Lunchtime Voice & Piano Concert ft. Maria Ling & Maya Soltan

welcomes Maria Ling (soprano) and Maya Soltan (piano) to perform a free lunchtime concert, featuring a delightfully varied selection of songs, spanning from Romantic lieder to beloved jazz standards.

Felix Mendelssohn

• Hexenlied (Witches Song)
• Auf flügeln des gesanges (On Wings of Song)
• Op. 84 no. 2 Herbstlied (Autumn Song)

Pauline Viardot

• L’Oiselet (The little bird)

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov

• Op. 2 No. 2 Plenivshis' rozoy, solovey (Captivated by the rose, the nightingale)

Sergei Rachmaninov

• Op. 21 no. 7 Z’des khorosho (How Fair This Spot)
• Op. 4 no. 4 Ne poy krasavitsa pri mne (Do not sing to me again)
• Op. 34 no. 14 Vocalise

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

• Op. 6 no. 5 Otchego (Why)
• Op. 16 no. 1 Lullaby
• Op. 47 no. 6 Den li tsarit (Does the day reign)

Heitor Villa-Lobos

• Bachianas brasileiras No. 5

George Gershwin

• Summertime
• The Man I Love

Duke Ellington

• Caravan
• In a sentimental mood
• It don’t mean a thing if it ain’t got that swing

Maria Ling was classically trained in Hong Kong and the UK. While at secondary school, she studied pianoforte with the late Christine Pembridge and voice with the late Rita Noakes in Brighton, imbibing their passion for music and their rich musical heritage: Christine Pembridge studied with Adelina de Lara (a pupil of Clara Schumann), Marguerite Long and Harold Craxton; and Rita Noakes studied with Montserrat Caballé’s voice coach.

Since then, Maria has been studying voice with Elaine Pearce and has attended masterclasses with Eugene Asti, Hans Peter Blochwitz, Richard Jackson, Della Jones, Kathryn Harries and Mark Shanahan. She received a Diploma in Concert Singing from Birkbeck College, University of London, where she specialised in the performance of chansons, lieder and Italian art songs. She also trained at City Lit Opera School and completed the Opera Intensive Course at the National Opera Studio, London.

Maria has performed as a soloist and in ensemble. Staged roles include Marie (La Fille du Régiment), Zdenka (Arabella), Hélène (Veronique) and Madame Herz (Der Schauspieldirektor) conducted by Peter Crockford. Her extensive operatic repertoire includes Queen of the Night (Die Zauberflöte), Zerbinetta (Ariadne auf Naxos), Sophie (Der Rosenkavalier), Ophelia (Hamlet), Oscar (Un ballo in maschera), and Olympia (Les Contes d'Hoffmann).

Maria has given recitals in the UK and abroad. She champions hidden gems by composers from the Golden Age of music. She has given recitals at Schott Music, London, to revive the rarely performed showpieces from the 1930s by the Austrian film and operetta composer, Nico Dostal. Recently, Maria gave a concert in Milan, under the direction of Maestro Mauro Montanari, to revive the forgotten Italian and Milanese songs from the 1940s and 1950s by the film and song composer, Giovanni d’Anzi. Future projects include concerts in Italy, London and Croatia to perform Italian and Neopolitan songs, and romance by Rachmaninov, Rimsky-Korsakov and Tchaikovsky.

Maria is the solo artist for the original soundtracks of Giacomo Cimini’s award-winning science fiction short film, The Nostalgist, which was selected for screening at major film festivals worldwide, including the Palm Springs Short Fest and BFI London Film Festival. She has also recorded original tracks for Boosey & Hawkes and an Italian documentary.

Maya Soltan is an accompanist and a vocal coach. She studied at the Moscow State Conservatory, the Royal Academy of Music and the National Opera Studio. Maya performs regularly and works as a Russian coach at the Royal Academy of Music and the National Opera Studio. Maya has accompanied masterclasses with Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Sir Simon Keenlyside and Kathryn Harries. She has organised song recitals at the Pushkin House and the “Oxford and Cambridge Club”, among others. Maya is an organiser of “Essence of Bel Canto” Masterclass with renowned Italian soprano Nuccia Focile and plays for her private studio. Apart from performance and coaching, Maya enjoys collaboration with young musicians. She is a teacher at the City Junior and Dragon Schools and the accompanist for the New Talent Festival

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