Amici Forever
is a band of four classically trained singers who mix opera with pop music (operatic pop). The band's first album, The Opera Band
(2004), reached number one on the Australian classical charts, number two on the United States (US) classical charts and the top 5 in the United Kingdom (UK) classical charts.
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AMICI FOREVER TICKETS
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History
The members of Amici Forever met when rehearsing and performing at opera venues around the world. The band currently features a tenor, a
baritone, and two
soprano singers.
Tenor Geoff Sewell, originally from
New Zealand, came up with the idea of an "opera band" mixing traditional opera with contemporary pop.
One of the original five members,
Nick Garrett, a
bass-baritone, left the group in August 2005, shortly after the release of
Defined
. Amici's website did not elaborate but seemed to indicate the parting was amicable.
Tenor Geoff Sewell left the group in February 2006 after his daughter Sienna was diagnosed with an
autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This was just after the highly successful tour of Australia and New Zealand. Amici Forever have celebrated two No 1 albums with
The Opera Band
and
Defined
in Geoff Sewell's homeland of New Zealand. He was replaced with Brazilian Italian
Baritone Bruno Santino.
[1]
On 20 September 2006 it was announced on the Amici Forever website that
Jo Appleby would be leaving the group to pursue a career as a solo artist. On 02 February 2007 Lucy van Gasse was introduced as the newest member of Amici.
[2]
Amici Forever signed with
Arista Records and started playing high profile gigs such as the
FA Cup final and the English
rugby union final.
Nick Patrick, who had produced albums by the
Gipsy Kings,
Tina Turner and
Marvin Gaye produced the band's first album,
The Opera Band
.
The Opera Band
was released on
13 January 2004 and soon reached number 74 in the
Billboard 200 album charts and the top 50 of the
ARIA Australian album charts. The album has also reached number 2 on the Billboard Classical Crossover and Heatseeker charts. It became number one on the ARIA Australian classical album chart, as well as the top 5 on the UK classical charts. The album was nominated for "Album of the Year" at the
Classical Brit Awards held at the
Royal Albert Hall on
26 May,
2004 where they also performed.
Their latest album, released in
2005, is called
Defined
, and has reached the top 5 of the Australian album charts.
The Band
As of February 2007, the band consists of:
- Lucy van Gasse
(England) (Soprano)
Lucy was born in
Nailsea, a little town just outside
Bristol. She has a
Bachelor of Music from
Cardiff University.
- Tsakane Valentine
(South Africa) (Soprano)
Tsakane was born in
Johannesburg,
South Africa. She studied
music at
Pretoria University and had
operatic training at the University of Tshwane. She appeared in performances for
Nelson Mandela and
Thabo Mbeki and starred as Maria (the lead role) in
West Side Story for Spier Opera Company in
Cape Town.
[3]
- David Habbin
(England) (Tenor)
David was born in
Fordingbridge,
Hampshire. He spent several years writing and performing with
Pop rock bands. He then began vocal training with international
operatic tenor, Jon Andrew. He completed his studies of
acting and
musical theatre at Mountview Theatre School in
North London. He was in performances of
Les Miserables and
West Side Story on tour and in
West London before finishing his
operatic training at the
Royal Northern College of Music in
Manchester. David then performed with different
UK opera companies, one of which was the
Glyndebourne Festival Opera for their Summer Festival and touring company.
[4]
- Bruno Santino
(Brazil) (Baritone)
Bruno was born in
Belo Horizonte,
Brazil. Bruno originally started down the wrong career path studying
chemical engineering. After being invited to sing in six different choirs, he decided to start learning music instead and began at CEFAR Music School. Bruno won
scholarships to the
Guildhall School of Music and Drama. He completed a Masters degree in Music Performance there, and he concluded with a Post Graduate Diploma in Vocal Training with distinction.
[5]
Discography
- The Opera Band
(2004)
- Defined
(2005)
Tours
Australia/New Zealand Tour – February 2006
UK Tour – May/June 2006
Field of Sound – Eastbourne, UK – June 2007
References
- 2006 News
- 2007 News
- Tsakane Valentine
- David Habbin
- Bruno Santino