"…a beautiful voice, which just gets better and better"

There is something rather exciting and special about catching a future star in concert early on in their career, particularly when the star is home grown talent. This is certainly the case for Concerts in the West audiences who have the opportunity to see the Devon born tenor Rupert Charlesworth live at Lower Pulworthy, Highampton, Hatherleigh on 7 May.

This brilliant young singer has won a string of awards since he graduated from The Royal Academy of Music. He was Academy Laureate of the Festival D'Aix-en-Provence in 2011 and followed this up by winning both the jury and audience prizes at the 2013 Handel Singing Competition. This success was repeated at the 2014 International Singing Competition for Baroque Opera Pietro Antonio Cesti.

Concerts in the West founder and director, Catherine Hodgson said: "Rupert has a beautiful voice, which just gets better and better. When I heard him singing in the Handel competition, I knew I had to persuade him to perform for Concerts in the West. He is an exceptionally graceful and entertaining performer, whose effortless phrasing and vocal ease puts him in a different league."

During his short, but already bright career Rupert has performed on prestigious European operatic stages such as La Fenice, Venice, the Festival d'Aix-en-Provence, the Glyndebourne Festival Opera and Opera North. He has sung in roles including Damon from Acis and Galatea for the Festival d'Aix-en-Provence, Angel 3/John (cover) in George Benjamin's Written on Skin and Soldier in Der Kaiser von Atlantis for the English Touring Opera.

As an oratorio soloist Rupert regularly performs works including the Bach St Matthew and St John Passions and Handel's Messiah. He has worked with conductors such as Laurence Cummings, Paul Goodwin and Nicholas Kraemer. Future plans include a recital at Opera Rouen, performance of Trauernacht in Europe and a return to the Festival d'Aix-en-Provence to sing Lysander in Midsummer Night's Dream.

Rupert will be accompanied on this tour by the acclaimed French pianist Edwige Herchenroder who is already in great demand as a leading song accompanist, repetiteur and vocal coach. Edwige was awarded the 2011/2012 Hodgson Fellowship at the Royal Academy of Music and has won many accompaniment prizes, including first prize at the Oxford Lieder Festival in 2011, as well as being the 2013 HSBC Pianist Laureate of the Festival d'Aix-en-Provence.

Her latest recital appearances include Festival d'Ax-en-Provence, Oxford Lieder Festival, St John's Smith Square and the London Institut Francais. Edwige is a graduate of the Ecole Normale de musique de Paris and completed a Master of Arts in vocal accompaniment and opera at the Royal Academy of Music in London.

Recent opera coaching undertaken by Edwige include Royal Academy Opera productions Ravel's L'Enfant et les sortileges and Massenet's Cendrillon, as well as Aix-en-Provence Academy Poulenc's Les Mamelles de Tiresias's production.

She is making her CD debut in 2015 with Rupert Charlesworth and the label Ziz Zag Territoires owned by Outhere Music.

Musical Programme - Rupert Charlesworth (tenor) and Edwige Herchenroder (piano), Nocturne recital:

Liszt Kling leise mein Lied (Nordmann) version II; Schubert Der Jüngling und der Tod (Spaun); Schubert An die Laute (Rochlitz); Brahms Ständchen: Der Mond steht über dem Berge (Kügler); Schubert Der Wanderer an den Mond (Seidl); Brahms Der Gang zum Liebchen (Böhmisch); Mendelssohn So schlaf in Ru (Fallersleben); Fauré La Lune blanche (Verlaine); Franck Nocturne (Fourcaud); Boulanger Vous m’avez regardé (Jammes); Duparc Sérénade Florentine(Cazalis); Fauré Clair de lune (Verlaine); Debussy Nuit d’étoiles (Banville); Finzi The comet at yell’ham (Hardy); Britten Night covers up the rigid Land (Auden); Gurney Sleep (Fletcher); Bax The white peace (Macleod); Berkeley Silver (W de la Mare); Berkeley Eyes look into the well (Auden); Berkeley Carry her over the water (Auden).

Performance and Box Office Details for Rupert Charlesworth (tenor) and Edwige Herchenroder (piano):

Thursday 7 May 2015 7.30pm, Lower Pulworthy, Highampton, Hatherleigh, Devon EX21 5LQ. Box Office: 01837 810940 (Salar Gallery, 18/20 Bridge Street, Hatherleigh EX20 3HY. 9am-5pm) Tickets: £15. Lower Pulworthy is an old rural farmhouse, approximately two miles out of Hatherleigh on the A3072. Take a right turn which is signposted to Legge Fisheries. Follow the road up the hill and take the right fork, which will lead you down a bumpy drive. You will see gate posts ahead of you and you will have arrived. There are several farm buildings, but they are no longer in use. The concert is in the house. Please park where you can find a space. Interval drinks.