3pm St Mary's Church, South Creake               

JAMES ATKINSON baritone

SIMON LEPPER piano

BRAHMS Four Serious Songs

FINZI Let us Garland’s Bring

SCHUBERT The Songs of the Harpist from Goethe’s Wilhelm Meister’s Apprenticeship

MADELEINE DRING Three Shakespeare Songs

and songs by CLARA SCHUMANN

British baritone James Atkinson studied at the Royal College of Music and is in his second year at the Opera School there, studying with Alison Wells.

He has appeared several times at Oxford Lieder where his performance early in 2021 brought him plaudits from Hugh Canning who wrote in The Sunday Times that James’s ‘natural lieder singing, idiomatic German and lyric baritone ‘marks him out as name to watch. At the RCM, he has sung major roles including Papageno. He is a Young Artist at this year’s Garsington Opera and will give a recital at the 2021 Ludlow English Song Weekend in October. He is a Fishmonger’s Company Scholar and was a semi finalist in the 2019 Katheen Ferrier Award.

Simon Lepper has been a regular guest in Norfolk for many years. He has worked with many of today’s leading singers, notably Dame Felicity Palmer, Sally Matthews, Stephane Degout and Christopher Purves with whom he performed at The Frick Collection in New York City.

He is a Professor at The Royal College of Music.