International Concert Series 2022-23

We are excited to bring back our popular College Alumni Recital, showcasing the recipients of the 2022 Alice Dougherty Chaplin & Woodward Prize for outstanding performance, mezzo sopranos Olivia Earl and India Lord. This concert will be accompanied by keyboardist, Ben Collyer.

Event programme

Johannes Brahms (1833 - 1897): Meine Liebe ist grün, Op. 63 No. 5
Johannes Brahms: Selection from Sechs Lieder, Op. 86
Robert Schumann (1810 - 1856): Selection from Frauenliebe und Leben, Op. 42
Samuel Barber (1910 - 1981): Love’s Caution; A Slumber Song of the Madonna
Aaron Copland (1900 - 1990): Selection from Twelve Poems of Emily Dickinson
Claude Debussy (1862 - 1918): Trois poèmes de Stéphane Mallarmé, L.135
Claude Debussy: Deux Romances
Camille Saint-Saëns (1835 - 1921): ‘Amour! Viens aider ma faiblesse!’ From Samson et Dalila, Op. 47 

Christoph Willibald Gluck (1714 - 1787): 'Divinités du Styx' from Alceste
Francis Poulenc (1899 - 1963): 'La Reine de cœur' from La Courte Paille, FP 178
Dilys Elwyn-Edwards (1918 - 2012): Cloths of Heaven (1980)
Richard Strauss (1864 - 1949): Morgen!, Op. 27 No. 4
Jonathan Dove (b. 1959): 'What my lips have kissed' from Nights Not Spent Alone (2015)
Francesco Paolo Tosti (1846 - 1916): Ideale
Nathan James Dearden (b. 1992): the way we go (2020) 
Henry Purcell (1659 - 1695): Sweeter than roses
Henry Purcell (1659 - 1695): Evening Hymn, Z. 193
Giuseppe Verdi: 'Stride la vampa' from Il Trovatore
Jules Massenet (1842 - 1912): 'Va! Laisse couler mes larmes' from Werther
Edvard Grieg (1843 - 1907): 'Ein Traum' from Sech Lieder, Op. 48 No. 6

About the performers

Having been introduced to singing at an early age, OLIVIA EARL was awarded a Music Scholarship at Kent College, Canterbury, and went on to become one of the first ever Girl Choristers at Canterbury Cathedral. As a chorister, she recorded with Decca Records and sang for Her Majesty the Queen, as well as making numerous appearances on television and radio. She has since been appointed as one of the first ever female Deputy Lay Clerks at Canterbury Cathedral, and was invited to join the choir for their performance of Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms at ‘JAM on the Marsh’ Festival 2021.

Olivia recently graduated from Royal Holloway, University of London with a first class honours degree in Music and was awarded the Alice Dougherty Chaplin and Woodward Prize for Excellence in Performance. Alongside her academic studies, she sang with the Choir of Royal Holloway as an Alto Choral Scholar, as part of which she performed at venues across the country and in Europe, as well as recording several albums and participating in educational outreach projects.

In her final year, Olivia was awarded the position of Alto Choral Scholar at St Bartholomew the Great, where she continues to deputise, and gained a place to sing with The Sixteen’s young artists’ training scheme, Genesis Sixteen, for the 2022/23 academic year.

Olivia has particularly enjoyed performing as a soloist for various occasions, from concerts to recordings and broadcasts. Highlights include Mozart’s Requiem at St Martin-in-the-Fields, and solos on albums of music by Flor Peeters and George Arthur. Other recent notable solo engagements include Handel’s Messiah and Bach’s St John Passion at St George’s, Bristol, with the Choir of Royal Holloway, and Vivaldi’s Gloria for the City of Canterbury Chamber Choir’s 25th Anniversary Concert.

Now studying for an MPhil in Music (Performance) at Merton College, Oxford, where she is an Alto Choral Scholar, Olivia is excited to pursue a career in both performance and musicology.

INDIA LORD is a mezzo soprano from Bowdon. At 16 she attended Chethams school for music in Manchester where she studied with Diana Palmerston. During her time there she performed with Chethams chamber choir and English Touring Opera in Bach’s Matthew Passion as well as singing with the CSSO in Mahler’s 8th symphony and Elgar’s The Music Makers in the Bridgewater hall. 

Whilst at Royal Holloway India had an extensive performance record. Being a choral scholar in her first year she performed regularly in services in the chapel alongside concerts in St John Smith’s square and St Martin in the fields. She also premiered several choral works by George Arthur and Cecilia McDowall. 

In her second- and third-years India performed in several lunchtime and evening concerts as a soloist and ran the Raven Opera society in 2021-22. With Raven she ran several concerts, Bernstein’s Trouble in Tahiti and 4 professional masterclasses with Helen Charleston, Lynton Atkinson, Hilary Cronin and Dame Felicity Lott. India regularly deps for choirs in London such as Slone Street Choral Society and St Gabriel’s Pimlico as well as frequent work with the choir at Eton College. India is also the recipient of the Alice Doherty Chaplain prize for excellence in performance and the Dame Felicity Lott bursary. 

BEN COLLYER is Organist at St John's, Hyde Park. He began his musical education at the age of 7 as a treble in his local church choir in Stockport. When he was 16, he began studies at Chetham’s School of Music, where he studied the Organ with Christopher Stokes and the piano with Graham Caskie. At Chetham’s he performed regularly with Manchester Chamber Choir and Chetham’s Symphony Orchestra, and with visiting conductors Jac Van Steen, Paul McCreash and John Rutter. In 2017, Ben was awarded his ARCO diploma from the Royal College of Organists.

In 2018 Ben took on the role of Organ Scholar at Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford, where he also studied for a BA in musicology. In his second year, he was appointed as the director of the student-run College choir.

As a recitalist, Ben has performed in a number of prestigious venues, both in the UK and abroad. Some recent venues include L’Église Saint Vincent de Carcassonne and the Royal Opera House in Muscat.

In the academic year 2021-22, Ben was Organ Scholar at St Paul's Cathedral, where he was involved with a number of prestigious services including the Platinum Jubilee service for Her Majesty the Queen. In 2020, Ben was given the Richard Newton Scarth Award to study for a MA in Organ performance at the Royal College of Music, where he will work with David Graham, Andy Dewar and Sophie-Véronique Cauchefer-Choplin.

Car parking

When you arrive for a College event at our Egham campus, please park in car parks 12 or 4.

Car park 12 can be accessed by turning right as you enter the main College gates and is located next to the tennis courts. If this car park is full, please drive further onto our campus to car park 4, which can be accessed by turning left at the mini-roundabout behind the Students’ Union. We would advise that you bring the College map to campus with you and give yourself plenty of time to park.

Blue Badge holders can find designated parking spaces in Car park 1W, as well as between Gardeners Lodge and the Williams Annexe. You can find these locations by looking at our campus map opposite. If you require any assistance on arrival, please contact our premises team in advance of your visit by emailing: premisesadmin@royalholloway.ac.uk and they will be happy to help.

Please note that we operate an Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) system on certain parts of our campus, however if you are here for an organised event, parking is unrestricted for event guests in car parks 12, 4 or 14 (or display your blue badge permit if parking in a disabled bay). If you have any questions about parking, please email: premisesadmin@royalholloway.ac.uk