David Navarro-Turres

Conductor

Chilean-Belgian conductor and arranger David Navarro-Turres has been acclaimed for his dynamic performances, his commitment to innovative programming and his passion for artistic openness to diverse audiences in Europe.

He currently holds the position of Music Director and Artistic Director of the Brussels Philharmonic Orchestra (www.bpho.be), the chamber choir Serenata Vocale and the Ensemble Confluences.

As guest conductor, he has performed with orchestras such as the Belgian National Orchestra, the ensemble EST-OEST, the ensemble Confluences, the Chamber Orchestra of Chile, the Pazardjik Symphony Orchestra, the Commonwealth Symphony Orchestra, the Antofagasta Symphony Orchestra, El Sistema Belgium, the Concepción Symphony Orchestra, the St. Petersburg Symphony Orchestra, the Symphony Orchestra of the Royal Brussels Conservatory and the HKU Utrecht Conservatorium Orchestra.

He graduated from the National Conservatory of the University of Chile and the Conservatoire Royal de Bruxelles. He has received scholarships for conducting masterclasses in Zurich with David Zinman and the Tonhalle Orchestra, in London with Benjamin Zander and the London Masterclass Orchestra, and another with Guerassim Voronkov and the St. Petersburg Symphony Orchestra.

In April 2016, he premiered Sir Karl Jenkins' orchestral version of "The Armed Man" at the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels. In 2017 he conducted the opening concert of the BALKAN TRAFIK Festival with Goran Bregovic and his composition of the Three Letters from Sarajevo. In 2022, together with Ensemble Confluences, he opened the Festival of World and Sacred Music of the International Festival of Contemporary Music in Mons and Namur (Belgium). It will continue with a series of concerts of Hommage à Brel & Edith Piaf - the Symphonic Version, new Belgian composers, the recording of Haydn's "The Creation" at Flagey's Studio 4, Mahler's "Titan" No. 1 Symphony for the 20th anniversary of the Brussels Philharmonic Orchestra and Mendelssohn's "Elijah" at BOZAR. In June 2022, it will continue with the closing concert with EULAT 4culture, an activity realised in collaboration with the European Commission and the Latin American diplomatic representations. In August and September 2022 he made his debut with the Orquesta Sinfónica de la Universidad de La Serena and the Joven Orquesta de Portugal; ending 2022 with a tour of the operetta "Barbe Blue" in different cities of Belgium.

www.davidnavarroturres.com

Mary Gow

Assistant Music Director and Pianist

Mary comes from Wellington, New Zealand. She holds the degrees  of BA and BMus from Victoria University, Wellington together with the LRSM and FTCL diplomas in piano. She studied for five years at the Royal Conservatorium of Brussels in Flemish, gaining two First Prizes and Higher Diplomas in Piano and Chamber Music.
Her other Christmas passion is to stage performances of The Snowman, the Christmas fantasy based on the story by Raymond Briggs, music by Howard Blake. In 2018 The Snowman was complemented by a dip into "Christmas and the World of Jazz", offering much additional enjoyment to the adults in the audience.
Performances of The Snowman in the past have been paired with a commissioned opera by Alexander McCall Smith and Tom Cunningham, The Baboons Who Live By the River, and Carnival of the Animals, Peter and the Wolf, Tubby the Tuba, along with versions of Britten's Young Persons' Guide to the Orchestra. The Snowman Concert this year is on Sunday December 10 at 3 pm.

Emma Watkinson

Mezzo - soprano

British born Mezzo Soprano, Emma Watkinson began an appreciation for music at an early age. At age 16, a visit to the theatre, to see a National Youth Music Theatre Production of Pendragon, confirmed her desire and dream to be on stage. Thereon she began her career, playing in theatre pieces, musicals and operatic shows.
She has enjoyed a varied career thus far working across the UK, Ireland, Europe, and as far as Sydney Australia. As a soloist, she has sung roles for the likes of English Touring Opera, Wexford Festival Opera, Buxton Festival and The Gilbert & Sullivan Company. Notable roles include Le Page, (Salome) WFO, Tessa (The Gondoliers) The G&SC and Cherubino (The Marriage of Figaro) ETO, to name a few. Elsewhere she has worked with Opera Australia, Grange Park Opera, Pavilion Opera, Longborough Festival Opera, La Monnaie, and currently with Opera Royal de Wallonie.
Concert Highlights include Vaughan Williams Serenade to Music with the RPO at The Royal Festival Hall, London, and The Rachmaninov Vespers at Bristol Cathedral.
Emma studied at City University, TrinityLaban and The International Opera Academy, Ghent.

Richard Wells

Master of Ceremonies

A professional actor, voice actor and presenter for almost 40 years, Richard is to be heard on countless corporate videos, TV and radio commercials, exhibition guides, e-learning programmes etc.
He is known to many millions of gamers around the world as the voice of PEGI on every English language video game.
His most recent on-screen role is in the recently released movie Bonhoeffer: Pastor. Spy. Assassin.