Copland Nature, the gentlest Mother (from 12 Poems of Emily Dickinson)
Debussy Beau Soir
Barber The Desire for Hermitage (from Hermit Songs)
Mahler Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen (from Rückert-Lieder)
Chopin Nocturne in C minor, Op. Posth (piano solo)
Strauss Four Last Songs

Hilary Cronin soprano
Richard Saxel piano

Since winning both the First Prize and the Audience Prize at the 2021 London Handel International Singing Competition, Hilary Cronin has firmly established herself at the forefront of the new generation of British sopranos.

Praised by Opera Now for her “golden tone,” by Classical Voice North America for her “shining, rounded timbre,” and singled out by The Times as “sensational,” she has appeared with leading ensembles including Academy of Ancient Music, Arcangelo, English Baroque Soloists, Florilegium, Freiburg Baroque Orchestra, London Handel Orchestra, La Nuova Musica and Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, as well as with BBC Philharmonic, Britten Sinfonia, English Chamber Orchestra, the Hallé Orchestra, London Mozart Players and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra.

Future projects include the title role in Esther with The English Concert, J.S. Bach Actus Tragicus with Dunedin Consort; Fauré Requiem with Royal Northern Sinfonia; Haydn Nelson Mass with The Sixteen; Christmas Oratorio, St John Passion and Messiah with Polyphony; First Harlot in Handel’s Solomon with The Gabrieli Consort; Messiah with the London Handel Orchestra; Messiah  with Huddersfield Choral Society; St Matthew Passion with the Irish Baroque Orchestra, and Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen with The Bristol Ensemble.

Hilary will sing the title role in Cesti’s Orontea at MusikTheater an der Wien during the 2025/2026 season.

After thirty years as a concert pianist and accompanist, Richard Saxel enjoys a reputation as one of the most engaging musicians of his generation. He was educated at Churcher’s College, the University of York, and the Royal Academy of Music, and has performed worldwide at major festivals including those in Abu Dhabi, Istanbul, Lucerne, Gozo, La Roque-D’Anthéron, Buenos Aires, Cheltenham and Dartington, as well as at many of the UK’s leading venues. He won the National Federation of Music Societies Making Music Award, and has recorded as a soloist for Quartz records, and as a chamber musician for Oboe Classics and the ABRSM. He is an Associate of the Royal Academy of Music, who recognised his significant contribution to the music profession, was a member of Piano Circus for many years, and is also a Steinway Artist. Richard remains strongly committed to music education; he adjudicates regularly for festivals and competitions, and is Director of Music at Cranleigh School in Surrey, where he has taught for twenty five years