Singers Announced!

We have cast two wonderful young singers for the lead roles of Sukanya and Chyavana. They will be performing in a major landmark for the project, a work in progress showcase featuring Act 1 of the opera at the Linbury Theatre, Royal Opera House on Monday July 14th

The title role of Sukanya will be played by British soprano Susanna Hurrell, and the role of Chyavana by Indian tenor Amar Muchhala.

Their biographies are below.

SUSANNA HURRELL – SOPRANO

Susanna Hurrell

Susanna Hurrell was born in London and trained at the Royal College of Music and the National Opera Studio with Patricia Rozario and Jeffrey Talbot. She was the recipient of numerous awards including the Miriam Licette scholarship, Peter Hulsen Orchestral Song, Countess of Munster and Sybil Tutton awards. She was also a winner of the RCM English Song, John Kerr English Song and the Dean & Chadlington competitions. In 2013 she was awarded the Grange Park Opera Aria Prize at the Hampshire Singing Competition.

Recently Susanna performed the role of Rose Maurrant in the award-winning production of Street Scene for The Opera Group and its revival at Théâtre du Châtelet and Gran Teatre del Liceu. She has also sung Cephisa Orpheus for Classical Opera, title role Rodelinda, Rossane Alessandro and Amarilli Il Pastor Fido for London Handel Festival, Nymph in Peri’s Euridice for British Youth Opera and Serpetta La Finta Giardiniera for Opera de Baugé. At the RCM International Opera School, she sang Eurydice Orpheus in the Underworld, Papagena Die Zauberflöte and title role in Patience. In opera scenes she has sung Zdenka Arabella, Ilia Idomeneo, First Lady Die Zauberflöte, Sophie Der Rosenkavalier, Ophélie Hamlet, Gretel Hansel and Gretel, Governess The Turn of the Screw, Female Chorus The Rape of Lucretia and Elizabeth Elegy for Young Lovers.

On the concert platform, Susanna sang in the world premiere of David Oppenheimer’s Deborah with the Southbank Sinfonia, Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Kurt Weill: From Berlin to Broadway with Keith Lockhart and the BBC Concert Orchestra, Britten’s Les Illuminations at the Linbury Studio Theatre, Royal Opera House, Nelson Mass with András Schiff, Messiah and Fauré’s Requiem at the Royal Albert Hall (the latter was recorded by EMI Classics), Rossini’s Petite messe solennelle under David Parry at Southrepps Classical Music Festival, and operatic arias for the Proms ‘Out and About’ event with the BBC Symphony.

Susanna recently appeared in the television documentary ‘David Starkey’s Music and Monarchy’ on BBC where she performed Parry’s Jerusalem and Arne’s Rule Britannia. She has also recorded songs by composer Gordon Carr with trumpeter Simon Cheney and pianist Sebastian Wybrew, which are featured in the album ‘An English Trumpeter’. Highlights in 2013/14 season include Les Illuminations with the English Chamber Orchestra and cover of title role Rodelinda for Scottish Opera. She will also make her Royal Opera House debut as Erisbe in Cavalli’s L’Ormindo at the Sam Wanamaker Theatre, directed by Kasper Holten and conducted by Christian Curnyn. In future seasons she will also make a major role debut on the main stage.

AMAR MUCHHALA – TENOR

Amar Muchhala

Amar Muchhala was born in Bombay, India. Having completed his studies at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama on its world renowned Opera Course, he continues his studies with Prof. Rudolph Piernay, and Jeffery Talbot. He has also studied in masterclasses with maestro José Cura, Isobel Buchanan, Carlo Rizzi,Patricia Rozario, Edith Wiens, Hans-Peter Blochwitz, Robert Dean, Jonathan Hinden, Neil Jenkins, Julian Gavin. His training in western classical music began at Franklin & Marshall College, USA, where he completed his degree in Business Management and French Literature.

He made his debut in Germany with Kammeroper Schloss Rheinsberg in their production of Boieldieu’s Die Weisse Dame, singing the lead role of ‘Georg’.

“Amar Muchhala, who has mastered “komm, O holde Dame” one of the most difficult Tenor aria, is the first Indian in the history of the Chamber opera, to stand on stage for the first time” 

Märkische Allgemeine, Germany

Other operatic roles include Tamino The Magic Flute (British Youth Opera), Beppe Pagliacci (Haddo House Opera), Count Alberto L’occasione fa il Ladro, The Italian tenor Capriccio, Le brazilien/Frick/Prosper La Vie Parisienne, Nemorino L’elisir D’amore, Ernesto Don Pasquale. Count Almaviva Il Barbiere di Siviglia and the role of Mo in Edward Rushton’s Babur in London for the Opera Group.  Future roles include Essex (cover) Gloriana for the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden and Chulak in the world premiere of David Bruce’s The Firework Maker’s Daughter in a co-production between the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, The Opera Group and Opera North.