Damian Iorio – Conductor
Damian is one of the founders of the IntensivOpera project.
Born in London into a distinguished family of Italian and English musicians, Damian Iorio is a dynamic and gifted conductor, and enjoys an international career. Having begun his professional life as a violinist, following studies at the Royal Northern College of Music and Indiana University, Damian went on to study conducting at St Petersburg State Conservatoire whilst serving as a member of the Danish National Radio Symphony Orchestra.
Damian has conducted some of the world’s greatest orchestras including the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Philharmonia, San Francisco Symphony, St Petersburg Philharmonic, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic, Detroit Symphony, the BBC Orchestras, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Orchestre National de Belgique and Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne. Recent credits include engagements with Nordic Chamber Orchestra and Brussels Philharmonic Orchestra.
Recent opera engagements include Magic Flute at Welsh National Opera and Boris Godunov at Opéra national de Paris, where he has previously conducted Smetana’s The Bartered Bride. He has conducted at Glyndebourne Festival Opera, Bonn Opera, Norwegian Opera and Helikon Opera in Moscow. Other productions include the Russian premiere of Nyman’s The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, which received a nomination for Best Opera Production at the Golden Mask Festival.
From 2014 to 2019 he held the position of Music Director of Milton Keynes City Orchestra in the UK. Previously he was Artistic Director and Chief Conductor of the Philharmonic Orchestra of Murmansk in Russia where he was the catalyst of its success and growth in both opera and concert performances.
Damian is an experienced teacher and holds the position of Head of Conducting at London Performing Academy of Music. He is also a passionate advocate for music education and the right for anyone to access music, and has been involved in education projects worldwide. Since 2012 he has been Music and Artistic Director of National Youth String Orchestra of Great Britain.
He has made a number of highly acclaimed recordings for Naxos, Sony Classics and Warner Classics, and has been awarded the prestigious “Choc” rating by Le Monde de la Musique magazine. A recording with the RAI National Symphony Orchestra was described as “…the best thing Naxos has put out in years” by Records International online.
In 2021 he launched Sfera Publishing, which focuses on string orchestra arrangements based on the newest critical editions of the original scores.
Damian received the Knight of the Order of Sant’Agata from the Republic of San Marino in recognition for his services to music. He is also an avid cyclist and especially enjoys riding in the mountains.
James Vaughan – Vocal coach/pianist
Leading recitalist and vocal coach, James Vaughan studied at the Royal Irish Academy of Music. After graduating with an honours degree in Musicology and Composition from Trinity College Dublin, he continued his studies with Norma Fisher in London and with Riccardo Brengola on an Italian Government Scholarship at the Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome.
Despite many appearances as soloist, his preference for working with singers soon led him to appointments as vocal coach at the Vienna State Opera and as Head of Music Staff at the Vienna Chamber Opera.
Since then, he has worked regularly with leading singers and conductors including Abbado, Mehta, Harnoncourt, Chung, Pretre and Giulini, as well as Domingo, Carreras, Netrebko, Gheorgiu and Kaufmann.
In 1998 he was invited to be Head Coach at La Scala Theatre in Milan by it’s Musical Director, Riccardo Muti. Since then, he has participated in over seventy productions for the theatre, touring with the La Scala company regularly throughout Europe, Asia and Australia. He has appeared regularly in recital with Leo Nucci, Fiorenza Cedolins, Barbara Frittoli, Jessica Pratt and Pretty Yende in venues such as the Musikverein in Vienna, the Pushkin Museum and Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, at the Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall in New York, and in London at the Wigmore Hall, Cadogan Hall and St John’s Smith Square.
He has worked regularly in masterclasses with singers such as Sena Jurinac, Christa Ludwig, James King and Renato Bruson and has held his own masterclasses frequently throughout Europe and Asia.
He has recently featured in a special documentary film to celebrate La Scala theatre called “The Temple of Music” which was shown in cinemas throughout the world, and further television work for Sky Arte is scheduled for January 2016. In January 2016, he was awarded the Triumph International Award in Rome with Ennio Morricone and actor Michele Placido. He has been invited regularly to act as juror in vocal competitions including the Vinas in Barcelona, the Belvedere in Japan and the Vidisc International in Dublin.
Katrin Kapplusch – Vocal coach
German dramatic soprano Katrin Kapplusch is a former ensemble member of the Aalto Theater in Essen, where she appeared as Lady Macbeth in Macbeth, Leonore in Fidelio, Ariadne in Ariadne auf Naxos, Kostelnička in Jenůfa, the title role in Manon Lescaut, Die fremde Fürstin in Rusalka, Chrysothemis in Elektra, the title role in Tosca, Amelia in Un ballo in maschera, Sieglinde in Die Walküre and Giulietta in Les Contes d’Hoffmann.
Other engagements include the title role in Turandot at the Bregenzer Festspiele, her house debut in the same part at Opéra national de Montpellier, Chrysothemis in Elektra at the Richard Strauss Festival in Garmisch-Partenkirchen and at Theater Basel, Sieglinde in Die Walküre at Oper Graz, the title role in Manon Lescaut at Oper Graz and at Theater Bonn and the title role in Turandot at the Opéra national de Lorraine in Nancy.
Most recently, Mrs Kapplusch appeared as Turandot and Lady Macbeth at Royal Danish Opera in Copenhagen, under Joana Mallwitz in a new production by Benedict Andrews, returned to Opéra national de Montpellier as Ortrud in Lohengrin, a role she also sung at the Aalto Theater Essen, performed Lady Macbeth at the Staatstheater Karlsruhe, Amelia at Staatstheater Darmstadt and Leonore/Fidelio at the Nationaltheater Weimar and gave her house debut at the Opera de Lyon as Chrysothemis, conducted by Hartmut Haenchen.
Concert appearances include Verdi’s Requiem with the Brussels Philharmonic, the Stavanger Symphony Orchestra and at the Konzerthaus Berlin, Strauss’ Vier letzte Lieder with the Hofer Symphoniker, and Leonore in a semi-staged production of Fidelio with the Orchestra of the 18th Century.
Katrin Kapplusch has worked with conductors such as Michael Schønwandt, Tomas Netopil, Michael Boder, Paolo Carignani, Johannes Fritzsch, Stefan Blunier, Daniel Klajner, Michel Tabachnik, Steven Sloane and directors like Stefan Herheim, Christine Mielitz, Robert Carsen and David Herrmann, amongst others.
A student of Josef Metternich in Cologne, Ms Kapplusch started her professional career in the ensemble of Theater Zwickau/Plauen, where early roles included Tatjana in Eugene Onegin, Agathe in Der Freischütz and Pamina in Die Zauberflöte, later followed by Donna Anna in Don Giovanni, Amelia, Tosca and others.
Peter Foggit – Vocal coach/pianist
Peter Foggitt is a pianist, conductor, and composer. He made his piano concerto debut at thirteen, and his Radio 3 broadcast debut at twenty-one, playing Rachmaninov Concerto no.3. As a conductor, chorus master, and vocal coach, he has worked with, amongst others, The Royal Opera, Covent Garden, English National Opera, the Royal Danish Opera, and Polish National Opera. He is currently Head of Coaching at the Theater Plauen-Zwickau. Peter’s compositions have been commissioned by opera companies, choral societies, soloists, and ensembles; they have been performed, broadcast, and recorded by artists ranging from Angela Hewitt to Shirley Bassey. Peter has recently completed doctoral studies in composition at Durham University. His music is published by Stainer & Bell, Shorter House, and Novello. Visit him online at peterfoggitt.com, or tweet him entertaining pictures of puffins @peterfoggitt
Oskar Bergström – Regissör
Oskar Bergström is a Swedish actor, singer and director. He made his debut as a professional actor in 2012 and has since worked in theatre, opera, musical theatre and TV-shows. During the last few years he has moved his focus towards stage directing and learning the ropes through working as an assistant director at NorrlandsOperan
Veronica Janunger – Founder and coordinator of Suitcase Opera
