United Kingdom Edinburgh International Festival 2026 [4] – Rising Stars of Voice with Louise Alder: Louise Alder (soprano, mentor), James Baillieu (piano, mentor), Francesca Lauri (piano). Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh, 18.8.2026. (SRT)
Almost any arts organisation worth its salt will have some sort of Young Artists’ Programme, something which engages upcoming talent and provides opportunities for young people who would like to make a career in the arts. The Edinburgh International Festival has several in its Rising Stars programmes: I heard the Rising Stars of Strings at the Hub last Monday, and on Tuesday morning it was the turn of the Rising Stars of Voice.
I wish I knew a bit more about how the programme worked, however. We are told that the nine participants – eight singers and one pianist – for 2026 were chosen by audition and mentored by pianist James Baillieu and soprano Louise Alder, but it is not clear whether that has been over a process of months or for a couple of hours yesterday. What exactly were they doing together, and what future paths open up for these musicians after the EIF?
Those questions will need to be left hanging. What is certain is that their concert provided a very entertaining showcase. Each Rising Star vocalist got about 5 minutes of song in the first half, accompanied very capably by Rising Star pianist Francesca Lauri, and the best thing I can say is that I would happily attend a full concert put on by any of them. There were a few slightly questionable choices of repertoire: one of Britten’s Michelangelo Sonnets was a brave choice for that time of the morning, and tenor Quito Clothier couldn’t avoid sounding slightly pushed, for all the ardent stab he made at it. Mezzo Lucy Gibbs sang Poulenc’s Sanglots with secure tone if slightly four-square approach to the language and Gallic style, while Sam Britner’s tenor attacked one of Liszt’s Petrarch Sonnets with declamatory ardour.
I loved the dark lustre of Louisa Stuart-Smith’s mezzo-soprano in playful Falla and wistful Liszt, however, and the characterful baritone of Filippo Turkeimer in bluff Quilter and ardent Schubert. Paul-Louis Barnet’s baritone sounded confident and idiomatic in Duparc and Chausson, and Theano Papadaki brought beautiful richness to Ravel’s Greek songs for soprano. Finest of all, however, was Katie Carmichael, whose bright, gorgeous soprano sparkled off the keyboard in Richard Strauss’s Ständchen and sang with gleaming confidence in Parry’s My Heart is Like a Singing Bird.
They all joined forces in an affectionate performance of Brahms’s Neue Liebeslieder in the second half, with Baillieu and Lauri sharing the keyboard, and Louise Alder joined them to sing the soprano solo from Brahms’s German Requiem; beautiful, but too large-scale for the Queen’s Hall. Their final choice, the end of Bernstein’s Candide, was a piece of beautifully slow-burning optimism, both a rousing end to their concert and, let us hope, an expression of hope for their own futures, which deserve to be bright.
Simon Thompson
The Edinburgh International Festival runs until 30 August in venues across the city. For information click here.
Ravel – Selection from ‘5 Mélodies populaires grecques’ (Theano Papadaki, soprano)
Liszt – I’ vidi in terra (Sam Britner, tenor)
de Falla – Jota, Liszt – Ihr Glocken von Marling (Louisa Stuart Smith, mezzo-soprano)
Duparc – Le galop, Chausson – Le colibri (Paul Louis Barlet, baritone)
Britten – Sonetto XXIV, Spirto ben nato (Quito Clothier, tenor)
Poulenc – Sanglots (Lucy Gibbs, mezzo-soprano)
Quilter – O Mistress Mine, Schubert – Du liebst mich nicht (Filippo Turkheimer, baritone)
R. Strauss – Ständchen, Parry – My Heart is Like a Singing Bird (Katie Carmichael, soprano)
Brahms – Ein deutsches Requiem (1865–68), V. Ihr habt nun Traurigkeit (with Louise Alder as solo)
Brahms – Neue Liebeslieder, Op.65
Bernstein – ‘Make Our Garden Grow’ from Candide ((full ensemble including Louise Alder)