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Cast & Creatives

Ally Dunavant

Soprano

Alexandra is a London-based soprano from Nashville, Tennessee. She graduated with distinction from the Royal Academy of Music last year, earning a Master of Arts degree. There, she was the recipient of the prestigious Fernside Award, a half-scholarship funded by a private donor, and was selected onto the Preparatory Opera course, a specialized cohort collaborating with Royal Academy Opera. She earned her Bachelor of Music from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she was the recipient of the Tony McDowell Scholarship for Excellence in Voice.

Recently, she has performed 1st Niece in Peter Grimes (Britten) at the Southbank Centre, La Princesse/Le Feu in L’enfant et les sortilèges (Ravel) at the Royal Academy of Music, and Peaseblossom/Tytania cover in A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Britten) at the Hawaii Performing Arts Festival. Recent scenes performances include Sophie in Der Rosenkavalier (Strauss), Lucia in The Rape of Lucretia (Britten), and Gretel in Hänsel und Gretel (Humperdinck).

She has twice placed first in the North Carolina NATS Vocal Competition, and she became a finalist in the American Prize competition in 2021 and semifinalist in the Bampton Classical Opera Young Singers’ Competition in 2023. She has participated in masterclasses for Isabel Leonard, Susan Bullock, Lucas Meachem, and Alexandra LoBianco. She currently studies with Mary Nelson and Jonathan Papp.

Tilly Green

Mezzo-Soprano

Elizabeth (Tilly) Green is a second-year postgraduate at The Royal Academy of Music studying under Kate Paterson. Here, she holds the position of being a Josephine Baker Trust Scholar. Having started her singing career as a chorister at both Canterbury and Rochester Cathedral, Elizabeth has performed on commercial recordings for Regent Records and Decca Records, the latter of which was both as part of the choir and as a soloist.

Elizabeth has performed as a soloist internationally, singing J S Bach’s St John Passion in Aachen, Germany. Some of her other soloist opportunities have included Handel’s Messiah at Canterbury Cathedral, Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas, Haydn’s Creation and Dvorçak’s Stabat Mater amongst others.

Whilst pursuing her undergraduate studies at The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and graduating with a first-class honours degree, Elizabeth successfully auditioned for the Associate Artist programme under the tutelage of Karen Cargill. Whilst at RCS, she took part in opera scenes, performing the roles of Papagena and Fiordiligi. Elizabeth also completed a year-long contract with the Scottish Opera Young Company as well as a workshop with British Youth Opera. In December 2021, she performed the role of Sandmann in Humperdinck’s Hänsel und Gretel as a Young Artist for Westminster Opera Company, the performance of which was reprised at Château de Panloy, France.

Elizabeth recently performed as Venus in Venus and Adonis with Hampstead Garden Opera and Gertrude (Hänsel und Gretel) with Berlin Opera Academy under the Ian Donald Wilson Memorial Scholarship. Elizabeth is also in demand as a recitalist internationally, performing at venues such as Budapest International School, Cobham Hall School and Canterbury Cathedral.

On the concert platform, Elizabeth has performed Songs for Sue by Oliver Knussen under the baton of Barbara Hannigan as part of a project with Julliard school. She also performed the Staged Messiah with The Merry Opera Company which toured around Kent and London. Most recently, Elizabeth has been an Emerging Artist with The Australian Contemporary Opera Company, based in Melbourne where she performed many roles, most notably the Secretary in Menotti’s The Consul.

David Walsh

Tenor

David Walsh is a freelance musician and tenor based in Glasgow, Scotland. Originally from Donegal, Ireland, he studied Music at the University of Aberdeen and has performed professionally across the UK and internationally. His credits include singing with the Dunedin Consort, Sestina Early Music Ensemble, Northern Irish Opera, and Aberdeen Vocal Ensemble. David is a former Tenor Lay Clerk at Canterbury Cathedral and has received the University of Aberdeen's Ogston Music Prize. He is also an alumnus of the Dunedin Consort's 'Bridging the Gap' scheme and was a scholar with the professional vocal group Voces8.

Benjamin Ferriby

Bass-Baritone

Benjamin Ferriby, bass-baritone, currently serves as the bass choral scholar at Canterbury Cathedral. As a freelance singer, he has recently enjoyed collaborations with David Hill, James O’Donnell, Hans-Christoph Rademann, and others. Recent engagements include early music and oratorio performances with the Yale Schola Cantorum; Juilliard415; Yale Consort; and Internationale Bachakademie, Stuttgart. He has participated in masterclasses featuring artists such as Nic McGegan, Masaaki Suzuki, and Roderick Williams. Born in South Korea and raised in the United States, Benjamin holds music degrees from Yale University, where he was awarded the Margot Fassler Prize in the Performance of Sacred Music, and DePauw University.

Matthew Quirk

Bass-Baritone

Before founding Merry Opera in 2009, Matthew spent many years advising corporate boardrooms, where he saw passions played out in operatic dimensions. Roles include Leporello, Don Giovanni,  Bartolo and Basilio, The Barber of Seville), Sarastro, Magic Flute, Germont La Traviata, Bartolo Marriage of Figaro, Raimbaut Count Ory, Kecal The Bartered Bride The Old Man Bloch’s Macbeth, Polyphemus Acis and Galatea, soloist in Merry Opera’s Staged Messiah and Staged Verdi Requiem, Mikado in Gilbert & Sullivan’’s Mikado and Sergeant in The Pirates of Penzance, Fairy Godfather Cinderella and Marcus Merry Opera’s Kiss me, Figaro! He trained with Ameral Gunson and Josephine Veasey in the UK and Sead Buljubasic in Vienna.

Jamie Rogers

Pianist

Jamie Rogers is Assistant Director of Music at Canterbury Cathedral, where he is principal accompanist to the Cathedral’s choirs, and assists in running all other musical aspects of the Cathedral’s work. 

Jamie grew up in the seaside town of Deal in Kent. He studied Music at Canterbury Christ Church University with David Rees-Williams, and pursued further study in Organ Performance at the Royal Academy of Music in London with David Titterington and Bine Bryndorf, graduating with an MA, DipRAM in 2019. During his time at the Academy, he was awarded the Eric Thiman Organ Prize, William John Kipps Scholarship, the C.H Trevor prize, and the Norman Askew Prize; he was also generously supported by the Countess of Munster, having been granted the Derek Butler Award. Jamie has performed regularly on BBC Radio 3 and BBC Radio 4, and has maintained an international performance profile alongside his work as a Cathedral musician.

Jamie was previously Assistant Director of Music at St Marylebone Parish Church, and Head of Jazz Studies at Queen Mary’s University, London. He took up his current appointment at Canterbury Cathedral in 2022.

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