July | August
INTERNATIONAL SUMMER SCHOOL FOR SINGERS
2008
Nigel FOSTER
F.R.A.M.
was born in London and studied piano accompaniment at the Royal Academy of Music, the Guildhall School of Music and Drama with Graham Johnson, and also privately with Roger Vignoles. At both the Academy and the Guildhall he won numerous prizes and awards. In 2000 Nigel was appointed an Associate of the Royal Academy of Music.
Nigel regularly partners many of Britain’s leading young singers, and has also played with established artists such as Ian Partridge, Neil Jenkins, Stephen Varcoe and Jane Manning. He has performed in major London venues including the Wigmore Hall, St John Smith Square and the South Bank and Barbican Arts Centres, as well as St David’s Hall Cardiff and Fairfield Halls Croydon. Nigel has played for Graham Johnson’s Songmakers Almanac, Live Music Now – the scheme founded by Yehudi Menuhin, the Park Lane Group, and several major opera companies including Glyndebourne Festival. He was a rehearsal pianist for the late Sir Georg Solti, playing for singers including Renee Fleming, Roberto Alagna and Angela Gheorgiu. Nigel has played for Master Classes for Sarah Walker, Sherrill Milnes, Nelly Miricioiu, Thomas Hampson, Tom Krause, Stuart Burrows and Ileana Cotrubas. Nigel works closely with Sarah Walker at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.
Nigel’s many CD recordings include several discs with baritone Jeremy Huw Williams for the Sain label (including anthologies of songs of Mansel Thomas and Alun Hoddinott), “Songs from Latin America” with soprano Marina Tafur for the Lontano label, English songs with Stephen Varcoe and soprano Georgina Colwell, and several CDs with the Dolmetsch Ensemble. He features on the soundtrack of the French film, “L’Homme est une Femme comme les Autres”.
Nigel has performed in France, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Ireland, The Netherlands, the USA, Canada, South America, Japan and Malaysia. His association with OPERAPLUS leads to regular playing and coaching in Belgium, where he enjoys indulging in the local chocolates. Plans for 2004 include a concert tour of Australia, and return visits to perform in Belgium, Germany, Japan and Malaysia. Nigel has appeared on English and Welsh television and played for song recitals on Classic FM and French radio.
