Awesome foursome combine forces in concert

Birgit Staatsman and Amanda Faulkner. Photo / Supplied

Sopranos Amanda Faulkner, Birgit Staatsman (regular members of the prestigious Napier Civic Choir) and Kate Manah will combine forces to perform two concerts in Hawke's Bay next month.

On August 6 they will be on stage at St Matthew's Church, in Hastings, from 7pm and the following day they will be at the Waiapu Cathedral, in Napier at 2pm.

The fascinating and varied programme includes Pergolesi's perennial Stabat Mater, Richard Strauss's Four Last Songs (his final work) and the Trio Finale from Der Rosenkavalier, also by Strauss, and often labelled the "greatest Finale in all Opera".

The performers bring a wealth of talent and experience to the concert, not to mention multiple nationalities, with Faulkner being Scottish, Staatsman German, and Manah a Kiwi.

Faulkner graduated from the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, before earning a Master of Philosophy in Music at Oxford. She then performed extensively in oratorio, opera and early music across England and Scotland.

Kate Manah. Photo / Supplied

At 27, she switched to medical studies and became a doctor in 2005.

Since coming to NZ in 2005, Faulkner has been so busy with her psychiatric work that it's only the past few years that she has found her way back to her first passion, vocal performance.

Staatsman studied voice and speech therapy in Germany, where she had her own practice. She then married a New Zealander and had a family. She has sung in, and done solo work with, various choirs, including Napier Civic, and performs regularly at Lunch-Time and House Concerts and recitals.

Manah, 20, is a Mezzo in her third year studying at Victoria University for a Bachelor of Music, under Margaret Medlyn. When a member of Project Prima Volta, she performed in several of the Festival Opera Productions, including La Boheme, Carmen and Madame Butterfly. She also understudied Nola in Cavalleria Rusticana and played character parts in several Napier Civic Choir Concerts.

Lindsay Coxen is the accompanist and completes the foursome. She studied piano at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire and graduated with Honours in Classical Performance. During that time, she performed Beethoven's 3rd Piano Concerto with the Linden Park Sinfonia and was rehearsal pianist for the Birmingham Royal Ballet and the BBC.

She is Head of Music at Iona College and is very much in demand as a freelance accompanist.

• The concert is a fundraiser for Napier Civic Choir. $20 at the door or tickets from; Amanda/Birgit or Ken Keys (kenannetta@gmail.com). Children are free, but a koha would be appreciated.