Buddug Verona James director/mezzo soprano Andrew Wilson-Dickson musical director

Buddug Verona James (mezzo-soprano) and Andrew Wilson-Dickson have a particular interest in the rhetoric of 18th century music and have devised a number of well-tested programmes in which this visual element compellingly complements the aural.

‘Luscious, suave and creamy’ The Times

‘She sounds like a Brancusi’ New York Times

‘A real showstopper’ The Guardian

Sample Programmes:

Castradiva, a one-woman play, a fictional biography of an 18th-century castrato based on fact; a compact show using period set, lavish costumes and three on-stage musicians (baroque vln, viola da gamba, hpschd) who accompany castrato arias by Handel and Gluck, now nearing its 50th performance; The Greatest Ornaments of Music, a narration describing the castrati of the 18th century assembled from contemporary sources and featuring arias written for them.

Mr Gainsborough in Bath, the social and musical life of Bath through the diaries and letters of this famous painter and amateur musician, the context for musical rarities by Thomas Chilcot, William Jackson, Abel, JC Bach, Mozart and Thomas Linley jnr; A team of singers (Elin Manahan Thomas (sop), Huw Rhys Evans (tenor), Arwel Huw Morgan (bass)) offering Handel’s Messiah with arias performed with baroque gesture.

Education:

Workshops/Lectures on Rhetoric and Gesture in the 18th Century. Buddug and Andrew are tutors at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama.

Recordings:

Songs and Concertos of Thomas Chilcot (CDE84428) Meridian; Arias by Handel and Gluck featured in Castradiva (CD2371) Fflach; Songs of the people - Folk songs arranged by classical composers from Haydn to Dove (CD295H) Fflach

Performances:

May 07 Newbury Spring Festival
Jun 07 Hugh Lane Gallery, Dublin
Jul 07 King’s Lynn Festival
Aug 07 Rainbow Enlightenment Festival
Sep 07 Ammanford Miners Theatre
Oct 07 Beaufort Theatre, Ebbw Vale
Nov 07 Neuadd y Dderwen, Wales
Dec 07 Colston Hall, Bristol

Contact:

Buddug Verona James, Godre’r Grogwy, Rhoshill Cardigan
Pembs SA43 2TX

Tel: 01239 841461
Fax: 01239 621851

Email: info@buddug.co.uk
Website: www.buddug.co.uk