Summer Evening 2024#Event 1: 01 August 2024
An Evening of Songs and Sonatas for voice, violin and piano
With Will Pate, baritone, Helena Thompson, violin, Gillian Thompson, piano, and Lucy Nall, cello, including:
- Mozart's K 376 and Beethoven's Opus 24 violin sonatas
- Vaughan Williams Five Mystical Songs (words by George Herbert) and some of Beethoven's Scottish Songs.
There will be an interval with refreshments.
Gillian Thompson (nee White) studied with David Ward at the Royal College of Music then at Homerton College, Cambridge for her teaching qualifications. She was Head of Music at Kew College for 15 years, directing the annual musical productions from the keyboard.
She performed frequently at Art in Action, Waterperry, both as a singer and as a pianist.
She now teaches piano and singing privately.
Will Pate studied French at Magdalen College, Oxford where he was a choral scholar, and then on the opera course at the Royal Academy of Music, London. Last summer he was a soloist at the BBC Proms where Seen and Heard International described him as “a singer who is a bit of a discovery … his sound, diction and phrasing were perfectly judged”. Will now works as in artist management supporting a roster of world renowned opera singers and directors, and sings when he can on Sundays with some of London’s professional church choirs. Away from the opera world Will is passionate about food; he is slowly cooking (and eating!) his way through Ottolenghi’s various cookbooks.
Helena Thompson
Over the course of her career so far, Helena Thompson has become well established as an orchestral musician, playing regularly for concerts broadcast on Radio 3 and Classic FM and appearing in the Proms with major symphony orchestras. Since 2019 she has started to focus more on teaching and took up a position within Harmony Opera North soon after moving to Yorkshire in 2020. She plays mainly with smaller orchestras and ensembles, including Opera North, City of London Sinfonia and Sinfonia Viva, and enjoys delivering collaborative outreach work for the three mentioned. Alongside performance and teaching Helena writes occasionally for music publications including Classical Music and The Strad and when time allows she enjoys travelling, the outdoors, good food and cultural events, preferably all combined!
Lucy Nall’s parents, David and Elizabeth Ward, were long-standing members of the School and central to its musical life. Lucy started the cello aged 4, and studied at Royal College of Music Junior Department under Rhuna Martin. She has continued playing since, through her training and subsequent medical career. Currently she plays with the Chorleywood Orchestra and chamber events with her violinist husband Peter Nall, when work and family life allow. She also sings in choirs for events in the School. She now is encouraging her children in their Harp and Drum studies.
Lucy works at The Royal Free Hospital as a Consultant in Pain Management, leading two community pain management teams. She is passionate about the influence of lifestyle choices such as diet, physical activity and mental wellbeing on health and disease.