Lunchtime Recital - Mark Christian Bautista (Tenor) Riho Challenor (Piano)

Programme:

TBC

Presented in association with the Guildhall School of Music and Drama

Free Entry. No ticket required. Retiring collection - suggestion £5

https://www.stpancraschurch.org/donations

Biographies:

Riho (Akagi) Challenor

UK, London based, born in 1992 in Mishima, Shizuoka, Japan, She is a distinguished pianist and music educator whose extensive training spans from the Tokyo College of Music, Japan to the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. she graduated postgraduate from the Piano Accompaniment course with distinction, gaining a Concert Recital Diploma (CRD) with a special award for high distinction in her final recital. Her performance history is rich and international, featuring solo and collaborative concerts across Japan, the UK, Europe and beyond, including prestigious venues like the Barbican Hall and The National Gallery Notably, She is the member of the VOX Integra opera scene workshop in Italy as a Répétiteur. St Brigid’s Day 2022 at the Embassy of Ireland with Ruby Philogene, and the Empowering Women’s Voice in Opera Concert at The Hellenic Centre.

In 2023 she joined many Livery Concerts for the City of London. she gave some prize-winning performance winning The Emmy Destinn Young Singers Awards held as part of the Dvorak Society for Czech and Slovak Music Prize. Furthermore she won the 1st Place Class 200Edith Poulsen Singing Prize Competition, as part of the NLF.

Currently, she contributes to the musical community as a freelance

collaborative pianist and accompanist at GSMD, nurturing the next generation

of musicians while continuing to perform at various esteemed events and venues. https://rihoakagi.com

Mark Christian Bautista, tenor

Filipino tenor Mark Christian Bautista is a prizewinner of several international competitions, including 1st Prize at the Festival Singing Competition (Dean & Chadlington Summer Music Festival 2019), the Dvořák Society Prize at the Emmy Destinn Young Singers Award 2019, and 2nd Prize at the Pendine International Voice of the Future (Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod 2018). He was a Finalist at the XX Certamen Nuevas Voces 2024 in Seville and a Semi-Finalist at the Renata Tebaldi International Voice Competition 2024.An alumnus of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama Opera Course under Professor Susan Waters, he has performed across the Philippines, the UK, and Europe in venues including Glyndebourne, Grange Park Opera, Barbican Hall, Royal Albert Hall, Royal Festival Hall, and the Cultural Center of the Philippines. His stage roles span Alfredo (La Traviata), Rodolfo (La Bohème), Nerone (L’incoronazione di Poppea), and Tom Rakewell (cover, The Rake’s Progress), alongside extensive chorus work at Glyndebourne and Grange Park Opera.Recent highlights include his solo debut at Glyndebourne’s Christmas Concert with Aidan Oliver and the Glyndebourne Sinfonia, and his European debut at the SchlosshofKonzerte Arbon 2022 with the Sinfonisches Orchester Arbon. He is co-founder of The Virtual Opera Studio and a recipient of numerous scholarships and awards, most recently the Opera Awards Foundation Bursary for Career Development (2024).