Hannah Francis - soprano
Born in London to a family of musicians, Hannah won a scholarship at the age of fifteen and was the recipient of various awards, including the Royal Overseas Prize as the most promising young musician in the UK. She was also awarded a Wigmore Hall Recital, and this launched her career as a singer. Her first success was with the Handel Opera Society at Sadlers Wells where she sang Alcina and Ezio. She then joined English National Opera where she sang Despina, Zerlina, Pamina, Smetana’s Jitka from Dalibor, Kristina from the Makropoulos Case, and the Woodbird from Wagner’s Siegfried. For Chelsea Opera Group, she sang Puccini’s Tosca, Mascagni’s Iris, Zandonai’s Francesca da Rimini, and Freia from Wagner’s ring. As a recitalist she has performed in London, New York, and Europe. In collaboration with the pianist Paul Hamburger, she championed the song cycle Das Marienleben by Paul Hindemith on the South Bank under the auspices of the Park Lane Group. In addition to her BBC recitals and operatic broadcasts, she has made songs and arias including many of the great songs of Rachmaninov and Tchaikovsky. Hannah has spent most of her life in North London where she bought up her family. It is with great pleasure that she performs at Lauderdale House.
Howard Williams - piano
One of Britain’s most experienced conductors on the international platform, Howard Williams has covered a formidable range of work both in the opera house and concert hall. From his associations with English National Opera and the Royal Ballet he has conducted more than one hundred opera and ballet productions throughout Europe. In the UK, he has conducted numerous prestigious orchestras including the London Philharmonic, Royal Philharmonic, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and City of Birmingham Symphony, Bournemouth Symphony, Royal Scottish National, Royal Northern Sinfonia, London Sinfonietta and English Chamber Orchestra, along with all the BBC Orchestras. He has conducted at the BBC Proms and at festivals across the UK and Europe.
