As part of Heritage Opera’s 20th Anniversary Season, we are delighted to revive Jonathan Dove’s acclaimed chamber opera Mansfield Park, a work that holds a special place in our history.
Originally commissioned by Heritage Opera in 2011, this elegant adaptation of Jane Austen’s beloved novel has become one of the most successful chamber operas of recent decades. Fifteen years after its première, we are proud to bring this remarkable work to a new generation of audiences in a brand-new production.
Intimate, witty and emotionally compelling, Mansfield Park is perfectly suited to theatres, festivals, country houses and historic venues, combining exceptional music with timeless storytelling.
The production opens with a special charity gala performance before embarking on its wider tour, and we are now taking bookings for venues throughout the 20th Anniversary Season and beyond!
If you are interested in presenting Mansfield Park, we would be delighted to hear from you.
The opera performance starts at 6:45pm to conclude at approximately 10:00 pm with a 60 minute interval at about 8pm.
You are invited to bring your own picnic to eat in the delightful gardens of Bourne House, which will be open from 4.30pm. Picnics can be eaten either before the performance or during the interval, or both. However, for the sake of the musicians, the event will run to time, so please bear this in mind.
Tables and chairs can be provided for your exclusive use for the picnics at a cost of £50 for a table with up to 10 chairs, or £60 for a larger table with up to 12 chairs. If you are not coming as part of a party, you can join an unreserved table at £10 per head. Please indicate your requirements on the application form and add the charge to your payment—by cheque or BACS.
Alternatively, you can bring your own picnic equipment and easily find space in the extensive garden to set yourself up.
There is ample car parking just across the lane opposite the house. In the event of wet weather, picnics can be eaten in cars or in the performance marquee. You are advised to bring umbrellas, warm clothing and rugs etc. The performance itself will take place in the marquee.
Numbers at the performance are limited, and you are encouraged to make an early application. You are very welcome to come singly, to bring friends or a party of any size.
Eleanor Strutt
Henry Reavey
André Bertoncini
William Branston
Reuben Speed
Caity Farrant Shaw
Katy Reilly
Penny Mullord
Gareth Dafydd Morris
Juliet Wallace
Lauren Bagge
Theo Perry
Andrea Tweedale
Elinor Popham
Roger Paterson
William Branston
Eleanor is a British stage director and choreographer who works across opera and musical theatre. She graduated with a first in Music from King’s College London, and a distinction for her MMus in Vocal Performance at Trinity Laban. She was the Junior Fellow Assistant Director for Guildhall School of Music and Drama from 2024-25.
Passionate about the interplay of text, music, and movement, Eleanor leverages her vocal and dance background to empower performers to embody their characters. She regularly works with young singers in conservatoire training, nurturing their talent and cultivating their artistry and stagecraft.
Recent highlights include assisting Mark Ravenhill on Regents Opera’s production of Salome, directing two European Premieres – Jake Heggie’s If I Were You, and Gregory Spears’ and Greg Pierce’s opera Fellow Travelers – and Robert Ward’s The Crucible, all for UCOpera, assistant director for Scottish Opera’s double bill: Trial by Jury / A Matter of Misconduct, assistant director for Guildhall’s Opera Makers and Die Fledermaus, working as assistant director for The Ring Cycle and for Don Giovanni with Regents Opera, and working as assistant director for the revival of Oliver Mears’ Rigoletto at the Royal Opera House.
Henry Reavey is a repetiteur and conductor from Macclesfield and was a 2025-26 Young Artist at the National Opera Studio. In his time at NOS he collaborated with English National Opera, Opera North, Welsh National Opera and Scottish Opera on performances of opera scenes, as well as playing for many recitals including a performance at Wigmore Hall. This summer he was a repetiteur for L’Orfeo at Glyndebourne Opera Festival and also stepped in to play for Tosca and Il Turco in Italia rehearsals. Henry regularly works as a repetiteur for Chelsea Opera Group, including Cavalleria Rusticana, Silvano, Macbeth, La Straniera, and Le Roi d’Ys. He has previously collaborated with Heritage Opera on a production of Amahl and the Night Visitors for a private event and fundraiser performance.
Henry graduated from Opera Studies as a repetiteur at Guildhall School of Music and Drama in 2025. In his second year he specialised in conducting, and was the assistant conductor and chorus master for Die Fledermaus and Dido and Aeneas. Henry previously completed an Advanced Postgraduate Diploma as a repetiteur at Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, graduating with distinction. He received multiple awards including the Anthony Cross Memorial Prize for outstanding contribution to the APD course, the Edward Brooks Lieder Accompanist’s Prize, the Gordon Clinton Prize for accompanying English song, and the John Ireland Prize. Henry also graduated with a distinction in a Master’s degree in piano performance at RBC and holds a first class undergraduate music degree from the University of Birmingham.
André Bertoncini is a Brazilian collaborative pianist specialising in opera and chamber music. He completed his Master of Arts in Piano Accompaniment with Distinction (DipRAM) at the Royal Academy of Music, studying with Michael Dussek and James Baillieu. André trained as a Young Artist Répétiteur at the National Opera Studio (NOS), London in 2025/26.
In 2024, he worked as répétiteur for Die Zauberflöte at the Nevill Holt Festival. André made his Wigmore Hall debut in 2023 with the Academy Song Circle. André was awarded the Accompanist Prize at the Bampton Young Singer Competition.
Before moving to the UK, André was a full-time Assistant Collaborative Pianist at UEM (State University of Maringá), accompanying and coaching vocal and instrumental students in classes and performances as well as teaching piano. He was involved in extracurricular activities through the University’s outreach project, PIN, offering the same kind of musical support and guidance to students from the wider community. André acted as accompanist and répétiteur for FEMUSC (Music Festival of Santa Catarina). He holds a Bachelor’s degree from UNESPAR/EMBAP (Brazil), where he studied in the class of Russian pianist Olga Kiun with support from the Dieuwertje Meijer Project.
Welsh tenor, William Branston, is a graduate from Trinity Laban Conservatoire (London, UK) and the International Opera Academy (Ghent, Belgium).
He combines work as a freelance soloist with chorus work at La Monnaie/De Munt in Brussles and Opera Ballet Vlaanderen in Antwerp. He is also a fixed member of the Flemish Radio Choir and regularly tours across the EU with the ensemble.
His opera credits include: Almaviva in Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviglia with Kempens Symfonisch Orkest; Don José in Bizet’s Carmen, and George Davis in Uhry/Weill’s LoveMusik with the International Opera Academy; Roméo in Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette with Arcadian Opera; First Priest & Armed Man in The Magic Flute with Waterperry Opera; Borachio in Stanford’s Much Ado About Nothing with the Northern Opera Group; Rodolfo in La Bohème with Paisley Opera; Tebaldo in I Capuleti e I Montecchi with Opera Holloway; Acis in Acis and Galatea with Hurn Court Opera; and, Male Chorus in Britten’s The Rape of Lucretia with Trinity Laban Opera.
William also created the role of Dani in the world première of Frank Nuyts’s chamber opera Cambio Madre Por Moto with Muziektheater Transparant and the Asko|Schönberg ensemble for the Gent Festival, which was broadcast on Klara in October 2023.
Caity Farrant Shaw is an Assistant Director and Classical Singer based in London. She completed her undergraduate degree at City University of London where she obtained a First Class Honours in Music and was a recipient of the prestigious City University Performance Scholarship. Caity is currently studying for her Masters in Music at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance, where she has been awarded the Kathleen Roberts Scholarship for the duration of her studies. This is where she has also developed her interest in directing Opera, having been Assistant Director for Trinity Laban Postgraduate Opera Scenes, as well as Trinity Laban Opera’s 2025 production of Monteverdi’s ‘Il Ritorno d’Ulisse in Patria’. Other recent projects include Hurn Court Opera’s production of Verdi’s ‘La Traviata’ and Regents Opera’s summer tour of Verdi’s ‘Rigoletto’. She is very much looking forward to collaborating with Heritage Opera as the Assistant Director on their production of Jonathan Dove’s ‘Mansfield Park’.
Katy Reilly is a mezzo-soprano from Mamaroneck, New York. She is currently pursuing a Master of Performance at the Royal College of Music studying under Dinah Harris and Caroline Dowdle. She is a Bruce-Payne Vaseppi Scholar supported by the Ruth Lewis Scholarship. Reilly is a recent graduate of Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music, where she studied with Michelle DeYoung and earned a Bachelor’s degree in Voice Performance with a minor in Media Advertising. She is the recipient of the 2025 Austin B. Caswell Award for her research on improvisation in Cantonese opera.
Her operatic roles include Brittomara (If I Were You), Cock/Squirrel (The Cunning Little Vixen), and Dorabella (Pop Up Opera). She has also performed in scenes as Rosina (Il Barbiere di Siviglia), Bradamante (Alcina), Erika (Vanessa), and Miss Todd (The Old Maid and the Thief). Reilly has also appeared in choral works by Beethoven, Mahler, Haydn, Poulenc, and Britten, among others.
In addition to a long career in Nursing, Penny has been performing on stage for over 50 years in a wide variety of light opera and musical theatre roles. Having initially trained in Bel Canto technique, she has played several roles in Gilbert and Sullivan operettas including Leila (Iolanthe), the Duchess of Plaza-Toro (The Gondoliers), Mrs Partlet (The Sorcerer), Lady Angela (Patience), Mabel and (some years later!) Ruth (The Pirates of Penzance). More recently she has been focussing on musical theatre, training with Julian Ward-Smith for the past 7 years. Previous roles include Eliza (My Fair Lady), Miss Adelaide (Guys & Dolls), Mrs Meers (Thoroughly Modern Millie), Frau Blucher (Young Frankenstein), Felicia (Witches of Eastwick) and Sister Mary Lazarus (Sister Act). A particular love for Sondheim has resulted in regular cabaret appearances singing a variety of numbers from his repertoire, and performing in the ensemble for Sweeney Todd. She has also enjoyed straight acting roles including Cecily (The Importance of Being Earnest) and Vera (Stepping Out) – where she got to show off her somewhat dubious tap dancing skills! She has recently turned her hand to co-writing and directing a ‘murderous musical comedy’, Murder Most Gruesome, at Stanley Arts in South Norwood.
However, she is delighted to be returning to a classical style for this production, and to be working with Heritage Opera. She still works part time as a Cardiology Nurse Practitioner and Advanced Life Support instructor at St George’s Hospital in Tooting, but is hoping that there will be no call for these skills during either rehearsals or performance!
Gareth Dafydd Morris studied at Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama and the Royal Academy of Music.
Gareth was contracted for 9 years to Welsh National Opera and has recently sung Alfredo La Traviata, Torero Ainadamar, Mr Bebb in the world premiere of Blaze of Glory, Jim in the world premiere of Will Todd’s Migrations, Karatayev and Konovnitsyn in War and Peace, Cherevin and off stage voice in From the House of the Dead, Streshnev in Khovanshchina, Kaherdin in Le Vin Herbe. Gareth has also performed as a soloist in WNO Concerts in St David’s Hall, the Wales Millennium Centre, Plymouth and Hong Kong.
Selected roles elsewhere include Des Grieux Manon Lescaut for English Touring Opera, Cavaradossi in Puccini’s Tosca for Diva Opera in France, Faust in Boito’s Mefistofele and title role Roberto Devereux for Opera Valladolid, Rodolfo La Bohème and Cavaradossi Tosca for OperaUpClose, Jenik The Bartered Bride for Kentish Opera, Alfred Die Fledermaus and Camille The Merry Widow for Opera della Luna.
Soprano Juliet Wallace studied English Language and Literature at King’s College London before training at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague, Trinity Laban and the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama. Juliet enjoys collaborating with composers, and has created the roles of The Guide (Disposable Packaging by Lewis Coenen-Rowe), The Woman (The Mirror by William Cox), Eve (Paradise Lost by Bertie Baigent) and The Mother (Rotten Kid by Erchao Gu). Further operatic engagements include Gretel (Hänsel und Gretel), Donna Anna (Don Giovanni), Tytania (A Midsummer Night’s Dream), Zerbinetta (Ariadne auf Naxos), Catalina (Black, el Payaso), Estelle (The Stronger by Hugo Weisgall), Die Königin der Nacht (Die Zauberflöte) and Cunegonde (Candide). Juliet’s concert work includes fundraising for Congresswoman Lucy McBath in Atlanta, Georgia to advocate for gun reform and affordable healthcare, and as conductor and singer in the Cirque de Pierrot, an all-female ensemble to promote women working in contemporary classical music. The ensemble performed Schönberg’s Pierrot Lunaire and at the Blackheath Halls in 2022 and Joanna Lee’s Pierrot! at King’s Place in 2023.
Lauren Bagge is a British mezzo soprano. She studied Music at Durham University, graduating with first class honours before moving on to her current work in the education sector.
At Durham, Lauren participated as a soloist and director in operas whilst cultivating a broad recital portfolio, ranging from early music to contemporary classical works. More recently, she has sung in choral projects with both the Scottish Symphony Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, and as an alto soloist for Cleveland Philharmonic Choir’s performance of St. Matthew Passion. She has also holds a certification in Applied Voice and Neuroscience.
Lauren is grateful to have been able to further her vocal training as part of the Samling Academy from 2021 – 24, the 2025 Glyndebourne Academy and 2025 – 6 National Opera Studio Academy. Her operatic repertoire has included Zerlina Don Giovanni (Durham Opera Ensemble), Dorabella Cosi fan tutte (National Opera Studio Academy), Zweite Dame Die Zaubeflote (National Opera Studio Academy), Olga (Samling Academy). She is looking forward to performing with Samling again for their 30th Anniversary concert at Wigmore Hall this Autumn.
Lauren currently studies with Yvonne Kenny and Marc Verter. This September she will be starting her Masters at the Royal College of Music as a scholar under Ben Johnson. She is generously supported by the Charlotte Fraser Foundation.
Theo trained at the Royal College of Music International Opera Studio having achieved a Master of Arts with Distinction from Trinity Laban Conservatoire, where he won the Gold Medal. He was a semifinalist in the 2024 Handel Singing Competition, and a BBC Music Magazine Rising Star.
A lyric baritone with a warm, consistent tone and an affinity for operatic repertoire, Theo has played a variety of characters across the chronology of the operatic genre, from Monteverdi’s Mercury (The Coronation of Poppea), through Mozart’s iconic roles (Don Giovanni, Figaro, Guglielmo & Papageno) and Bel Canto & Verismo repertoire, to contemporary roles including John Proctor in Robert Ward’s operatic adaptation of Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, and a new opera, Ganga, by composer Jataneel Banerjee. Edmund Bertram is his second foray into Jonathan Dove’s operatic oeuvre, having previously performed in Flight. Theo’s song and concert repertoire is extensive; he is equally at home in front of a symphony orchestra and a piano. In his spare time, he loves birdwatching, gardening, cooking, and reading.
Andrea Tweedale graduated from the Royal Northern College of Music with an MMus and PGdip, both with distinction. Her studies were kindly supported by the Worshipful Company of Musicians and Independent Opera at Saddler’s Wells, who also awarded Andrea a fellowship after graduation.
Most recently, Andrea has performed with the chorus of Opera North in their production of Peter Grimes and at The Royal Opera House, Covent Garden as part of the Live at Lunch recital series. Andrea also performs regularly with Songhaven, a dementia friendly concert series which has recently extended its concerts to Bedford, Andrea’s hometown.
Shortly after graduation, Andrea performed the role of Gilda Rigoletto at Longborough Festival Opera to critical acclaim and has since performed with Opera North, The Grange Festival, Iford Arts, and Waterperry Opera Festival. She also regularly performs with Opera On Location, Heritage Opera, Opera Up Close, and Charles Court Opera. She created the role of Anya in Adam Gorb and Ben Kaye’s Anya 17, which she performed in the UK and Romania. Roles include the title role in Tosca, Mimi and Musetta La Bohème, Donna Anna Don Giovanni, Countess The Marriage of Figaro, Tatyana Eugene Onegin, Micaëla Carmen, Witch/Mother Hansel and Gretel, Berta The Barber of Seville, and Aunt Norris Mansfield Park.
Other solo performances include The Classical Proms (Concertgebouw, Holland), New Year concerts with much Loved Productions and the British Philharmonic Concert Orchestra, Frankenstein with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic 10/10 ensemble, Vaughan Williams’ Serenade to Music (Bridgewater Hall), and Strauss Vier Letzte Lieder with the Westmoreland
Orchestra.
Andrea has also appeared on CBBC where she broke a glass using her voice on How to be epic at Everything.
Roger Paterson’s music training began at the Junior Academy of Music at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (RCS) and continued at the University of Glasgow where he gained an honours degree in Musicology in 2007. He has since studied with Paul Farrington and Tim Richards.
Roger has worked as a professional opera singer since May 2015 and on the operatic stage, he has performed many roles, including:
• Henry Crawford, Mansfield Park, (Heritage Opera, 2026)
• Rinuccio, Gianni Schicci, (Opera Bauge, 2026)
• Nemorino, L’elisir d’amore, (Heritage Opera & Opera Bauge 2024)
• Rodolfo, La Boheme, (Tour with Amick Productions 2023)
• Pierre, The Wandering Scholar, (Northern Opera Group 2021)
• Count Almaviva, Il Barbiere de Seville, (Opera Brava 2022)
• Giuseppe (and cover of Gaston), La Traviata, (Longborough Festival Opera 2018)
• Rodolfo, La Bohème, (OLIVIER nominated, The Trafalgar Theatre / London 2017)
In 2020 he performed the roles of Cavaradossi in Opera Undone’s version of Puccini’s Tosca, and Rodolfo and Mimi in Opera Undone’s new gay version of Puccini’s La Boheme in London’s Westend theatre, The Trafalgar Theatre. However, his work with Welsh National Opera for the first time in 2020 covering the 1st Japanese Emissary in Stravinsky’s The Nightingale, was cancelled due to the coronavirus.
As theatres started to open in 2021 Roger performed the lead tenor role of Count Almaviva in Opera Brava’s tour of Rossini’s, The Barber of Seville, and the lead tenor role of Pierre with Northern Opera Group in Holst’s, The Wandering Scholar and performed the lead tenor role of Ernesto in Donizetti’s, Don Pasquale, with Opera Novella in collaboration with Birmingham Music Conservatoire.
In 2022, Roger worked with Opera Bohemia, performing the role of Basilio in their production of Mozart’s, ‘Le Nozze di Figaro’ and started working as a Classical Guest Artist on cruise ships. He toured with Amick Productions in 2023, playing the role of Rodolfo in their production of La Boheme. In 2024, he performed the role of Nemorino in two different productions of, L’elisir d’amore: Heritage Opera production
and Opera Baugé production.
In 2025, Roger established himself as classical guest artist working regularly with cruise ship companies, Fred Olson, P&O, Cunard and Silversea and continues to do so on a monthly basis. This year, 2026, he will work with Heritage Opera once again performing the role of Henry Crawford in Jonathon Dove’s, Mansfield Park and he will perform the role of Rinuccio in Puccini’s, Gianni Schicci with Opera Bauge in France.
