Rupert Pardoe - Baritone
Rupert combined professional singing with a legal career as a barrister over the course of thirty years. In the early part of his career he studied singing under Otakar Kraus and Ellis Keeler. His operatic experience includes The Bishop in Tosca with Opera a la Carte; Collatinus in The Rape of Lucretia and Simone in Gianni Schicchi. His chorus work includes Moses and Aaron with Lyon Opera conducted by Kent Nagano and Nabucco with Kent Opera. He has performed as an oratorio soloist with Lawyers Music in London and with the Bach Society of California. As a mature student, he studied at the Guildhall under Adrian Thompson and Norbert Meyn. He now studies with Marcus van den Akker and Gavin Carr. Rupert retired from legal practice in 2020 in order to focus on singing.
Andrew Blankfield - Piano
Andrew is a pianist, conductor and occasional tenor. For many years he combined his various musical pursuits with a career as a City lawyer. On the concert platform, he has performed all five of Beethoven’s piano concertos, along with the Schumann and two of Mozart’s. He will perform Beethoven's Emperor concerto with orchestras in St Albans and London in early 2025. With violinist Claire Parkin, violist Adam Clarke and cellist Emma Chamberlain, Andrew is a member of the Amalfi trio and piano quartet, giving recitals regularly in London, Oxford and the south east. His other chamber ensembles include, on occasion, the Blankfield trio with his daughters Susie and Izzy. As collaborative pianist, Andrew has been working with baritone Rupert Pardoe on German lieder and 20th century English song. Andrew studies piano with Elizabeth Altman.
