graham Johnson (The Songmaker's Almanac), the Takács Quartet and the Lindseys.

He performed in various concert venues across the world including the Terrace Theatre, Kennedy Center (Washington DC), Grosser Saal, Mozarteum (Salzburg), Birmingham Symphony Hall, Barbican and St. Martin-in-the-Fields (London). In collaboration with previous colleagues from RSAMD, Nico founded the De Villiers Ensemble that regularly performs across Sweden. He annually performs with chamber musicians in South Africa including the Odeion String Quartet in Bloemfontein and Goldberg String Quartet in Pretoria. Some other previous performing partners include singers Barbara Bonney, Jane Irwin, Caitlin Hulcup, Rebecca Afonwy-Jones, William Berger, Gary Griffiths and violinist Sebastian Müller.

Nico is establishing himself as coach regularly working with young singers at tertiary institutions. He has been a coach in the private studio of Barbara Bonney in Salzburg and has been invited to lead specialist workshops and projects with singers at the University of Stellenbosch and University of the Free State in South Africa and the Swedish Royal College of Music and Birkagårdens Music Academy in Stockholm. Nico was an assistant faculty member at the International Music Academy in Pilsen, Czech Republic in 2006 and 2008. The American Institute of Musical Studies (AIMS) in Graz, Austria invited Nico as coach in the summers of 2008 - 2011 where he lead vocal studios with great acclaim.

For further information please visit his website at www.nicodevilliers.com