St Nicholas Priory is hosting a fairy tale-themed concert of opera and piano music for children and their families on Saturday 12 July.
The programme includes arias, duets and trios from composers including Henry Purcell, Gioachino Rossini and Engelbert Humperdinck.
Among pieces to be performed are Hark! Hark! the Echoing Air from The Fairy-Queen, No, no, no non v’è from La Cenerentola and Brother, Come and Dance with Me from Hansel and Gretel.
The concert will also include music from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s The Magic Flute and Antonín Dvořák’s Rusalka, as well as works by Edward MacDowell and Jonathan Dove.
There will be interactive quizzes and opportunities for members of the audience to participate in the performance as characters.
Soprano Jane Anderson-Brown will lead the performance with soprano Kara Malton, mezzo-soprano Iryna Ilnystka and pianist John Draisey. Stephen Brown will provide narration.
Jane Anderson-Brown is a music teacher who composes and arranges music for several local performing groups including Red Earth Opera.
She has twice won the Isobel Baillie Trophy at The Aldershot Festival and three trophies at the Devon Performing Arts Festival in 2020.
Kara Malton has performed with Red Earth Opera, Collegium Singers and Costanzi Consort as a chorus member and soloist, recently playing Belinda in Dido and Aeneas.
Iryna Ilnytska began studying music aged eight before performing at Kyiv Opera House in her teens. She later studied classical voice in Milan with Vincenzo Manno.
In the UK she has worked with Red Earth Opera, Staircase Opera and Opera in a Box and has performed with the Stella Maris Trio at venues including Blenheim Palace.
She has given several charity concerts to raise funds for volunteers who are supporting victims of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, including performances at Exeter Cathedral.
John Draisey is a pianist and organist who regularly plays for services at Exeter’s Mint Methodist Church and Southernhay United Reformed Church.
St Nicholas Priory. Photo: Hugh Llewelyn under Creative Commons license.
Grade I listed St Nicholas Priory, founded by William the Conqueror in 1087, is Exeter’s oldest building.
Following the dissolution of the monasteries it became a prominent Elizabethan town house before being subdivided into several smaller houses and business premises.
In 1916 it was restored to become a museum, with Exeter Historic Buildings Trust becoming responsible for its use in 2018.
Fairy Tales in Opera and Piano Music begins at 2pm on Saturday 12 July 2025 at St Nicholas Priory. Doors open at 1.30pm.
Tickets cost £7 for an adult with one or two children and are available from the TicketSource website.
