PAUL BARKER was a boy chorister at Jesus College Cambridge before studying piano and composition at the Guildhall School of Music and Durham University winning several scholarships and prizes for accompaniment and composition. Between 1985 and 1990 he wrote a series of 5 chamber operas for the London International Opera Festival. They received widespread critical acclaim and have been followed by new productions touring the UK and abroad, recordings for TV and BBC Radio 3. For eight years he was Artistic Director of Modern Music Theatre Troupe; he was first Chair of the Opera and Music Theatre Forum, 1993-4; Artistic Director of English National Opera's youth group, Live Culture, 1995-6, and Musical Director of Proteus Theatre Company, 1996-8. His works have been awarded several prizes including the Royal Philharmonic Society Prize and the Dresden Opera Award.

His output includes a further 4 operas, a violin concerto for Tasmin Little, more than 40 theatre works and dance scores. His operas include The Marriages Between Zones 3,4, & 5 (after the novel by Doris Lessing), La Malinche (a historical interpretation of the founding of modern Mexico) and Dirty Tricks (after the long-standing litigious dispute between British Airways and Virgin Atlantic); they have been performed and recorded at major UK festivals and internationally.


SARAH LEONARD (soprano)

SARAH LEONARD studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and has a wide repertoire, with a particular interest in performing 20th century music.

Operas include Dr. Faustus (Giacomo Manzoni, La Scala Milan), To Be Sung (Pascal Dusapin, Theatre des Amandiers, Paris), Dirty Tricks (Paul Barker, London), Das Mädchen mit den Schwefelh&Mac246;lzen (Helmut Lachenmann, Hamburg Opera) and Al Gran sole carico amore (Luigi Nono, Hamburg Opera) and Angel Magick (John Harle, BBC Promenade Concerts).

Sarah works with many chamber ensembles including the Ensemble Recherche in Freiburg, the Ensemble Modern in Frankfurt, the London Sinfonietta and the Endymion Ensemble. She regularly gives recitals and is particularly interested in English, American and German song.

Sarah broadcasts extensively in the UK and Europe and has made over 30 CDs. They include ‘When the Heart is Young’, a recital of songs by Franz Lehar and ‘A Century of English Song’, six-disc recordings project for SOMM Recordings.