Lunchtime Music

Matilda Wale soprano
Sarah Potjewijd piano

Rorem To you
Rorem Are you the new person?
Lehmann If I Built a World for You
Vaughan Williams Silent Noon
Bridge Love went a-riding
Fauré J'ai presque peur en vérité
Massenet Adieu, notre petite table
Massenet Élégie

Ella Blair soprano
Jonathan French piano

Copland Nature, the gentlest mother
Copland Heart, we will forget him
R Strauss Meinem kinde
R Strauss Muttertändelei
Jonathan Dove Five Am’rous Sighs
Mozart Nehmt meinen dank

Originally from Swindon, Matilda (Tilly) Wale graduated from RBC with First Class BMus(Hons) in 2023 and commenced her MMus in September 2024, continuing tuition with Louise Crane.

Tilly’s undergraduate principal operatic roles include Pitty (Banished); Ciboulette (Mesdames de la Halle), Chocholka & Rabbit (The Cunning Little Vixen), and Mab & Chorus 1 (The Enchanted Pig). Roles from Opera Scenes are Marcellina (Le nozze di Figaro), Niece 1 (Peter Grimes), Galatea (Acis & Galatea), Candide (Candide), and since returning, Margaret (Margaret Catchpole: Two Worlds Apart).

Tilly was the proud recipient of RBC’s Undergraduate Pedagogy and Community Engagement Award 2023 for her contributions to community music-making.

Sarah Potjewijd is a 22-year-old pianist originally from Bath, now in her final year of undergraduate studies at RBC, studying under Katharine Lam.

Winner of the Renna Kellaway Piano Recital Prize, John Ireland Prize and Delia Hall Accompanist Prize, and finalist of the RBC Piano Prize, Sarah is a keen solo and chamber musician.

Recent performances have included both solo and duo recitals at Holy Trinity Church Stratford-upon-Avon, a solo recital at Bristol Cathedral and her piano concerto debut with the Willow Orchestra at St John’s Downshire Hill in London.

Sarah trained at Elmhurst Ballet School as part of the Ballet Pianist Placement Scheme, and is now a staff pianist at the school alongside her studies.

Ella Blair (pictured) is a soprano in her final year of postgraduate study on the MMus Vocal Performance course at the Conservatoire studying under Amanda Roocroft.

During her time at RBC, Ella has been a part of the Vocal Department’s Opera Scenes playing the roles of Cendrillon in Viardot’s Cendrillon and Nella in Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi. In June she will be singing the role of 1st Witch in RBC’s Summer Opera, Dido and Aeneas.

Ella was a member of the renowned Young Artist programme, Genesis Sixteen 2023-2024 and she frequently performs as a soloist for choirs and choral societies in their concerts around the Midlands and the South where she is originally from.

Running time approx. 55 minutes