TESSA SPONG
is divides her time between
performing at weddings and corporate events, and operatic recitals
and concert appearances around the word.
Originally from Cornwall, Tessa
obtained an Honours degree in Music from Leeds University, she
graduated with distinction grades and a singing prize from the
Guildhall School of Music and Drama in 2000, where she studied
with Theresa Goble. She is currently studying with Rudolf Piernay.
Tessa is the holder of the Association of English Singers and
Speakers/Concordia Foundation Prize 2000, the Guildhall School of
Music and Drama English Song Prize 2000 and the Sir Frederick
Painter Prize 1999.
She is in great demand as a
wedding singer, this has taken her from Sydney Australia to
Seattle, USA, as well as numerous appearances in the UK and
Ireland. She is also a keen recitalist and has recently made a
highly acclaimed Purcell Room debut. She performs regularly in her
native Truro Cathedral, as well as making appearances at St Martin
in the Fields and the Palazzo Machiavelli, Florence. Tessa enjoys
concert and oratorio singing, and sang the UK premiere of Kurt
Weill's Die Stille Stadt for the BBC/Barbican Kurt Weill
Fesitval, as well as participating in the Guildhall Poulenc
Festival in 1999. Her concert appearances have taken her to India,
Oman, Sri Lanka and the UAE, as well as Italy, France and the
Canary Islands.
Tessa's oratorio work includes
Handel's Messiah, Mozart's C Minor Mass, Elgar's
The Kingdom, Schuberts Masses in Ab and Bb, Faure and
Mozart Requiems, Bach Magnificat, Beethoven Mass in C
(in Greenwich Naval Chapel) and Vaughan Williams' Pilgrim's
Journey and Jongen's Mass both at St James's
Piccadilly. She is also in demand as a recording artist, both as a
singer and speaker. Recent CD releases have included Havergal
Brian's Illuminations for Athene Records and Romeo &
Juliet, Robin Hood, and The First Christmas for
Metro-Gnome Music.
Recent opera appearances have
included singing Katya in WNO's Katya Kabanova Education
Workshops, a three month tour of the USA with London City Opera's
Carmen, she also appeared in Crystal Clear Opera's
production of Carmen at the Ludlow Festival; The
Countess in Mozart's Marriage of Figaro for Duchy
Opera's tour, and for Morley Opera; Aladolla in the world
premiere of Quentin Thomas' opera Il Giardino d'egli ucelli
in London. She participated in an opera gala tour of Italy in 2000
and, in 1999, represented the Guildhall School at the European
Union Opera Masterclass in Montepulciano, performing scenes from
Verdi's Ballo in maschera and Mozart's Cosi fan tutte.
