Soprano Hannah Fumoleau completes our talented line-up for Deep in the Night
- joolegill
- 4 days ago
- 3 min read
Fenham Ensemble is delighted to welcome soprano Hannah Fumoleau who will be peforming alongside pianist Alison Gill in our next concert, Deep in the Night on Wednesday 1st October at St James' and St Basil's Church, Fenham, starting at 7.30pm.
Hannah studied at the University of Wales, Cardiff with John Hugh Thomas, where she received a first for her final recital and the Sir Geraint Evans award for Vocal Performance. She has since furthered her vocal studies with singers including Alison Barton, Lynne Dawson, Mhairi Lawson, and Dane Chalfin.
A prolific choral singer, Hannah was awarded a place in the International Choir and Orchestra of the Stuttgart Bach Festival performing under Helmut Rilling. She sang under Nigel Perrin with Exeter Festival Chorus before relocating and joining the Chorus of Royal Northern Sinfonia in 2006. She is a founder member of the award-winning chamber choir Voices of Hope who have made several appearances on BBC Radio 3 and were named Choir of the Year in 2016. She also sings with the St James Consort.
Hannah loves her work as a voice teacher, working with private students in Newcastle and Hexham and with the Durham Cathedral Schools Foundation.
As a soloist, Hannah’s repertoire includes Bach St John Passion; Brahms A German Requiem; Durufle Requiem; Dvorak Requiem; Faure Requiem; Handel Messiah; Haydn Creation; Karl Jenkins The Armed Man; Mascagni Cavalleria Rusticana; Mendelssohn Elijah; Purcell Dido and Aeneas; Rossini Petit Messe Solennelle; Mozart Mass in C Minor, Requiem; Vaughan Williams Dona Nobis Pacem; Verdi Requiem; Vivaldi Gloria. She performed the solo John Cage work The Wonderful Widow of Eighteen Springs live on BBC Radio 3, and has performed in the Brundibar and Northern Chords Festivals.
In recital, Hannah performs with pianist Alison Gill, and as part of A Tre Voci with Yoshie Kawamura and Alessandra Amorino. She is incredibly passionate about English and American Art Song and also loves to get her teeth into music from the last 30 years, in particular programming works by composers who are often under-represented in classical music.
In Fenham Ensemble's upcoming concert Deep in the Night Hannah will be once again be joining forces with pianist Alison Gill to peform two sets of songs. She explains how her choice of repertoire came about when she was searching for songs based around myths and legends:
"Song has long been used for storytelling and gives an opportunity to add humanity to stories that so often just exist on the page. For this concert I chose three songs composed in the late 17th to mid 18th century by Purcell and Handel. Both composers created and then defied all the rules of songwriting, and these songs are beautifully dramatic and emotional. For our second set Alison and I both got excited by the song the Seal Man by Rebecca Clarke. We love performing music by women, and this song which tells the tale of a young girl who is wooed to the sea by a man is wonderfully epic and passionate! It felt appropriate to pair it with another song of a love divided by water - Song to the Moon from Russalka - where a water nymph sings to the moon, asking it to reveal her love to a handsome prince."
In addition to accompanying Hannah in these two sets of songs, Alison Gill will also perform two works by American composer and pianist, Amy Beach from her Four Sketches for solo piano.
Hannah and Alison's repertoire will complement choral music sung by Fenham Ensemble in this midweek evening concert, in a programme inspired by themes of nature and conservation including music by Arvo Pärt, Eriks Esenvalds, Frank Ticheli, Jussi Chydenius, Christopher Tin and a first public performance of O Magnum Mysterium by Newcastle-based composer Kerrin Tatwood.
DEEP IN THE NIGHT: Music for Choir, Soprano and Piano
Wednesday 1st October 2025 at 7.30pm
St James’ and St Basil’s Church, Fenham Hall Drive, Fenham, Newcastle NE4 9EJ
Tickets are £12 for adults, free for under 18s and are available from: https://www.tickettailor.com/events/sdfchoralevents/1828605
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