Bridgewater Hall
Time to make a beeline for shows by Marsden's Mikron Theatre Company
GOOD music and food have always been a winning combination.
Val Javin
00:00, 4 JAN 2013
And a group of fund-raisers are hoping that it will continue to prove so as they bid to raise money for the Mayor's Charity which this year is the Yorkshire Regiment Benevolent Trust.
The latest event to be held in support of the charity chosen by the current Kirklees Mayor, Clr David Ridgeway, is a gala opera dinner.
The venue is Durker Roods Hotel in Meltham, the date is Friday, February 22 and the event is definitely black tie.
To add still more glamour to this high profile dinner, the event organisers have brought together four talented singers who will sing some of the most popular music from the world of opera.
They are Emily Reaves, Benjamin Lewis, Tim Langston and Eleanor Garside.
For singer Emily Reaves, the charity at the heart of this event is a familiar one.
Emily, who has been musical director of Honley Ladies Choir for 10 years, is organising a massed choir of 250 women who will sing on stage in Huddersfield Town Hall in March in support of the Yorkshire Regiment.
The choir will be accompanied by the Yorkshire Regiment Military Band and rehearsals get underway in earnest this month.
Emily grew up in Huddersfield and began singing in the Huddersfield Choral Society Children's Choir.
She then moved through the ranks of the society's Youth Choir, and graduated to the Huddersfield Choral Society in 1990, becoming their youngest ever member.
In 1992 Emily took up an unconditional place at the Royal Northern College of Music where she studied with Glenville Hargreaves. After graduating, Emily continued her studies with Barbara Robotham and now studies with Margaret McDonald.
She has embarked on a solo career undertaking recitals and performing with choral societies, most recently in performances of Haydn's Maria Theresa Mass, Vaughan Williams' Serenade to Music, Mendelssohn St Paul and Messiah.
Emily has also sung in a lunchtime recital at the Bridgewater Hall in the Little Bite Music series, and was soloist in Les Angelus by Vierne with Wayne Marshall for the opening concert in the International Series at the same venue.
She was asked to premier a work of Emily Bronte's poems set to music by the composer Phillip Henderson for the Bronte Society. And she performed the role of Popova in The Bear by Walton at The Bridgwater Hall. Emily also took the role of Katisha in the Mikado with Silk Opera.
Benjamin Lewis graduated from Oxford University, though not in music, and is now studying at the Royal Northern College of Music.
Ben appeared in numerous Gilbert and Sullivan operettas whilst at Oxford, including the roles of King Hildebrand in Princess Ida and Giuseppe in the Gondoliers.
His performance as Giuseppe earned him a nomination for the Best Male Voice at the Buxton International Gilbert and Sullivan festival.
More recently Ben has appeared with Oxford University Opera and with Silk Opera.
Tim Langston is an up and coming young tenor studying in Manchester with Andrew Heggie.
He performs in opera, oratorio, recital and choral music in and around Manchester.
Already, Tim is performing operatic repertoire as a tenor, singing in La Traviata, Jenufa and Tosca. He covered the role of Major in Janacek's Jenfua with Huddersfield Youth Opera 18 months ago.
Tim also sings oratorio and is a keen supporter of new works from young composers. He sang in a new chamber opera by Leo Geyer.
This young singer is also an accomplished electric bass player in many different genres, ranging from jazz to rock.
The final soloist is this talented quartet is Eleanor Garside who is from Oldham.
Eleanor has also sung with Silk Opera and played roles while at the Royal Northern College of Music.
A talented singer, she has won a number of awards – the Richard Newitt Fund Award, the Dame Lees Award and the Claire Croiza Prize for French Song. She was a finalist in the Elizabeth Harwood Competition and two years ago was awarded the Frederic Cox Prize for Singing, the RNCM's premier vocal award.
After graduating from the Royal Northern, Eleanor went on to study for a Masters degree in solo performance studying with Thomas Schulze and Caroline Crawshaw.
Tickets for the gala are available from ann.talboys@btinternet.com
or ring 01484665843.
Yorkshire Regiment
Mikron Theatre Company
Huddersfield Town Hall
Huddersfield Choral Society
Honley Ladies Choir
Yorkshire Regiment Benevolent Trust
Huddersfield town centreWimpy announces Huddersfield reopening date and new superfan managerWimpy veteran manager Akram Malik will be returning to Huddersfield to reopen Cloth Hall Street branch
Music & NightlifeNew sports bar to open in old Huddersfield town centre pubNew bar on Kirkgate will open on Thursday and will be known as The White Swan
Keith MasonFormer Giants RL star turns comic book hero to help inspire others with mental health problemsKeith Mason beat depression, debt and homelessness and tells story in new comic Rugby Blood
HuddersfieldHave you been papped by our Snapper about Town? This week it's The Swan in MelthamSee if our photographer caught you on camera!
MelthamNostalgia: M is for Meltham - 35 fantastic nostalgia pictures from 1951 to 2012Pictures of village events from The Examiner's recent archive