On Sale Now: Jackdaws Afternoon Concert!
Jackdaws is very excited to present a concert performed by international duo Marta Fontanals-Simmons (mezzo-soprano) and Lana Bode (pianist).
Marta and Lana will be performing songs from their new album ‘Somnia’ which includes three under-performed song cycles by Ethel Smyth, George Crumb and Frederic Mompou.
At a busy end of the year, this programme offers a moment of remembrance and reflection, bookended by Festive songs to ease you gently into the season.
Join us in our cosy studio, an oasis of calm from the seasonal maelstrom and enjoy a world class afternoon of beautiful music.
There will be an interval with refreshments available to purchase, including tea/coffee, cakes, mince pies and mulled wine.
ON SALE NOW
Jackdaws Afternoon Concert
Friday December 6th 2:30-4pm
Tickets: £10
Lehane-Wishart Studio, Jackdaws, Great Elm BA11 3NY
Mince pies, cake, fizz and tea/coffee available in the interval.
Marta Fontanals-Simmons–Mezzo-soprano
Equally at home on the concert and operatic stages, Marta Fontanals-Simmons has emerged as a ‘strong artistic personality and an unflinchingly direct communicator on the international stage’ (Presto Music).
Marta is originally from Somerset, England with dual British and Spanish nationality. Marta gained her Bachelor of Music degree at Birmingham University where she continued piano and voice training at Birmingham Conservatoire and continued to play violin in the university orchestras. She then achieved her MMus, MPerf and Artist Diploma at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, London with professor Marilyn Rees. Marta is proud to be a Trustee for the Jackdaws Educational Trust, a mentor for SingersResound Charity and gives her time advocating for music and song at events, competitions and masterclasses for singers of all ages.
Marta has performed with Graham Johnson at Wigmore Hall, Iain Burnside at the Bath International Music Festival, Wigmore Hall and Lammermuir Festival, Roger Vignoles at the Juan March Foundation, Madrid, Christopher Glynn at the Barber Institute Concert Series, Simon Lepper at Lille Opera and for BBCRadio3, Joanna McGregor & Lana Bode at the Aldeburgh Festival, Bengt Forsberg at Den Norske Opera, Sholto Kynoch at the Oxford International Song Festival, LifeVictoria Barcelona, Blackheath Halls London and the Zeist Lieder Festival, Netherlands.
This season Marta returns to The Royal Opera House, Covent Garden as Linda in the much anticipated opera Festen* by Mark-Anthony Turnage, to Britten Pears Arts for a recital with Lana Bode and Fauré Requiem, Alexandra Palace Mendelssohn Elijah, the Royal Albert Hall Handel Messiah, Mozart Requiem with RPO, Handel Messiah with BBCNOW and looks forward to recitals with the Erda Ensemble at Leeds Lieder and Presteigne Festival.
Lana Bode–Piano
Lana Bode is an American-British pianist, educator and artist producer, whose performance is ‘expertly calibrated’ (BBC Music Magazine) and ‘deeply examined’ (Gramophone).
Lana’s recital career has taken her from major London venues to festivals around the UK including Aldeburgh Festival, Barbican Hall, Kings Place, Purcell Room, Snape Proms and Wigmore Hall. International engagements have taken her to the USA, France and Germany, and she can frequently be heard in live broadcasts on BBC Radio 3.
In 2019, she released her highly-acclaimed debut album I and Silence: Women’s Voices in American Song with mezzo-soprano Marta Fontanals-Simmons.
Lana holds a BMus with High Distinction from Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, and an MMus with Distinction from the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, where she was awarded the coveted Concert Recital Diploma. She was the inaugural winner of the Viola Tunnard Young Artist award, resulting in a year-long residency at Snape Maltings under the mentorship of Roger Vignoles.
Lana is co-founder and Artistic Director of the Virginia Woolf & Music concert project, and a member of faculty at Eltham College and the Guildhall School of Music & Drama.