Kevin Thraves
Deputy Head of Opera
DipRCM(Hons), ARCM
Email: [email protected]
School of Vocal Studies and Opera – music staff/coach/repetiteur
Repetiteur Studies – course leader and Principal Study tutor
School of Vocal Studies and Opera – course/timetable/schedule
RNCM Opera – coach/chorus master
School of Vocal Studies and Opera – organisation of opera scenes/excerpts
School of Vocal Studies and Opera – vocal chamber music tutor
Junior Fellow Repetiteur – mentor
School of Vocal Studies and Opera – recitative class tutor
As a freelance repetiteur, Kevin has worked for many leading opera companies including Scottish Opera, Opera North, Welsh National Opera, English National Opera, Essential Scottish Opera, Clonter Opera, Batignano Musica nel Chiostro (Italy), Scottish Opera-Go-Round, and the Buxton International Festival. He has also worked alongside many of the UK’s leading orchestras including the Hallé, the BBC Concert Orchestra – during the Proms season at the Royal Albert Hall, the BBC Philharmonic, Manchester Camerata, The Academy of Ancient Music and the London Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Sir Simon Rattle, Barry Wordsworth, Sir Richard Armstrong, Tugan Sokhiev, Sir Neville Marriner, Peter Robinson and Edward Gardner.
His work as an accompanist and repetiteur has led to many recordings and broadcasts for radio and television both in the UK and abroad for the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Classic FM, EMI Classics, Chandos and Global TV.
UK concert appearances include Wigmore Hall, The Purcell Room, The Queen Elizabeth Hall, St John’s Smith Square, St Martin-in-the-Fields, The Royal Albert Hall, St David’s Hall in Cardiff and The Bridgewater Hall in Manchester.
Kevin has a busy and varied recital career which has led to performances at many of the leading international music festivals including the Edinburgh International Festival (Scotland), Wratislavia Cantans (Poland), Longborough Festival Opera (UK), Making Music (Malta), Culture and Charity Festival (Jordan), Festival de Musique d’Uzerche (France), Festival d’Aix-en-Provence (France), and the Mananan International Festival of Music and the Arts (IOM).
Kevin has recently collaborated with the Edvard Grieg Kor/Bergen Philharmonic/Bergen National Opera (Norway) in concerts and productions including Schonberg’s Gurrelieder, Britten’s Peter Grimes and the world premiere of Mark Wigglesworth’s Magnificat.
Kevin is the Deputy Head of Opera at the RNCM, where he has worked on many of the award winning operas as music staff, coach, repetiteur, and as chorus master.
Undergraduate Teaching
Recitative Class
Vocal Chamber Music/Ensemble class tutor
Operatic role coaching
Opera excerpt coaching
Opera chorus master
One to one and ensemble vocal coaching
Performance class tutor
Choral director
Postgraduate Teaching
Recitative class
Vocal/Operatic one to one coaching
Opera excerpt coaching
Opera chorus master
Operatic Repertoire class tutor
One to one and ensemble vocal coaching
Repetiteur Studies – Principal Study tutor
Junior fellow repetiteur – mentor
Selected Outputs
- Kevin Thraves, ‘Why classical singers are like Olympic athletes’, ROH – News, (2016).
- Kevin Thraves, ‘Training to be a Repetiteur’, The Classical Piano and Music Education Blog, (2015).
- Kevin Thraves, ‘Training to be a Repetiteur’, European Piano Teachers Association, (2015).
- Hull University Music Analysis Conference (HUMAC) , , University of Hull, 2003
- Verdi La Traviata, , Erin Arts Centre
- Roger Steptoe Five Shakespeare Songs for Tenor and Piano, Thomas Morss – Tenor; Kevin Thraves – Piano , RNCM Concert Hall, Manchester
- Hockney to Hogarth: A Rakes Progress, 2012, , Whitworth Art Gallery
- Rossini La Cenerentola, , Mananan International Opera Festival
- Humperdinck Hansel and Gretel, , Mananan International Opera Festival
- Mozart Cosi Fan Tutte, , Mananan International Opera Festival
- Donizetti L’elisir d’amore, , Erin Arts Centre
- Verdi Rigoletto, , Erin Arts Centre
- Puccini Tosca, , Erin Arts Centre
- Hommage a Debussy, , Uzerche, France
- Pergolesi La Serva Padrona, , Uzerche, France
- Walt Whitman 2016,
- Rossini La Ceneretola, Goldberg Ensemble, Ryedale Festival
- Mozart Don Giovanni, Goldberg Ensemble, Ryedale Festival
- Rossini Il Barbiere di Siviglia, , Mananan International Opera Festival
- Puccini Madama Butterfly,
- Malcolm Williamson A Year of Birds, , Royal Albert Hall
- Monteverdi Il Combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda,
- Gilbert and Sullivan Here’s a How de do, The Northern Chamber Orchestra, Wyn Davies, Manchester BBC, 1998
- Balfe Satanella, Bonynge, Naxos, 2014
- Hommage a Debussy, , 2012
- Mozart Cosi Fan Tutte, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Rattle, EMI
- Williamson A Year of Birds, BBC Concert Orchestra, Wordsworth
- Mozart and his Contemporaries, Academy of St Martin in the Fields, Marriner, EMI
- Amanda Roocroft, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Welser-Most, EMI
- University of Hull Music Department Masterclass , Masterclass – Vocal Coaching and Interpretation, University of Hull, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012
- Conter Opera – Masterclass , Solo Performer Masterclass, ,
- La Boheme Workshop , Secondary School Workshop, St Helens,
- Hansel and Gretel Workshop , Secondary School Workshop, St Helens,
- La Boheme Workshop , Secondary School Workshop, Liverpool,
- Mazepa , Welsh National Opera Educational Workshops, ,
Journal Articles
Conference Contributions
Performances
Recordings
Talks, Workshops and Masterclasses
