Live Handel’s Messiah Thu 2 January

In his sixth decade on the podium, Nic McGegan — long hailed as “one of the finest baroque conductors of his generation” (The Independent) and “an expert in 18th-century style” (The New Yorker) — is recognized for his probing and revelatory explorations of music of all periods. Following a 34-year tenure as Music Director of Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra and Chorale, he is now Music Director Laureate. He is also Principal Guest Conductor of Hungary’s Capella Savaria. At home in opera houses, McGegan shone new light on close to twenty Handel operas as the Artistic Director and conductor at Germany‘s Göttingen Handel Festival for 20 years (1991-2011), and the Mozart canon as Principal Guest Conductor at Scottish Opera in the 1990s. He was also Principal Conductor of Sweden’s Drottningholm Court Theatre from 1993-1996.

Best known as a baroque and classical specialist, McGegan has been a pioneer in broadening the reach of historically informed practice beyond the world of period ensembles to conventional symphonic forces. His guest-conducting appearances with major orchestras — including the New York, Los Angeles, and Hong Kong Philharmonics; the Chicago, Dallas, Milwaukee, Toronto, Sydney, and New Zealand Symphonies; the Philadelphia Orchestra; the Royal Northern Sinfonia and Scottish Chamber Orchestras; and the Amsterdam Concertgebouw — often feature Baroque repertoire alongside Classical, Romantic, 20th-century and even brand-new works. He has also led performances with the Utah Symphony, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, and the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra. He collaborates frequently with the Mark Morris Dance Group, including the premiere productions of Rameau’s Platée and Handel’s Acis and Galatea.

McGegan’s prolific discography includes more than 100 releases spanning five decades. Having recorded over 50 albums of Handel, McGegan has explored the depths of the composer’s output with a dozen oratorios and close to twenty of his operas. Since the 1980s, more than twenty of his recordings have been with Hungary’s Capella Savaria on the Hungaroton label, including groundbreaking opera and oratorio recordings of repertoire by Handel, Monteverdi, Scarlatti, Telemann and Vivaldi. Recently, the collaboration has produced albums of Kraus, Mendelssohn, Schubert, a 2-CD set of the complete Mozart violin concerti, and Haydn’s Symphonies 79, 80, and 81. McGegan has also released two recent albums with the Swedish Chamber Orchestra under the BIS label: Josef Mysliveček’s Complete Music for Keyboard with soloist Clare Hammond and an album of early horn concertos with soloist Alec Frank-Gemmill. His extensive discography with Philharmonia Baroque includes two GRAMMY nominees, Handel’s Susana and Haydn’s Symphonies 104, 88, and 101. McGegan’s recent disk of Mozart violin concertos with Gil Shaham (SWR Music) was released to great acclaim, with McGegan’s musicianship praised as ‘enlightened’.

Mr. McGegan is committed to the next generation of musicians, frequently conducting and coaching at Yale University, the Juilliard School, Harvard University, the Colburn School, Aspen Music Festival and School, Sarasota Music Festival, and the Music Academy of the West. He has been awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of Music by the San Francisco Conservatory of Music; an honorary professorship at Georg-August University, Göttingen; and in 2016 was the Christoph Wolff Distinguished Visiting Scholar at Harvard. McGegan’s fun and informative lectures have delighted audiences at Juilliard, Yale Center for British Arts, American Handel Society, and San Francisco Conservatory.

Recent and future engagements in Europe, include performances with Aalborg Symphony Orchestra, Royal Scottish National Orchestra Royal Northern Sinfonia, Oulu Symphony and Antwerp Symphony Orchestra. He also conducts Handel’s Deborah at Herrenhausen with the NDR Radiophilharmonie Hannover and staged productions of Giulio Cesare with Irish Baroque Orchestra and Le Nozze di Figaro for the Royal Danish Opera.

English-born, Nic McGegan was educated at Cambridge and Oxford. He was made an Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE) “for services to music overseas.” Other awards include the Halle Handel Prize; the Order of Merit of the State of Lower Saxony (Germany); the Medal of Honour of the City of Göttingen, and a declaration of Nicholas McGegan Day, by the Mayor of San Francisco in recognition of his work with Philharmonia.

Former BBC New Generation Artist, winner of both First Prize and Audience Prize at London’s 2009 Handel Singing Competition, Ruby also holds a Borletti-Buitoni Trust Award and was shortlisted for a 2014 Royal Philharmonic Society Music Award. Through her blossoming catalogue of recordings and lovingly curated performances, she has become known for her interpretations of the music of the baroque and 20th and 21st Century.

Given her background and her wide range of interests, it comes as no surprise that Ruby is a passionate programmer, curator and collaborator. She has forged particularly close relationships with artists such as Laurence Cummings, Joseph Middleton, Jonas Nordberg, Natalie Clein and Julius Drake, Huw Watkins, United Strings of Europe, The Manchester Collective and the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra. This season 23/24 she was invited to curate and perform in a series of three concerts for BBC Northern Ireland as well as to present Inside Music for BBC Radio 3.

Ruby’s captivating capacity for communication and connection with audiences has lead to invitations to perform at Wigmore Hall, Berlin Philharmonie, Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Vienna Konzerthaus and Musikverrein, Palais Garnier and Philharmonie de Paris and in the US at both the Frick Collection and Carnegie Hall, New York. Festival appearances have included the BBC Proms, Cheltenham, Edinburgh International, Newbury, Aldeburgh, Aix en Provence, Gent Festival OdeGand, Göttingen, Marlboro and Spitalfields.

She has worked with a host of conductors including Rinaldo Allesandrini, Ivor Bolton, Laurence Cummings, Thierry Fischer, Pablo Heras Casado, Jun Markl, Juanjo Mena, Gianandrea Noseda, Marc Minkowski, Hervé Niquet, Thomas Søndergård, John Storgårds, and Osmo Vänskä.

On the opera stage Ruby has sung productions for Theater an der Wein (Roggiero in Rossini’s Tancredi, and Fortuna in L’Incoronazione di Poppea), Aix-en-Provence Festival (Euridice L’Orfeo), Opéra de Toulon (Rose Maurrant Street Scene) and Potsdamer Winteroper (title role, Theodora) and in the UK has performed major roles with English National Opera, Garsington Opera and for Scottish Opera.

Ruby’s vibrant discography continues to grow and includes solo recital recordings for major independent labels such as BIS, Chandos, Delphian and Hyperion.

Her first solo orchestral disc is a tribute to Giulia Frasi, Handel’s lyric muse. (OAE Laurence Cummings Chandos records).

Recorded for BIS and dedicated primarily to female composers of the 17th century, ‘Heroines of Love & Loss’ was released to huge critical acclaim, receiving a Diapason d’or award. ‘Clytemnestra’, the highly praised album of orchestral songs by Mahler, Berg and Rhian Samuel, in collaboration with BBCNOW, received a nomination for a Gramophone Award.

Ruby has recorded Mahler Symphony No. 2 with the Minnesota Symphony under Osmo Vänskä, a solo recital disc with Joseph Middleton titled ‘Songs for New Life and Love’ including works by Mahler, Ives and Helen Grime and a programme with United Strings of Europe, featuring Golijov’s ‘Three Songs for Soprano and String Orchestra.’

Recent releases include the critically acclaimed ‘Echo’ with pianist and composer Huw Watkins and ‘End of my Days’ with the Manchester Collective, which was record of the month in the BBC Music Magazine and received 5* in the Times.

Future recording projects for BIS include ‘Amidst the Shades’ with lutenist Jonas Nordberg, and ‘Inheriting the Earth’ with United Strings of Europe. A further recording with the Manchester Collective is due to be released later this year featuring a commission by Edmund Finnis together with Britten’s ‘Les Illuminations’. This programme was rapturously received whilst on tour in the UK in 2023.

 Ruby’s passion for performing new repertoire has also led to her becoming a champion of female composers. Pieces by Helen Grime, Deborah Pritchard, Judith Weir and Errolyn Wallen have been commissioned for her.

“Ruby Hughes is increasingly proving to be a key singer of the early 21st century” Klassik Music Magazine

Widely praised on both sides of the Atlantic for a voice with ‘thrilling technical bravura’ (Gramophone) that is ‘warm, plush, full and eminently smooth, with an air of nobility and grace’ (San Francisco Classical Voice), British mezzo-soprano Diana Moore is a firm favourite with orchestras and audiences alike for her ‘complete command of straightforward expressive singing’ (American Handel Society). She enjoys a varied and international career of opera, oratorio and concert performances, and is a popular soloist at many major music festivals.

Best known for her extensive experience with the Baroque repertoire, Diana’s approach – infused with a keen musical intelligence and ‘emotional depth’ (The Guardian) – has led to repeat engagements with many of the world’s leading classical and early music ensembles, and collaborations with such eminent conductors as Nicholas McGegan, Marin Alsop, Laurence Cummings, Trevor Pinnock and Sir Roger Norrington.

A recognised Handelian, Diana is a regular at many international Baroque Festivals. Highlights include Rinaldo (title), Sesto (Giulio Cesare) and Medoro (Orlando) at Göttingen International Handel Festival, Storgé (Jephtha) at London Handel Festival, Westminster Abbey and with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra; and Rinaldo (title) at the National Theatre (Prague), Opera de Versailles and Vlaamse Oper (Antwerp).

Equally adept in later musical styles and genres, Diana has become a leading exponent of English music, both in oratorio, concert and recital work, and in particular in the music of Edward Elgar. She has performed The Dream of Gerontius at venues including York Minster, London’s Royal Albert Hall and the Cathedrals of Ely, Gloucester, Winchester, and Coventry; and Sea Pictures at Gloucester and Guildford Cathedrals, St Andrew’s Hall, Norwich, and with San Francisco Ballet at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.

Born in Liverpool, Nicholas Mulroy studied at Clare College Cambridge and Royal Academy of Music.

He regularly appears with leading ensembles throughout Europe, including Monteverdi Choir with Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Les Musiciens du Louvre with Marc Minkowski, Les concerts d’Astrée with Emmanuelle Haïm, Gabrieli Consort with Paul McCreesh, and Dunedin Consort with John Butt, as well as concerts with Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Internationale Bachakademie Stuttgart, Concerton Copenhagen, Koelner Akademie, Staatskapelle Dresden, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, English Chamber Orchestra, BBC Philharmonic, BBC Proms, Copenhagen Philharmonic, Wroclaw Philharmonic and Spitalfields Festival. Other conductors he has worked with include Laurence Cummings, Jordi Savall, Hans-Christoph Rademann, Lars Ulrik Mortensen, Sir Mark Elder, Trevor Pinnock, Sir Colin Davis and Nicholas Kraemer.

On stage he has worked with Glyndebourne Festival Opera and on Tour, Opéra National de Paris, Royal Danish Opera, Théâtre Capitole de Toulouse and at the Opéra de Lille.

Recordings include a Gramophone Award-winning Messiah, Evangelist St Matthew Passion, Evangelist and arias St John Passion, and Acis Acis and Galatea for John Butt and Dunedin Consort (Linn), St John Passion for Stephen Layton and Polyphony (Hyperion), Monteverdi Vespers 1610 for Robert King and The King’s Consort on Hyperion, Monteverdi Vespers 1610 with Edward Higginbottom, a series of Monteverdi with I Fagiolini (Chandos), a disc of Michael Finnissy with EXAUDI and James Weeks (NMC), and projects with Theatre of the Ayre, English Baroque Soloists, and Mr McFall’s Chamber (Delphian).

In November 2020, he was appointed Associate Director of the Dunedin Consort, marking a new chapter in his nearly 20 years of collaboration with the ensemble.

Anglo-German bass-baritone Stephan Loges begins his 23/24 season at Estonian National Opera as Golaud Pelleas et Mélisande, in what is quickly becoming a signature role for him, having performed it in two different productions in Lisbon and Trier the previous season and having drawn critical acclaim when he first made his role debut in ETO’s production in London in 2015.

In mainstream repertoire, he has appeared as Wolfram Tannhäuser and Papageno Die Zauberflöte at La Monnaie, Sprecher Die Zauberflöte at Theater an der Wien and Théâtre du Capitole de Toulouse, Falke Die Fledermaus for NI Opera and Don Alfonso Così fan tutte for English Touring Opera. He also recently made a debut in his first major Verdi role as Oberto (title role) with Chelsea Opera Group.

Hugely experienced in Early Music, Stephan has performed and recorded Bach, Handel and contemporaries with the likes of Trevor Pinnock, Harry Bicket, Paul McCreesh, Sir John Eliot Gardiner, John Butt, Richard Egarr, Raphael Pichon and Nicolas Kraemer. As well as with period ensembles, he has appeared in concert with orchestras including the London Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Sapporo Symphony Orchestra, Royal Concertgebouw Orkest, Residentie Orkest, MDR-Sinfonieorchester, Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden, Orchestra dell’Accademia di Santa Cecilia, the Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg, Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Iceland Symphony Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra in Washington and the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra.

Also acclaimed for 20th and 21st century repertoire, he has not only sung Maximilian in a new production of Candide at Staatsoper Berlin and the title role Sweeney Todd at Staatstheater Hannover, but has also created roles in the world premieres of James Macmillan’s Parthenogenesis (Royal Opera House, Covent Garden), Mark Grey’s Frankenstein (La Monnaie) and Anthony Bolton’s The Life and Death of Alexander Litvinenko (Grange Park Opera). He has also performed Milhaud’s La mère coupable for Theater an der Wien and Mernier’s Frühlings Erwachen at Opera national du Rhin, and his repertoire includes Benjamin’s Written on Skin, Britten’s Burning Fiery Furnace and Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress.

Born in Dresden and now based in Freiburg, Stephan Loges was an early winner of the Wigmore Hall International Song Competition and has given recitals throughout the world at venues including Wigmore Hall London as well as Carnegie Hall New York, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Vienna Konzerthaus, Klavierfestival Ruhr, La Monnaie Brussels, Schleswig-Holstein Festival, Santiago de Compostela, BBC Radio 3, Musée d’Orsay Paris and the Vocal Arts Series in Washington with pianists Graham Johnson, Eugene Asti, Roger Vignoles, Iain Burnside, Simon Lepper, Joseph Middleton, and Sholto Kynoch. His most recent CD, Nature’s Solace with Iain Burnside, featuring Lieder by Schumann, Kilpinen and Brahms, was released by Signum in November 2018.

The RSNO Chorus performs in around six different programmes in up to twenty concerts across Scotland with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra each year. The RSNO Chorus has also had great success in recording with the Orchestra. Its recordings, amongst others, of Prokofiev’s Alexander Nevsky, conducted by Neeme Jӓrvi, and Holst’s The Planets, conducted by David Lloyd-Jones, have both attracted high critical acclaim.

In addition to its commitment to the Orchestra, the RSNO Chorus performs independently and has been invited to perform with orchestras in many parts of the world, establishing an international status and touring to Copenhagen, Hong Kong, Israel, Germany, Belfast, Australia, Trondheim and most recently, Amsterdam and Prague. In 2018 it performed Britten’s War Requiem with the RSNO at the BBC Proms.

The RSNO Chorus evolved from a choir formed in 1843 to sing the first full performance of Handel’s Messiah in Scotland. Today, it is one of the most successful choruses in the UK. In recent years, it has performed practically every work in the standard choral repertoire along with contemporary works by renowned composers, including John Adams, Magnus Lindberg, Howard Shore and James MacMillan.

Stephen Doughty is Chorus Director of the RSNO Chorus and enjoys a varied career as a freelance musician. Commencing his appointment of the RSNO Chorus in September 2022, he previously spent 13 years as the Chorus Master of Belfast Philharmonic Choir who, in addition to their regular performances with the Ulster Orchestra, have given a number of world premieres. He particularly enjoys working with amateur singers and is Musical Director of Edinburgh Bach Choir (since 2017) and has been Musical Director of the Garleton Singers since 1994. Over the years he has also run several, highly-successful ‘come & sing’ events raising funds for a number of charities.

Stephen held the position of Director of Music of St. John’s Episcopal Church, Edinburgh for 18 years, directing the 30-voice choir through the full range of sung services which also included large-scale, orchestrally-accompanied services during the Edinburgh Festival.

As a keyboard player, he plays harpsichord/organ continuo and orchestral piano with all the Scottish orchestras as well as the Ulster Orchestra and has given frequent organ recitals including several four-star recitals on the grand Mulholland Organ in the Ulster Hall, Belfast.

He has compiled a large portfolio of arrangements and orchestrations, particularly for young voices and has received commissions from Children’s Classic Concerts, Ulster Orchestra and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra. Recent orchestrations include the premiere of Jonathan Dove’s Seek him that maketh the seven stars and a classical/folk crossover with award-winning band Dallahan marking the anniversary of the Battle of Loos. In addition, the BBC have commissioned a number of arrangements which have been performed at Proms in the Park and BBC Alba and his pieces feature on several recordings.

Finally, he is an Examiner for the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music.

Born in Huddersfield in 1964, Paul Whittaker has been profoundly deaf all his life yet pursued a career as a musician. A pianist and organist, he has a music degree from Wadham College, Oxford, a postgraduate performance diploma from the Royal Northern College of Music and holds ALCM and ARCO diplomas.

In 1988, he founded Music and the Deaf, a charity to help deaf people enjoy music, which he ran for 27 years. In 2007, he was awarded an OBE for Services to Music and he also holds honorary degrees from the University of Huddersfield and Open University.

For the past 13 years, Paul has been working with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra on their Feel the Music project, visiting many different countries around the world introducing deaf children to orchestral music. In 2023, he was invited to work with the Rundfunk Sinfonieorchester Berlin on a project involving deaf children and adults and in 2024 will work with an ensemble in Malmo on a similar project.

Since May 2015 he has been working freelance as a motivational speaker, signed song performer and workshop leader, and currently runs several signing choirs across the UK.

Paul has signed many musical shows and concerts, and performed with The King’s Singers, Tenebrae, Dunedin Consort, VOCES8, the Royal Liverpool, Royal Philharmonic, Scottish Chamber, Royal Northern Sinfonia and Halle orchestras, with Children’s Classic Concerts and at many festivals, including the Cumnock Tryst and BBC Proms. He is delighted to be returning to the RSNO after joining them last November for James MacMillan’s Christmas Oratorio.