THE JOHN SELDON MASTERCLASS
Sunday 14 June 2026
Introduction
Ever wondered what it's like to train as an opera singer? Our inspiring classical singing masterclass on Sunday 14 June gives you the opportunity to find out, as three promising young performers work through a programme of music under the expert guidance of HCO's Musical Director, Lynton Atkinson and Artistic Director, Joy Robinson. The masterclass offers a valuable opportunity to observe the development of young vocal talent and aims to share with singers and audience alike the vocal, dramatic and artistic responses that inform casting and performance decisions in HCO's stage productions.
Joy Robinson - HCO Artistic Director
Singing
Joy studied at the Birmingham School of Music and the Guidlhall School of Music and Drama. She participated in masterclasses with Elisabeth Schwartzkopf, Gerard Souzay and Sena Jurionac, was a finalist in the NFMS Concert Artist Award and winner of the Mario Lanza Foundation Scholarship. She has performed throughout Europe, notably singing Junge Hirt in Tannhaüser at the Bayreuth Festival with Sinopoli, available on an acclaimed DVD. She also performed Elgar's Apostles with Bonn Symphony Orchestra and the B Minor Mass with Bergen Philharmonic in Norway.
Joy recorded Rossini's Petite messe solenelle for Meridian Records with Combattimento, for whom she sang Dido in Dido and Aeneus at the Royal Naval College. Other UK performances include: the B Minor Mass in the Barbican; Verdi's Requiem; Baba the Turk in Stravinsky's The Rake's Progress; and Britten's Mrs Noah in Noye's Fludde. Early in her career she toured the UK as a soloist and recitalist through the National Federation of Music Societies.
Teaching
She is a sought-after singing teacher in the Bournemouth area and teaches at Francis Holland School, Sloane Square.
Directing
Joy has directed all of HCO's productions, including Acid and Galatea, The Magic Flute, Dodo and Aeneas, Don Pasquale, La Bohème, Don Giovanni, La Cenerentola and La Traviata.
Lynton Atkinson - HCO Musical Director
Singing
Lynton's career as tenor soloist in opera, concert and oratorio began soon after his training at Cambridge University, leading to performances in prestigious venues throughout the world including The Royal Opera (where he was a contract principal artist), Strasbourg Opera, The Dutch National Opera, Turin Opera, Berlin, Trieste and Dublin.
He has performed in the Musikverein Vienna, with the RAI orchestra in Milan, and Monteverdi's Vespers in such venues as Westminster Abbey, Winchester and Norwich Cathedrals, Cologne's Philharmonie, Berlin's Neues Schauspielhaus, Disney Hall in Los Angeles and at the Tanglewood and Ravinia Festivals. In the USA he sang the title roles in Monteverdi's Orfeoand Il Ritorno d’Ulisse with Boston Baroque, to critical acclaim.
He has performed with artists including Willard White, Andreas Scholl, Simon Keenlyside CBE, Dame Janet Baker, Dame Emma Kirkby, Roderick Williams, Dame Kiri te Kanawa, Jose Carreras, John Tomlinson CBE, Sir Thomas Allen, under conductors including René Jacobs, Bernard Haitink, Richard Bonynge CBE, William Christie, Daniel Barenboim, Sir Neville Marriner and Sir Simon Rattle.
Teaching
Lynton is a Vocal Professor at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance, and has a busy private practice in London and Bournemouth. He has established a reputation as an inspiring and effective teacher. He is an accomplished accompanist with excellent keyboard skills and has worked as an external examiner and adjudicator at the Royal College of Music and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.
Conducting
Having directed the Gentlemen of St John's at Cambridge, Lynton conducted the Bournemouth Symphony Chorus and is regularly invited to conduct for the Broadstone Music Series. With Hurn Court Opera he directed Handel's Acis and Galatea and Purcell's Dido and Aeneas from the harpsichord and conducted Mozart's Die Zauberflöte, Bach's Kaffekantate, Donizetti’s Don Pasquale and Puccini’s La Bohème.
Courses
In 2011 Lynton founded and continues to direct the flourishing Wessex Solo Singers Courses which help singers to develop technical and presentational skills through frequent performance practice. So far there have been over 25 courses, each attracting up to 60 singers and high-calibre staff.
Participants
Participants
Samuel Horton
A tenor from Stoke-on-Trent, Samuel studies under the tutelage of Marilyn Rees at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama. Graduating from The Royal Northern College of Music, Samuel performed within the college the roles of Mr. Rushworth in Jonathan Dove’s Mansfield Park and General Sir Philip Wingrave in Benjamin Britten’s Owen Wingrave. At the GSMD, Samuel has performed the roles of Ein Bursche in Ethel Smyth’s Der Wald and covered the role of General Sir Philip Wingrave in their February 2026 production of Owen Wingrave.
In Summer 2024 Samuel performed the role of Male Chorus in Benjamin Britten’s The Rape of Lucretia for British Youth Opera. Samuel was a member of the 2025 National Opera Studio Academy cohort.
Joyce Wong
Born in Hong Kong, Joyce Wong is a third-year undergraduate soprano studying at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance with Lynton Atkinson and Helen Yorke. She started singing as a
scholarship holder at the Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts Junior Programme and was later featured on the Hong Kong Radio Television’s Star from School programme. She is proud to have
represented Trinity Laban in the Junior Kathleen Ferriers competition last year.
She also enjoys singing in her college Opera Scenes and productions, recent choruses include Le Roi d’Ys, Tales of Hoffmann, and Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria. Her love of performing and collaboration with fellow musicians has granted her the opportunity to sing in Ailish Tynan’s masterclasses, as well as performing as a soloist in Schlosskirche Mirabell Salzburg, St Peter’s Abbey, Ghent, the Royal Theatre of Bruges and St James Piccadilly.
Joyce is a Dame Susan Morden Choral Scholar at the Old Royal Naval College Chapel under the direction of Ralph Allwood MBE. With the choir, she has had the privilege to record evensong broadcasts for BBC Radio 2 and perform as a soloist in works like Haydn’s Creation. She also sings with the BBC Symphony Chorus. She is looking forward to being involved in the productions of Suor Angelica and Don Pasquale with Opera de Bauge this summer.
Alex Hardy
Bass-Baritone Alex Hardy is currently studying a Masters of Performance degree at the Royal College of Music as an RCM Scholar, under Jonathan Lemalu and Stephen Varcoe. His studies are generously supported by Ian Evans-Lombe. In 2025 he graduated BMus with First Class Honours from Trinity Laban, where he had been studying with Dr Robert Alderson.
While at the RCM, Alex has performed the roles of ‘Bader and Parson’ from Janacek’s The Cunning Little Vixen. He also performed the roles of ‘Leporello’ (Don Giovanni), and ‘Don Bartolo’ (Il Barbiere di Siviglia) in the RCM’s Opera scenes. He has also performed for Hurn Court Opera as the Cover Dottore Grenvile and Chorus in their 2026 production of Verdi's La Traviata.
Photo: Edward Hardy
In July 2026 he will perform the roles of ‘Town Mayor/Bandit Chief’ in Deniz Dortok’s The Boy who went to find fear; ‘The Megalotron’ in Asher Joyce’s Three Lives; and ‘Theatre Manager’ in Lasha Kharkhelauri’s Ramona, as part of the RCM’s collaboration with Tête à Tête Opera.
While an undergraduate at Trinity Laban, Alex performed roles in the Trinity Laban Postgraduate Opera Scenes, singing roles such as ‘Baron Zeta’ (Die Lustige Witwe), ‘Truffaldino’ (Ariadne auf Naxos), ‘Taddeo’ (L’Italiana in Algeri), and ‘Leporello’ (Don Giovanni).
As a keen Oratorio performer, and a Josephine Baker Trust Artist, Alex has sung as a soloist for Choral Societies and Choirs across England, notably with The Northampton Bach Choir (Handel – Dixit Dominus), Wimbledon Choral Society (Cecilia McDowall – Da Vinci Requiem), The Leith Hill Music Festival (Mendelssohn – Elijah), Hertford Choral Society (Bach – Magnificat), Bury Choral Society (Rossini – Petite Messe Solenelle), and The Choir of Lincoln Cathedral (Bach – Passion according to St John ‘Christus’).
Alex is also a regular member of the BBC Symphony Chorus and has performed in major Concert Halls and Festivals throughout London singing in both the full chorus, and in semi-choruses and solos from within the chorus most recently in Bartok’s Cantata Profana under the baton of Dalia Stasevska.
Whilst studying at Trinity Laban, Alex was one of two students to conduct the Chamber Choir for the Conservatoire’s first student-lead project under the mentorship of Vicente Chavarria. He went on to be Hertford Choral Society’s Conducting Fellow for their 2024-25 season. Alex was a Dame Susan Morden Choral Scholar in the Chapel Choir, which was directed by Dr Ralph Allwood MBE, where alongside his musical commitments he assisted Dr Allwood in the running of the choir.
Samuel Horton
Schubert - Die Forelle
Dvořák - Cypresses 1
Britten - The Ride to Rome (Tarquinius does not wait), The Rape of Lucretia
Joyce Wong
Liszt - Pace non trovo (Petrarch Sonnets 1)
Barber - O Boundless, Boundless Evening
Mozart - Ma se colpa io non ho / Batti Batti, Don Giovanni
Alex Hardy
Brahms - O Tod (Vier Ernste Gesange 3)
Walton - There you are at it again, The Bear
Handel - Al sen ti stringo e parto, Ariodante