Angharad Gruffydd Jones studied languages at Clare College, Cambridge, before winning a scholarship to the Royal College of Music to study with Margaret Kingsley, graduating in 2001. She came second in the 1999 Young Welsh Singer of the Year, and was awarded the 2000 Miriam Licette Scholarship, which funded several periods of study in France, working on French mélodies with Robin Bowman and Michel Piquemal, both students of the late Pierre Bernac, and was this year's winner of the London Handel Festival's 3rd Annual Singing Competition. Her studies at the RCM were supported by awards from the Arts Council of Wales and the Musicians Benevolent Fund. Angharad has a wide concert experience both as a consort singer and soloist, working with conductors including Ivor Bolton, Richard Hickox, Robert King, Sir Roger Norrington and Peter Schreier, in repertoire from Bach and Handel to Samuel Barber. Recent concert engagements include Handel L'Allegro ed il Pensieroso under Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Monteverdi Vespers in Washington DC under Harry Christophers, Handel Dixit Dominus at the Queen Elizabeth Hall with Trevor Pinnock and the English Concert, and performances of Bach St Matthew Passion in Spain and Handel Israel in Egypt in Vienna and the Barbican, with Harry Christophers and The Sixteen. As a recitalist, Angharad has appeared at festivals throughout the UK, and has taken part in a masterclass on Schumann Lieder with Roger Vignoles at the Purcell Room. She has recorded for BBC Television and Radio 3, and appears on a number of CD recordings for ASV and Arte Nova. Angharad was a member of Glyndebourne Touring Opera chorus in 2002, and this autumn sang in the chorus for Berlioz Les Troyens at the Théâtre du Chatelet, Paris. Operatic roles include Despina (Cosi fan Tutte), Lucy (Menotti The Telephone), Giannetta (L'Elisir d'Amore), and a critically acclaimed performance of Dorinda (Handel Orlando) for Cambridge Handel Opera Group. Performances in 2003 included Berlioz L'Enfance du Christ for the Cambridge Festival, a series of recitals at the Beaumaris Festival, a US tour with vocal ensemble I Fagiolini, Handel Apollo and Daphne with the Brook St Band, and for the Buxton Festival, Iris in Handel Semele, in which she also covered the title role. 2004 will see a US tour of Haydn Nelson Mass and Mozart Vesperae with Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Vivaldi motets and Magnificat in Cardiff, Bach St Matthew Passion in Manchester Cathedral, Bach B Minor Mass in Holland, Spain and London with Sir John Eliot Gardiner, and concerts in Germany and Holland with The Sixteen and I Fagiolini.

Michael Hampton completed his studies at the Royal College of Music in July 1999. Since that time he has established himself as one of the leading young artists in his field. Throughout his time as a student at the College, Michael won many prizes for both solo and accompaniment performances, as well as for academic study. In 1998 he became a member of the RCM Première Ensemble, with whom he has performed in Italy, Belgium, Holland, Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan, New Zealand and Australia. During his Junior Fellowship he organised and performed in concerts at the RCM tackling major repertoire. For three years he has been a coach and pianist on the OperaPlus Summer School in Belgium in conjunction with Vera Rosza, Sarah Walker and Tom Krause. Recent events include a performance of Winterreise in the Usher Hall as part of the Edinburgh International Festival and two Live BBC Radio 3 Lunchtime Concerts from the Wigmore Hall with Jonathan Lemalu, concerts at all the major chamber music venues in London and at the Royal Festival Hall, recitals in France, Italy and Sweden, and a performance of Brahms and Schumann Liebeslieder with Roger Vignoles at the Queen Elizabeth Hall.