Both Sides of the Line
Recital Hall, Royal Birmingham Conservatoire
200 Jennens Road, B4 7XR
£10
£5 under 18s, over 60s and students
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Both Sides of the Line
Sydney Suffield soprano
Alex Wyatt piano
Handel Ah mio core (Alcina)
Offenbach Couplets du berger joli (Orphée aux enfiers)
Cherubini Vous voyez de vos fils (Médée)
Handel The God of Battle quits the Bloody Field (Hercules)
Bush Once in the wars in France (Wat Tyler)
Mozart Frisch zum Kampfe (Die Entführung aus dem Serail)
Mozart O wie ängstlich o wie feurig (Die Entführung aus dem Serail)
Puccini Firenze è come un albero fiorito (Gianni Schicchi)
Ennes The Arrival (The letter from under the door)
Verdi Volta la terra (Un ballo in Maschera)
Both sides of the line is a solo recital in which soprano, Sydney Suffield, explores their non-binary identity and questions gender representation in opera and opera performance by challenging and subverting performance tradition in their performance.
Sydney Suffield is a fourth year soprano studying at Royal Birmingham Conservatoire under Christopher Turner. They have performed in multiple operas, including Cissy in Albert Herring, Lola in Cavalleria Rusticana, The Herald in Cendrillon, Sesto in Giulio Cesare, Bill in Flight and Ygraine in Ariane et Barbe-Bleue. They will appear as Minerve in the spring opera, Orphée aux enfers in February 2026.
Born in 2004 in Coventry, Sydney has enjoyed singing and playing the flute from an early age. Sydney’s talent for singing was recognised by a choir master, and has since gone on to develop as a solo performer. They were selected by the Josephine Baker Trust in 2025.
Alex Wyatt is an English pianist currently studying for a bachelor's degree in music at Royal Birmingham Conservatoire under the tuition of Robert Markham and Pascal Nemirovski.
As a soloist, he has been awarded multiple prizes during his studies, including the Denis Matthews Prize, Miss Bowen Challenge Cup and the Birmingham Philharmonic Concerto prize. He made his concerto debut with the BPO, presenting Rachmaninoff’s 1st Piano Concerto. Additionally, he frequently appears in solo recitals, presenting programmes which pair well-known favourites of the piano repertoire with hidden gems.
Born in 2003 in Milton Keynes, Alex began violin and piano lessons at an early age, supported by local music services before later attending the RBC junior department. He was a member of the National Youth Orchestra GB as a composer for two years.
Running time approx one hour and 15 minutes, including interval