Lunchtime Recital: Catherine Hooper (soprano), Jack Campbell (piano)

Catherine Hooper

Catherine Hooper is a Kiwi-British soprano, known for her expressive musicality and wide-ranging repertoire. A graduate of the Royal College of Music in London, Catherine has appeared as a Young Artist with Opera Prelude and SongEasel, and as an Associate Artist with OperaUpClose. With OperaUpClose, she covered Senta in The Flying Dutchman and toured as Woman in We Two Were Lovers, a work for soprano and harp.

During her time at RCM, Catherine covered the role of Queen of the Night (Die Zauberflöte) and performed scenes as Countess (Le Nozze di Figaro), Donna Anna (Don Giovanni), and Alcina. She later reprised Queen of the Night with the Royal Opera House Create & Sing Program. Her earlier roles with Byre Opera during her studies at St Andrews included Vixen Sharp-Ears (The Cunning Little Vixen) and Miss Jessel (The Turn of the Screw). During her postgraduate studies at Cambridge, she performed La Musique in Les arts florissants with the Cambridge Baroque Ensemble and Dido in Dido and Aeneas with the Dorian Chamber Orchestra.

Catherine is also an active concert singer with a strong interest in music by female composers. She is a founding member of the 97 Ensemble, recently performing Errollyn Wallen’s song cycle Are You Worried About the Rising Cost of Funerals? in venues including the Royal Albert Hall Elgar Room. Her solo appearances include Fauré’s Requiem, Handel’s Messiah, Bach’s St John Passion, Rossini’s Petite messe solennelle, and Dvořák’s Mass in D Minor.

Recently, Catherine completed a recital tour of China with pianist Aleksandra Myslek, with performances at venues such as Wuhan’s Qintai Concert Hall. She is thrilled to be making her debut as Musetta in La bohème with Devon Opera in 2025 and looks forward to continued collaborations in both opera and concert settings.

Jack Campbell

Jack Campbell is both a collaborative and solo pianist, and a composer. With this varied background, he often finds himself between creation and recreation.

Jack trained as a solo pianist and was a semi-finalist in the George Enescu piano competition 2021–22. He gave a recital of 20th-century music in Bucharest, at one point plucking the strings of the piano.

Among Jack’s favourite genres is song – a fusion of music and story. In 2022 he won the Most Promising Young Pianist award at the Somerset Song Prize, and the Worshipful Company of Musicians’ Silver Medal. The latter was a recognition of his work as a collaborative pianist at the RCM, where he continues to work.

He’s supported by the Marjorie and Dorothy White Trust and the Henry Wood Award.

Jack has recorded a CD of piano music by the British composer Robert Ely. He was music director for the world premiere of Robert’s opera, Fishing, in September 2022.

One of Jack’s interests is how invention and technology can enhance a listener’s experience – including the use of coloured lighting, phones and electronic soundscapes. He’s also designed an interactive work called listen to the air around you, where you can build your own nature soundscape.

Programme:

My Garden Green: Filled with music about gardens, the countryside, and all things that grow.

Richard Strauss

1. Heimliche Aufforderung (3’)
2. Rote Rosen (2’)
3. Das Rosenband (3’)

Emmanuel Chabrier – Toutes les fleurs (4’30)

Piano: Fanny Mendelssohn: Song without words, op. 6 no. 1 in A-flat major

Gaetano Donizetti – Regnava nel silenzio – Lucia di Lammermoor (8’30)

Piano: Claude Debussy: Prélude, book 2 no. 2 (…Feuilles mortes)

Reynaldo Hahn

1. Mai (2’)
2. Paysage (2’30)
3. Le printemps (1’30)

Percy Grainger – The Sprig of Thyme (2’30)

Ralph Vaughan Williams – Silent Noon (4’)

Frank Bridge – Go not, happy day (1’30)

Wynn Stanley and Andrew Allen – Cabbages, Cabeans and Carrots (2’30)