Leeds Lunchtime Chamber Music 23/24

Clara Sanabras – mezzo soprano
Alison Rhind – piano

Songs of the Summer Seas

Hector Berlioz  Les nuits d’été
Lili Boulanger Clairières dans le ciel: No 8 ‘Vous m’avez regardé’
Benjamin Britten Les Illuminations: No 2 Villes
Henri Duparc La vie antérieure
Roger Quilter Fear no more the heat o’ the sun
John Ireland Sea Fear (E minor)

Approximately 50 minutes without interval

Born in France, raised in Barcelona, now a Londoner, Clara Sanabras is an exceptionally versatile performer and composer. She studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama as a singer, pianist and guitarist and has worked in the fields of early music, world music, jazz, folk and contemporary music. She has written and recorded several albums of original songs, and composed a substantial catalogue of choral works. In an impressive back catalogue of recordings, theatre and screen credits, Clara has appeared at many international festivals & venues, including Royal Albert Hall, La Scala Milan, The Kremlin, Glastonbury Festival, London Jazz Festival, Womad, Sydney Opera House, KKL Lucerne, Tokyo Casals Hall, and mingled with artists from all disciplines:

Working alongside Howard Shore as the soloist of The Lord of The Rings in Concert and The Hobbit. She has also collaborated with James Horner (who chose her as soloist for his project Titanic-Live as well as James Newton-Howard, London Voices, Sir Ray Davies, Nigel Kennedy, Jacob Collier, Jocelyn Pook, Alberto Iglesias, Natacha Atlas, Jarvis Cocker, The Harp Consort, John Rutter, RPO, Orchestra of the Swan, 21st Century Orchestra, CineConcerts, Theatre of Voices, The Society of Strange and Ancient Instruments and the Ukelele Orchestra of Great Britain amongst many.

Clara appears on screen alongside Al Pacino in The Merchant of Venice movie (Mike Radford 2004), on radio with Bill Nighy in the BBC Radio 3 play The Don, on stage with director Nicholas Hytner at the National Theatre and in concert under the guidance of Karlheinz Stockhausen, the forefather of electronica. Clara composed the music for the TV documentary “The Glories of Islamic Art”, directed by Roger Thomas for Channel 5 and her voice features in Simon Schama’s award-winning BBC Two documentary “The Story of The Jews”. She is also the featured singer in the movie “For Greater Glory/ (Cristiada)“ about the Mexican Cristeros War, with music by James Horner (Titanic).

Her song Nada Igual, as heard in La Reina del Sur was number one in the iTunes charts (Mexico) in June 2011. Her latest project is a choral/ orchestral composition based on Walt Whitman’s poem The Mystic Trumpeter.

Alison Rhind is recognised as one of the leading collaborative pianists specialising in the repertoire for piano and strings. Her ability to accompany was recognised and nurtured at an early age whilst still at Chetham’s School of Music and she became increasingly in demand throughout her time at Oxford University where she read Music at Wadham College.

In 1994, she moved to the Yehudi Menuhin School where she worked for twelve years. She toured Israel and Germany with the students and was invited to accompany at the prestigious Kronberg Akademie after her recitals there with the school. During this period, she coached many young instrumentalists with whom she has since forged notable recital partnerships particularly the violinists Alina Ibragimova and Nicola Benedetti with whom she toured the USA and Japan. Other recital partners include Johannes Goritzki, Francois Rabbath, Rinat Ibragimov, Dora Schwarzberg, Leonid Gorokhov and Charlie Siem with whom she has performed in all the major concert halls.

Due to increasing amounts of work outside of her job at the school, Alison left to become a freelance accompanist often working with students at the London colleges. The Royal College of Music recognised her work and in 2009 created a post for her as Coach for the String Department which she combined with freelance recital work. Her work at the college also lead to her being invited to Norway, Sweden and Singapore to give recitals and coach students, and she continues collaborative relationships with many teachers who send their students to her specifically for duo coaching. Since leaving the Royal College of Music, Alison focuses solely on recitals and collaborations at home and abroad.