Take Me Back

Free admission | Donations welcome

Programme

Britten – Johnny
Mozart – Als Luise die Briefe
Massenet – Adieu, notre petite table
Copland – Heart, we will forget him
Liszt – Vallée d’Obermann
Debussy – Nuit d’étoiles
Dring – Song of a Nightclub Proprietress
Rorem – Take me back

Artist Bio

Anna Cooper is a Swansea-born freelance solo and choral soprano based in London. Recent solo highlights include Handel’s Messiah, Bach’s Christmas Oratorio, Haydn’s Nelson Mass and Vivaldi’s Gloria. She sings with prestigious London church choirs including St Bride’s Fleet Street, St Paul’s Cathedral, Temple, and Hampstead Parish Church. She has previously held scholarships at St Martin-in-the-Fields, St John’s Notting Hill, St James’s Piccadilly, and Hampstead Chamber Choir. This autumn she looks forward to joining New Sussex Opera as an Emerging Artist in their production of Charpentier’s David and Jonathan, and singing in Menotti’s The Telephone at St James’s Piccadilly.

Alongside her singing career, Anna works in music outreach and as a Vocal Massage Therapist. She came to the latter following surgery to correct a vocal injury. Determined to break down the stigma surrounding vocal health, she openly documented her recovery and continues to advocate for greater awareness of vocal wellbeing. She studied Music at the University of Cambridge, where she was a Choral Scholar, Musical Director of an a cappella group, and President of her College’s Music Society. Anna currently studies with Marie Vassiliou.

Sam O’Neal is a pianist whose versatile profile includes recitals, orchestral projects, and shows. While reading music at Cambridge, he performed regularly; highlights included Mozart’s Concerto for Two Pianos, César Franck’s Violin Sonata and various solo recitals with repertoire ranging from the Chopin Scherzi to Beethoven’s Pathétique
Sonata. His contributions were recognised through several awards, including an Instrumental Scholarship, the Jill Vlasto Choral Scholarship, the Rima Alamuddin Prize for Piano Performance and Accompaniment, and the Thomas Mansfield Memorial Prize for Outstanding Musical Contribution to College Life. Writing in The Annual Review of Girton College Cambridge (2022), Director of Music Martin Ennis described him as “a truly indefatigable accompanist.”

A former Pianoman Scholar under the mentorship of concert pianist Richard Meyrick, Sam first came to attention aged 14 performing the first movement of Beethoven’s First Piano Concerto at the Royal College of Music, as well as the Mozart Piano Concerto in no.12 in A major with the London Mozart Players as part of a widening access scheme.
Sam is now based in London where he is studying ensemble piano at the Royal Academy of Music with an entry scholarship, under the mentorship of Nicola Eimer and Joseph Middleton. Sam is establishing himself as a professional pianist and accompanist, performing with a large number of vocalists and instrumentalists, and has been performing in recitals both internally and externally in London, Cambridge and the surrounding area. This has included performances with the Academy’s highly acclaimed ‘Song Circle’ at the Austrian Cultural Forum in Knightsbridge. Highlights from other recent performances include Poulenc’s Violin Sonata, Brahms’ 3rd Violin Sonata and Schumann’s Dichterliebe in its entirety.