Classic songs of the sea
An evening of songs of the sea, including a few about working on rivers, will be held on Friday October 25 at 7.30pm in the Lorne and Lowland Church Hall.
The Kintyre Music Club welcomes Jonathan Forbes Kennedy (baritone) and Michal Gajzler (piano) in a programme of classical and popular songs for voice and piano. The songs are from the USA, Russia, England, Scotland and Italy with an Austrian one thrown in, and yes, the duo know that Austria is landlocked in the middle of Europe.
Jonathan is a recent graduate from the MMus programme at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. He has taken part in masterclasses with Martin Martineau, John Treleaven, Lisa Milne and Roderick Williams, and while an undergraduate at the conservatoire, won the Jean Highgate Scholarship for singing.
Jonathan Forbes Kennedy graduated in June 2017 from the MMus programme at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, having studied under the tutelage of Alan Watt. Prior to this, he was awarded a BMus (Hons) from the RCS in June 2015.
Operatic roles include: Papageno in Die Zauberflote (Fife Opera), Onégin in Eugene Onégin (Edinburgh Studio Opera), Escamillo in Carmen (Edinburgh Studio Opera), Count Almaviva in Le Nozze di Figaro (Opera Dei Lumi), The Host of the Garter Inn in Sir John in Love (RCS), Antonio in Le Nozze di Figaro (RCS), Norton in La Cambiale di Matrimonio (Raucous Rossini), Sgt Bouncer in Cox and Box (The Scottish Consort). Jonathan also created the role of Rev Tregold in Surrey Opera’s production of Louis Mander and Stephen Fry’s The Life to come. In July 2018, he sang the role of Der Vater for Berlin Opera Academy’s production of Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel. On the concert platform he has sung as the bass soloist for the Mozart and Fauré Requiems, Handel’s Israel in Egypt and
Messiah, Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis, Finzi’s In Terra pax, J S Bach’s St Matthew Passion and St John Passion, Vaughan Williams’ Serenade to music and Five Mystical songs. He has also performed Schubert’s Winterreise with pianist Jacco Lamfers.
Michal Gajzler, born and raised in Poland, recently graduated with a Master of Music in Repetiteurship from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland’s Alexander Gibson Opera School.
In 2010 he graduated with an MMus in Piano Performance from the Cracow Academy of Music and an MA in Musicology from the Jagiellonian University (Cracow). In 2013 Michal moved to Scotland, where he became the piano accompanist for Aria Alba – Opera for All. His operatic experience includes performing Die Zauberflöte on piano for Aria Alba and Lyric Opera Studio Weimar; Le nozze di Figaro, Così fan tutte, Don Giovanni and Ariadne auf Naxos for VoiceArc; Die Fledermaus and Semele for Aria Alba, Carmen for Kent Opera and L’occasione fa il ladro for Raucous Rossini.
His répétiteur experience at the RCS includes The Bear and Owen Wingrave, performing Benjamin Britten’s two-piano arrangement of Les mamelles de Tirésias, playing continuo for Le nozze di Figaro, and accompanying opera scenes from Hänsel und Gretel, Arabella, Werther, Pelléas et Mélisande, The Rake’s Progress, Tancredi, Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor, La rondine, and Der Rosenkavalier. He also appeared as a pianist at the Oxford Lieder Spring Weekend of Song. Michal also works as an accompanist and vocal coach for the Academy of Sacred Music and as a rehearsal pianist for a number of choirs in the Glasgow area.