Tutors
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Jenny Miller - Founder and Outreach Director
A National Opera Studio alumnus, Jenny Miller sang as a soloist for Glyndebourne Festival and Touring Opera, Scottish Opera, Opera North, ENO and ROH before moving to dramatic soprano repertoire, singing Brünnhilde in Wagner’s Ring Cycle, the title role in Puccini’s Tosca, and the Witch In Humperdinck’s Hansel und Gretel for Longborough Festival Opera, and developing a parallel career as a director.
Her directing credits include Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas, Britten’s Noye’s Fludde, Krasa’s Brundibar, a touring production of L’Incoronazione Di Poppea (Complete Singer), and ‘Hell Hath No Fury’ (based on 17th century solo cantatas) which also toured London and the South East.
Jenny directed Le Nozze Di Figaro, Don Giovanni, Cosi Fan Tutte, and Die Zauberflote, Rinaldo, Xerxes, and Alcina, L’Incoronazione di Poppea and Donizetti’s Anna Bolena for Longborough Festival Opera, also directing young singers in a touring version of these productions for venues in South East England, and Bizet’s Pearl Fishers for Opera South East. She founded Barefoot Opera in 2011 and has worked to create a style and methodology to impart to young professional singers ever since.
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Penelope Randall-Davis
A specialist in the dramatic coloratura repertoire, Penelope has appeared as the Queen of the Night with Teatro dell’ Opera di Roma, Opera La Fenice, New Zealand Opera, Opera Atelier and Tafelmusik in Toronto, and with Sydney Symphony Orchestra in concert at Sydney Opera House.
Here in the U.K appearances include those with Welsh National Opera, English National Opera, Scottish Opera, Opera North, Opera Holland Park with Dr Jane Glover and Simon Callow, and recently with Longborough Festival Opera. Other operatic roles include: Soprano Soloist Inquest of Love, La Monnaie; the Bride, Graham Vick’s Les Boreades CBTO; Russian Mother, Glyndebourne Touring Opera’s Death in Venice; and multiple appearances in the Verdi coloratura roles of Violetta (La Traviata),and Gilda (Rigoletto).
Penelope appeared as Alcina at London’s Arcola Theatre in the inaugural performances by Barefoot Opera of Peter Foggitt’s contemporary realization of Handel’s piece. This has been made into a film by well-known film-maker Nichola Bruce; and the production has recently received Arts Council funding to be developed further and taken out on tour.
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Alexandra Baybutt
Alexandra is a movement artist, educator and researcher. In her work with Barefoot she draws on her skills as a Certified Movement Analyst in Laban Movement Analysis/ Bartenieff Fundamentals and yoga, as well as her work in dance and performance. She trained at Laban, London (2002-05), Goldsmiths (2006-07), Laban/Bartenieff Institute of Movement Studies, in Canada/USA (2009-10), and with Yoga London (2011, 2015).
She teaches in several contexts for professional artists, adult and Higher education, in London, Edinburgh, Belgium, Slovenia and Italy. She coaches actors for theatre and film, and works privately with artists and members of the public on functional/expressive movement needs. As an artist she collaborates with others on site-based installation performances, notably with Tor Collaboration (Italy, Portugal, UK), with visual artist Moi Tran and musician David Somlo. She is currently an MPhil/PhD candidate at Middlesex University.
Alexandra seeks to find “more choice in how you move, no matter how large or small the movement” and open up “more possibility for expression, communication and experience”.
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Nicholas Bosworth
Nicholas is much sought after as an accompanist and repetiteur. His concert and recital work has included performances at various festivals (Wexford, Edinburgh Fringe, Buxton, London Opera) and in diverse locations (the Royal Lodge at Windsor, the Presidential Palace in Malta, and the QE2 for its 50th birthday celebrations).
He has been official accompanist in masterclasses for Thomas Hampson, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa and Brigitte Fassbaender, the latter as part of the Wigmore Hall’s ‘Master Series’ recorded for the BBC Radio 3. Work with opera companies has included Glyndebourne, Garsington Opera Opera North and ENO. More recently, he has worked for The Grange Festival and Iford Arts, and currently is working for English Touring Opera’s spring season and given concerts with celebrity singers Bryn Terfel and Lesley Garrett.
Nicholas studied at the Royal Academy of Music and at the National Opera Studio. He has been made an Associate of the Royal Academy of Music in recognition of his work.
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Lesley-Anne Sammons
Lesley Anne studied Piano and Flute at Trinity College of Music, The Guildhall School of Music and Drama, and The National Opera Studio. Lesley Anne joined the music staff at Scottish Opera, playing for many productions with Sir Alexander Gibson.
Lesley Anne worked at Il Teatro Massimo di Palermo, Amsterdam at De Nederlandse Opera, Glyndebourne Festival & Touring Opera, English National Opera, English Touring Opera, Opera North, Royal Opera House, Grange Park Opera, Opera Holland Park, Longborough Festival Opera, ROH2, European Opera Centre and New Sussex Opera. She is also an Associate Lecturer at Chichester University, teaching, coaching and nurturing young people in Classical Singing, Piano Accompaniment and Musical Theatre.
Lesley Anne has conducted Opera Holland Park with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (Madama Butterfly, I Barbiere di Siviglia) and Longborough Festival Opera (Die Zauberflote). In 2019 Lesley Anne arranged La Calisto, Cavalli for Longborough Festival Opera for The Barefoot Band to much critical acclaim.
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Evelyn Miller-Freebury
A movement therapist, consultant and body worker, Evelyn is concerned with the continuum between healthy human development and artistic expression. She trained and performed modern dance in the traditions of Graham, Hawkins and Limon, studied martial arts and received a black belt in Aikido. She stopped dancing due to back injuries, leading to a lifelong interest and pursuit of movement for healing and rehabilitation.
Evelyn has engaged in a long standing collaboration with Barefoot Opera to develop an effective approach which grounds classical singing in supportive and responsive movement.
“Barefoot Opera is a developing a pedagogy and philosophy for working with professional singers in which the whole singer as vocalist and human being is truly nurtured”.
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Satoshi Kubo
Recently having trained at the National Opera studio in London, Japanese Pianist and répétiteur Satoshi Kubo began his Piano studies in his hometown if Oita with Keiko Shimaoka, later studying with Toshie Nakashima at the Midorigaoka Artistic High School, before continuing his training in France. After graduating with a Piano, Chamber Music and Accompaniment diploma from the Conservatoire national superior de la musique et de la danse de Paris (CNSMDP), he joined the International Lied Masterclass at the Royal Conservatory if Brussels.
He has also taken classes at the Conservatoire de Saint-Maur-des-Fosses (at which time he was also organist at the Tremolo de Saint-Maur-des-Fosses), the Pablo Casals Academy, Prades and the Francis Poulenc Academy, Tours.
He has studied with Jeff Cohen, Itamar Golan, Roger Muraro, Hortense Cartier-Bresson, Eric Lebrun and the Artis Quartett amongst others. As a Pianist, he has been invited to play at festivals including Festival de Saintes, Festival du Périgord Noir and Festival Européen Jeunes talents in Paris.
He has won numerous prizes, including the Grand Prix at the Forum musical international de Normandie with Hee-Young Lim (cello/piano duo), Le Prix de duo chant-piano and le Prix Rainier III de Monaco at the VIeme Concours international Nadia et Lili Boulanger in Paris with soprano Raquel Camarinha.
