Exeter Opera Group

In 3 weeks...

Exeter Opera Group is delighted to introduce the Pianist Richard Lucas.

Richard attained a Grade 8 distinction when he was 16 years old and played Mozart’s 21st and Beethoven’s 1st Piano Concertos while still at school.

Following a career in teaching, where he was until recently Head of Music at Chard School, he is now dedicating most of his time to concerts, accompanying various solo artists in the East Devon area, performing his own presentation of the History of Piano Music, and providing the piano accompaniment for Exeter Opera Group, with recent performances of 'Carmen' and 'Samson & Delila'.

Richard is a song writer, who has written at least 20 songs for church and school, and plays with his local church worship group as worship leader and accompanist.

Exeter Opera Group is delighted to introduce the MD Stephen Moseley for our production of Camille Saint-Saëns' opera 'Samson et Dalila'.

Stephen has been Musical Director of EOG for the last year, for our performances of Carmen and La Cenerentola. This follows many years of singing and leading choirs close to where he lives with his family in Devon, including roles with the Red Earth Opera group.

Samson et Dalila is a three-act opera by Camille Saint-Saëns, based on the biblical story from the Book of Judges.

The opera tells the story of Samson, the leader of the Israelites, who is chosen by God to free his people from Philistine oppression. The Philistine priest persuades Dalila, a beautiful and cunning woman, to discover the secret of Samson's extraordinary strength. Though Samson initially resists her charms, he eventually reveals that his power lies in his uncut hair. Dalila betrays him, and the Philistines capture, blind, and imprison him. In the final act, Samson prays for God's forgiveness and strength. During a great Philistine celebration, he regains his power and pulls down the temple, destroying it and his enemies in a final act of sacrifice.

Saint-Saëns' opera combines dramatic storytelling with some of the most beautiful music in the French operatic repertoire, including the celebrated aria "Mon cœur s'ouvre à ta voix" ("My Heart Opens to Your Voice"). Exeter Opera Group is delighted to present semi-staged performances of the opera in Devon and Dorset this Autumn.🥰

Exeter Opera Group is delighted to introduce bass Marco Orazio Mazzarella, who will perform the role of the Old Hebrew in our production of Camille Saint-Saëns' opera 'Samson et Dalila', appearing in performances on 10 October, 24 October, and 7 November this autumn.

Born in Italy, Marco has been passionate about opera since childhood. He studied classical singing alongside his veterinary degree and continued his vocal training after relocating to the United Kingdom. Since settling in Bristol, he has participated in numerous opera productions as a chorus member and has become an active contributor to the local operatic scene. More recently, he has expanded his artistic involvement to stage directing, directing productions of 'Dido and Aeneas' and 'Rigoletto'.

Exeter Opera Group is delighted to welcome Marco to the cast and looks forward to sharing his talents with audiences in 'Samson et Dalila'.

Exeter Opera Group is delighted to introduce the baritone Edwin Dizer , who is going to sing the role of Old Hebrew in our production of C. Saint-Saens' opera 'Samson et Dalila' in the performances on September 19th, 25th and October 3rd this autumn.

Edwin is a London-based lyric baritone whose operatic engagements have included companies throughout the UK and Europe. His roles include Papageno in The Magic Flute, Dandini in La Cenerentola, Guglielmo in Così fan tutte, Belcore in L'elisir d'amore, Dr Falke in Die Fledermaus, and appearances in several contemporary opera premieres.

Alongside his operatic work, Edwin is an active concert and oratorio performer, educator, and award-winning composer of art music and music for media.

Exeter Opera Group is delighted to introduce the baritone Ian Spackman , who is going to sing the role of Le Grand Pretre in our production of C. Saint-Saens' opera 'Samson et Dalila' this autumn.

Ian was born in Hemel Hempstead, but grew up largely in remote parts of Quebec, where little was happening musically. On returning to England in 1994, he was finally able to indulge his love of singing, and has since been a regular member of several groups, notably Springtide Music Theatre, Dawlish Choral Society, Dawlish Festival Chorus, the quartet Gavotte, and two Gilbert and Sullivan societies, the Exeter University G&S Society and St David’s Players.

His former roles include, from Gilbert and Sullivan, the Usher, Dr Daly, Notary, Boatswain, Dick Deadeye, Major General Stanley, Mountararat, Private Willis, King Gama, the Mikado, Pooh-Bah, Adam Goodheart, Sir Richard Cholmondeley, Sergeant Meryll, the Duke of Plaza-Toro; the Sultan (The Rose of Persia); Aeneas (Dido and Aeneas); and Polyphemus (Acis and Galatea.)

With EOG he has taken the roles of Morales and El Dancaïro (Carmen) and Don Magnifico (La Cenerentola).

Exeter Opera Group is delighted to introduce the bass Nick Young , who is going to sing the role of Abimelech in our production of C. Saint-Saens' opera 'Samson et Dalila' this autumn.

Nick is a Honiton born bass who’s appeared in numerous local productions and turned up at events in East Devon since the age of 10. Highlights include “The Genie Of The Lamp” Aladdin (Honiton Pantomime Society) “Sergeant Of Police” Pirates Of Penzance, “Joe” Showboat, “Ciaphas” Jesus Christ Superstar (Sidmouth Musical Theatre),”Old Man River” sung acapella for Axminster Musical Theatre 100 year celebration,“Ciaphas” Jesus Christ Superstar (Axminster Musical Theatre)

Nick was fortunate to start working at The Northcott Theatre in Exeter in the mid 80’s which led to working as roadie for local radio presenter Kevin Kane and for Stage Electrics.

2015 saw Nick win Rail Inc’s “Best Hobo In The World” award for Seaton Tramway’s “Polar Express Tram Experience” which then led to returning (just in case any very young ones read this) as The Red Suited Fat Judgmental Old Man!”2016 to 2018

This past year Nick is happy to be onstage with Exeter Opera Group, who gave him a warm welcome, and offered incredible support and encouragement after a challenging chapter in his life. Having already appeared as “Zuniga” Carmen and “Alidoro” La Cenerentola, as well as a couple of concerts, he is delighted and humbled to be returning as Abimelech (In Nick’s own words “A most delightful and enchanting character!”) in this production and is looking forward to further productions next year and beyond.

Exeter Opera Group is delighted to introduce the mezzo-soprano Iryna Ilnytska, who is going to sing the role of Dalila in our production of C. Saint-Saens' opera 'Samson et Dalila' this autumn.

Iryna is a mezzo-soprano from Ukraine. She began studying music at the age of eight. At the age of twelve, she won the first prize at an opera competition in Luhansk/Ukraine for young singers. A few years later she sang the roles of Carmen and Dalila at the Opera studio in Kyiv.
Iryna studied classical voice at the Academy of Music Claudio Abbado in Milan, Italy in the opera class of Maestro Vincenzo Manno.
Her first roles in the UK were the ones of 3rd Lady, 3rd Spirit, Idamante, Lola and Orfeo. Iryna also has sung solos with different ensembles at Exeter Cathedral. Together with Stella Maris Trio Iryna performed in Devon and Oxfordshire at different venues, including Blenheim Palace.
Iryna has sung a lot of charity concerts to support Ukrainian volunteers who save lives in the terrible war. She is planning to continue doing it in 2026. She is also looking forward to singing the roles of Angelina (Rossini's 'La Cenerentola'), Carmen (Bizet's 'Carmen'), Dalila (Saint-Saens' 'Samson et Dalila'), Zita (Puccini's 'Gianni Schicchi'), Cherubino (Mozart's 'Le nozze di Figaro') and Charlotte (Massenet's 'Werther') in 2026-27.

Exeter Opera Group is delighted to introduce the tenor Robert Felstead, who is going to sing the role of Samson in our production of C. Saint-Saens' opera 'Samson et Dalila' this autumn.

Robert is an opera singer based in Swindon singing regularly with a number of choral societies and opera companies across England and Wales. Previous roles include Alfredo (La Traviata) with Wedmore Opera, Rodolfo (La Boheme) with Swindon Opera Collective, Don Ottavio (Don Giovanni) and Tamino (Magic Flute) with Opera In A Box, Don Jose (Carmen) with Exeter Opera and Opera in a Box, Eisenstein (Die Fledermaus) and Camille (The Merry Widow) with Opera Worcester, Fenton (Merry Wives of Windsor) and Jenik (Bartered Bride) with Bristol Opera, Pollione (Norma), Cavaradossi (Tosca) and Faust (Faust) with Bath Opera, Pinkerton (Madame Butterfly) and The Duke (Rigoletto) with Tessitoura, Paris (La Belle Helene), Ferrando (Cosi Fan Tutte) and Nemorino (Elixir of Love) with White Horse Opera, Squeak/Ensemble (Billy Budd) with New Palace Opera and Loge (Das Rheingold) with Tarnhelm Opera.