Auf in den Urwald!
Sun, Feb. 23, 2025, 4.30 pm - 5.00 pm
Cast

Gesang
Aaron Godfrey-Mayes

Tenor
Aaron Godfrey-Mayes
Birthplace:
Mansfield, United Kingdom
Studies:
Mascarade Emerging Artist (2022-2023)
Mascarade Opera Studio (2021-2022)
Advanced Diploma, Royal Academy Opera
Master of Arts, Royal Academy of Music
Bachelor of Music, Royal Academy of Music
Master class:
Allan Clayton, Royal Academy of Music
Dennis O’Neill, Royal Academy of Music
Carmen Santoro, Mascarade Opera Studio
Ann Murray
Ian Partridge, Royal Academy of Music
Prizes:
1 st place, Royal Academy of Music Pavarotti Prize
3 rd place & Wil Keune Mozart Prize, Veronica Dunne International Singing Competition
1 st place, David Clover Festival of Singing Recital Prize
19 th century Italian opera prize, Mozart Singing Competition
Prize winner, Richard Lewis/Jean Shanks Award
1 st place, Nottinghamshire Masonic Music Association Bursary
Relation to the Hamburg State Opera:
Member of the International Opera Studio of the Hamburg State Opera since the season 2023/24
Important parts:
Don Ramiro (La Cenerentola), Ferrando (Così fan tutte), Flute (A Midsummer Night’s Dream), Alì (Adina), Albert Herring (Albert Herring), Triquet (Eugene Onegin)
Stages:
Teatro La Fenice, Garsington Opera, Nevill Holt Opera, Königliches Kurtheater Bad Wildbad, et al.
Cooperation with directors:
Oliver Mears, Marie Lambert-Le Bihan, Noa Naamat, Douglas Boyd, Paul Curran, Federico Grazzini, Pedro Ribeiro, Jean-Romain Vesperini, et al.
Cooperation with conductors:
Philippe Herreweghe, Trevor Pinnock, Iain Ledingham, Luciano Acocella, Jonathan Santagada, Douglas Boyd, Sian Edwards, Peter Robinson, Matthew Scott Rogers, Nicholas Chalmers, Dionysis Grammenos, Tom Seligman, et al.
Performances
- Jubiläumsgala: 30 Jahre Internationales Opernstudio
- Dollhouse
- La Bohème
- Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute)
- „Muss denn in diesem Land immer alles politisch sein?“
- Les Contes d'Hoffmann
- Auf in den Urwald!
- Il trovatore
- La Traviata
- Tristan und Isolde (Tristan and Isolde)
- Die dunkle Seite des Mondes
- Salome
- Konzert des Internationalen Opernstudios
photo: Jörn Kipping

Klavier / Cembalo
Robert Jacob

Piano
Robert Jacob
Birthplace:
Oravita, Romania
Studies:
Piano at the Hochschule für Musik Nürnberg-Augsburg with Hanae Nakajima,
graduation with an artistic diploma
Reference to the State Opera:
Solo coach at the State Oper Hamburg (since 2019)
Career stages:
Solo coach at the State Opera Hamburg (since 2019), Director of studies at Meininger Staatstheater (since 2014), Harpsichordist and coach at the Kammeroper Munich (2006-2009), Solo coach at Meininger Staatstheater (2009), Coach for opera and ensemble at the Hochschule für Musik Nürnberg-Augsburg (2008), Lecturer for scenic classes at the Bayerische Theaterakademie “August Everding” (2006), Supervision of the opera productions during studies at the Hochschule für Musik Nürnberg-Augsburg (until 2005)
Cooperations:
Kent Nagano, Paolo Cararignani, Roberto Rizzi-Brignoli, Christoph Prick et al.
Performances
photo: privat

Violine
Piotr Pujanek

1st Violin
Piotr Pujanek
A native of Poland, Piotr Pujanek studied with Bartosz Bryła in Poznan and completed a concert degree at the Berlin University of the Arts, where Ilan Gronich was his teacher. He attended master courses with Thomas Brandis, Kolja Blacher, Christian Tetzlaff and Igor Oistrach. In 2003 he received the Encouragement Award at the Gerhard Taschner Competition in Berlin. He gathered experience as an orchestral musician playing with the orchestra of the Deutsche Oper Berlin and the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin. Since 2006 he has been a member of the Hamburg State Philharmonic Orchestra.
Performances
photo: Foto: Claudia Höhne

Violoncello
Brigitte Maaß

Cello
Brigitte Maaß
Brigitte Maaß began playing the cello in 1972. From 1975 to 1983, Edwin Koch was her teacher; she then became a junior student of Arthur Troester at the Lübeck Music Academy. In 1984 she began studying with David Geringas, graduating in 1990. Since 1992 Brigitte Maaß has been a member of the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra. As part of her numerous chamber music activities, she actively promotes contemporary music.
Performances
photo: Claudia Höhne

Schlagzeug
Fabian Otten

Principal Percussion / Timpani
Fabian Otten
Fabian Otten began his studies at the HfMT Hamburg in 2012 with Massimo Drechsler, Stephan Cürlis and Cornelia Monske. He continued his studies at the Hanns Eisler University of Music with Franz Schindlbeck and Rainer Seegers and the percussion soloist Li Biao. His first orchestral position was with the Philharmonie Südwestfalen in 2014. He also played in the Junge Deutsche Philharmonie, with whom he performed as a marimba soloist in Messiaen's La transfiguration. He was a finalist at the international competition of the Percussive Arts Society in Italy, won 2nd prize at the international competition "Marimba Festiva" in Bamberg and a special prize of the Bavarian Radio. He has held a teaching position for marimba at the HMT Leipzig since the summer semester 2023 and has been a member of the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra since the 2017/18 season. In addition to his percussion activities, he initially composed several works for percussion and chamber music - his composition "Samsara" won the "Interstellar Composer Competition 2021". Since then, his compositional repertoire has expanded through various commissions with pieces for chamber ensembles and orchestra. He is currently studying composition in the Master's program at the HfMT Hamburg with Prof. Fredrik Schwenk.
Performances
photo: Claudia Höhne