on with the motley

BERRAK DYER

(Pianist & Repetiteur) Berrak Dyer studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and then went on to study at the Solti Academy and the National Opera Studio. Berrak was the Musical Director for Pop Up Opera (20142018) and has worked with Winslow Hall Opera, University College Opera, Welsh National Opera, Opera Holland Park, Buxton, and Royal Opera House. Last year Berrak returned to the Opera Story to conduct Robin Hood, to the Royal Opera House as repetiteur on Phaedra and assistant Musical Director on The Lost Thing and joined Buxton International Festival as répétiteur on Eugene Onegin. This year she worked with English Touring Opera as assistant conductor on Cosi fan Tutte, played on The Opera Story’s online series Episodes, and was due to return to Royal Opera House for She Described It To Death.

OLIVER GOOCH

(Conductor) Oliver Gooch is a conductor of considerable versatility, Oliver has conducted many of the UK's leading orchestras including the LPO, Philharmonia, Hallé, BBCSO, RPO, Orchestra of the Royal Opera House and Northern Sinfonia. In growing demand internationally, he has made acclaimed debuts with the Queensland Symphony, Tasmanian Symphony, New York Sinfonietta, and Orchestra i Pomeriggi Musicali. Recent opera work on three continents includes the US premiere of Šárka (New York), Die Zauberflöte (Milan) and L'isola disabitata (Australia), nominated for ‘Best Opera’ in the Helpmann Awards. Following the founding of Opera East Productions as Artistic Director (receiving a Sky Arts South Bank Award), he came to attention as the first Royal Opera House Associate Conductor (YAP) in a position specially created for him by Antonio Pappano. He was Music Director for Raymond Gubbay’s arena operas in the Royal Albert Hall (La bohème/ Madama Butterfly) and with Iford Arts, he has been Music Director since 2005 and Artistic Director since 2019. He balances his freelance engagements with the position of Director of the Blyth Centre for Music and Visual Arts at Imperial College London.

GUY JONES

(Associate Lighting Designer) Guy Jones has worked extensively as associate to Tim Mitchell on productions of Mame (Hope Mill Theatre), Pressure (Chichester Festival Theatre, UKTour/ West End), Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (UK Tour), Hobson's Choice (West End), Guys and Dolls (Chichester Festival Theatre/ West End/UK Tour), Singin’ In The Rain (UKTours/Tokyo/International Tour/Moscow), The Rehearsal (Minerva, Chichester), Goodnight Mister Tom (West End/ UK Tours), Dirty Dancing (West End/Touring-UK, Germany, Australia, France, Italy), The Resistible Rise Of Arturo Ui (West End), Relative Values (West End), Yes, Prime Minister (UK Tours/West End). Guy has numerous credits as a lighting designer/associate to other designers/re-lighter and production electrician in the UK and world wide for theatre and live events of all kinds. CHRISTOPHER LUSCOMBE

(Director) Christopher Luscombe’s directing credits include Twelfth Night, Love’s Labour’s Lost, Much Ado About Nothing and The Shakespeare Revue (Royal Shakespeare Company); Star Quality and The Madness of George III (Apollo); Home and Beauty (Lyric); Fascinating Aïda - Olivier Award nomination for Best Entertainment (Harold Pinter); The Comedy of Errors, The Merry Wives of Windsor and Nell Gwynn – Olivier Award for Best New Comedy (Shakespeare’s Globe); A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Regent’s Park); Enjoy (Gielgud); Alphabetical Order (Hampstead); When We Are Married - Olivier Award nomination for Best Revival (Garrick); Travels With My Aunt (Menier Chocolate Factory); The Rocky Horror Show and Spamalot (Playhouse), Hay Fever (Minneapolis); Henry V (Chicago); Candide and Falstaff (Grange Festival); Sweeney Todd (Bergen) and The Winter’s Tale (Cincinnati). He is an Associate Artist of the RSC. HAMISH MACKAY

(Producer) Hamish Mackay is a freelance producer and artistic director of The Opera Story. Since finishing his studies at The Purcell School of Music and Guildhall School of Music and Drama, he co-founded The Opera Story, and has commissioned five operas (Snow, Goldilocks and The Three Little Pigs, Robin Hood, Pandora’s Box, Beauty and The 7 Beasts) and two song cycles, all by young composers. As a producer, he has also worked with English National Opera, Second Movement, Opera Ensemble, and as a company manager for Nevill Holt Opera.

TIM MITCHELL

(Lighting Designer) Tim Mitchell is an Associate Artist for Royal Shakespeare Company and Chichester Festival Theatre and a Fellow of the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama. In 2015 he won a Knight of Illumination Award for Taken At Midnight (Chichester). He was nominated for an Olivier Award for Henry IV Part 1 and 2 (RSC), Green Room award for Singin’ In The Rain (Australia) and Critics Award for Theatre in Scotland for Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (Royal Lyceum). In 2018 he was nominated for Best Lighting Design in the 53rd Fleur Du Cap Awards for King Kong (Fugard Theatre). For Longborough Festival Opera: Don Giovanni, La Calisto. Recent credits: Upstart Crow (Gielgud Theatre), A Streetcar Named Desire (Nashville Ballet), The Snowman (Tour); The String Quartet’s Guide to Sex and Anxiety, Nativity (Tour), The Exorcist (Birmingham Rep); Me and My Girl (Chichester), Kinky Boots, West Side Story, King Kong (Fugard Cape Town), Funny Girl, Guys and Dolls (Théâtre Marigny, Paris), Curtains (West End), Nativity! (UK Tours), Suor Angelica (Den Norske Opera).