Based in North Wales and
presenting beautiful
choral music from the
Renaissance, through the
Baroque Era and up until
today’s composers.
The Choir
Musical Director
- Nigel Shaw
MD: Nigel Shaw.
Nigel Shaw was born in Nottingham and studied singing under Gerald Wragg in Leeds, gaining a ARCM Diploma. After a season with Opera North, he joined Scottish Opera and for the following ten years sang regularly with both companies. He has performed the rôles of Ford, from Verdi's Falstaff; Ottone from Monteverdi's L'Incoronazione di Poppea; Alidoro from Rossini's La Cenerentola; Guglielmo from Mozart's Così fan Tutte and has played both Figaro and Count Almaviva from Le Nozze di Figaro by the same composer. He has also performed most of the standard Oratorio repertoire. Recent work has included Handel's Messiah in St. Asaph Cathedral and as guest soloist with The Three English Tenors.
His singing career has taken Nigel to many parts of the globe, having sung not only extensively throughout the United Kingdom but also in Germany, Switzerland, Gibraltar, Bahrain, Israel and Cyprus. His most recent overseas work has been as Musical Director of our choir in Germany and Rome, culminating in the performance at St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican City.
Amici del Canto is proud to have Nigel as our Musical Director where he provides excellent musical guidance and direction as well as a keen and very dry sense of humour!
Amici del Canto performing at the Chiesa di Nostra Signora del Sacro Cuore, Piazza Navona in Rome.
Amici del Canto
Formerly the festival-winning Nigel Shaw Singers, Amici del Canto formed in Spring 2005, debuting at the Llandudno Festival in the Summer of that year where we performed with the Welsh Baroque Chamber Orchestra. In December 2005, we gave several performances of Vivaldi’s Gloria accompanied by our own Chamber Ensemble; a group of exceptionally talented young players.
In 2006, we were once again invited to appear at the Llandudno Festival, this time accompanied by the Manchester Camerata Strings which included the premier of a specially commissioned work.
Within a few weeks of this performance, our choir flew to Italy where we had been selected to participate in the International Sacred Music Choir Festival in Rome, the highlight of which was singing for the Holy Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican City. Furthermore, we gave performances at several other important Roman churches to packed houses and great critical acclaim.
In April 2007, we participated in the Chester Competitive Festival of Performing Arts where we were the recipients of two winners' trophies; the Nicholson Rose Bowl for Madrigal singing and the Nicholson Bowl, an open class for Mixed Voice Choirs. We were also delighted to be awarded the prestigious Oriana Cup for scoring the highest mark across the board in all the adult choir classes beating choirs from North Wales and the North West of England.
Summer of 2007 brought us our third consecutive invitation to perform at the Llandudno Festival which afforded us the opportunity to once again perform with the Manchester Camerata, this time celebrating the centenary of Edward Elgar. A few weeks later saw us flying off to the Hessen region of Germany where we performed in some of the beautiful churches in that area, including Frankfurt's Alte Nikolaikirche and the impressive Schlosskirche in Bad Homburg.
Amici del Canto following the festival-winning performances in Chester.
Sopranos
- Janeen Shaw
- Delora Harding
- Carmen Chapronière
- Dina Kubis
- Debra Finch
- Mary Kiehn
- Kayo Konno
Altos
- Meinir Lloyd Jones
- Kathryn Nash
- Michaela Hibbs
- Kazuyo Lucas
- Cathy Croxton
- Brenda Jones
Tenors
- Richard Hibbs
- Fausto Galli
- Mark Cooke
- Phil Williams
- David Jones
Basses
- Paul Levy
- Tim Heys
- Barry Kiehn
- Julian Whittaker
Instrumental Ensemble
Our Instrumental Ensemble is composed of a collection of exceptionally gifted young players from North Wales whose ages range from 10 to 17. They are all precocious talents of whom much is expected in future years.
The Little Orme in Llandudno, North Wales.
Download the Amici del Canto Brochure.
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