Though he relinquished his highly distinguished career as one of the world’s great bass-baritones some years ago, Thomas Quasthoff will be well remembered by audiences for his outstanding performances over many years at Wigmore Hall and elsewhere. He returns to impart elements of his experience to a new generation of performers.

George Salmon

​George Salmon took up singing at the comparatively late age of 24, having originally trained as a violinist and conductor. He is currently a Master’s student at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music & Dance, where he has appeared in roles from operas including Puccini’s La bohème, Mozart’s Don Giovanni and Verdi’s Nabucco, as well as singing the title role in a recent collaboration with Welsh National Opera in Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin. He has recently featured as a soloist with Upchurch Choral Society and Royal Leamington Spa Bach Choir, with whom he performed in the UK première of Craig Hella Johnson’s Considering Matthew Shepard. He is a member of the acclaimed vocal quartet Sonare, and Musical Director of the Sittingbourne Orpheus Choral Society and Phoenix Choir of Crawley. He is also the founder and Musical Director of the London Philanthropic Orchestra, whose concerts have raised tens of thousands of pounds for a of a range of charitable causes.

Hector Bloggs

​Hector Bloggs is a British baritone studying on the Opera Course at Guildhall School of Music & Drama with John Evans. Operatic roles include the title role in Mozart’s Don Giovanni, Sid in Britten’s Albert Herring, Silvio in Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci, Marco in Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi and Bartolo in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro. At Guildhall he has performed scenes from Puccini’s La bohème, Britten’s The Rape of Lucretia, Bizet’s Carmen, Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande, Massenet’s Manon, Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin and Strauss’s Die Fledermaus, as well as covering major roles in Judith Weir’s Blonde Eckbert and Respighi’s La Bella Dormente Nel Bosco and Stephen McNeff’s A Star next to the Moon. This summer he will be performing in Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviglia at Westgreen House Opera, as well as Opera Makers at GSMD. He has won first place in the Courtney Kenny Award from the AESS and The Keith Bonnington Competition, and is fortunate to be a Gwen Catley Scholar, funded by the Amar-Franses and Foster-Jenkins Trust.

Ash Howard

​Ash Howard is a mezzo-soprano from York who has been singing chorally from the age of six. Now based in London, he is studying for an MMus in vocal studies at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music & Dance. He received the Kathleen Roberts Vocal Scholarship, and was the winner of the 2024 Soloist’s Competition and placed second in the Hearn Foundation Vocal Competition. His operatic roles have included The Voice in Offenbach’s Les contes d’Hoffmann with Heber Opera, Second Spirit in Mozart’s Die Zauberflӧte with Cardiff Opera and Smeton in Libby Larsen’s Try me, Good King with Trinity Laban. As part of Trinity Laban’s opera scenes he has performed multiple roles, including Sesto in Mozart’s La clemenza di Tito, the title role in Rossini’s Tancredi, Mutter in Humperdinck’s Hänsel und Gretel and Nicklausse in Les contes d’Hoffmann. He is now preparing to be part of Trinity Laban’s side-by-side project with Welsh National Opera working on Olga from Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin. This summer he will perform Dr Blind from Strauss’s Die Fledermaus with St Paul’s Opera before working as one of the Waterperry Festival Young Artists.

Ross Fettes

Ross Fettes is a Scottish bass-baritone studying at the Royal College of Music’s Opera School with Graeme Broadbent. He is a Stephen Roberts/Stephen Catto Memorial Scholar and a Josephine Baker Trust Scholar. His most recent performances include the roles of Baron Zeta in Lehár’s The Merry Widow, Pasquariello in Gazzaniga’s Don Giovanni, the Conductor in Libby Larsen’s Barnum’s Bird and the Immigration Officer (cover) in Jonathan Dove’s Flight for the RCM, Figaro in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro for Westminster Opera, Colline in La bohème for Hurn Court, Zuniga in Bizet’s Carmen for Carshalton Opera, Frank Ford (cover) in Vaughan Williams’s Sir John in Love with British Youth Opera, Superintendent Budd in Britten's Albert Herring for St Paul’s Opera and as part of the chorus in Wagner’s Der fliegende Holländer for Grange Park Opera.