Songs from Shakespeare

Baritone William Drakett studied singing under Prof. Konrad Jarnot at the Robert Schumann Conservatoire in Düsseldorf, following organ and harpsichord studies at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire. His vocal studies have been further enriched by masterclasses with artists including Brigitte Fassbaender, Juliane Banse, Hans Eijsackers, Neal Davies, Eric Schneider, Christianne Stotijn & Henk Neven.

William has a particular love of the art song repertoire and enjoys collaborating with pianists including Hans Eijsackers, Benjamin Mead, Edward Picton-Turbervill, Simon Carrey & Reinild Mees. He now lives in Wells, where he is a Vicar Choral in the choir of Wells Cathedral, and continues his vocal studies privately with John Evans.

Over thirty years ago Simon began piano performance as a child prodigy in his hometown Conservatory in Tarbes, France. He then studied in Toulouse and Boulogne-Billancourt under the direction of Hortense Cartier-Bresson. Alongside the pianoforte he also studied organ, harpsichord and bassoon. Moving to London, he subsequently graduated at the Royal College of Music, where he received his Masters with Distinction in piano performance. He also holds a Master’s degree from the Paris Conservatoire National Supèrieur de Musique.

Simon has performed as a soloist and accompanist in a wide variety of concert halls and music festivals across Europe, notably in France but also in Romania and the UK, including St Martin-in-the-Fields, the Britten Theatre and the Amaryllis Flemming Concert Hall in London.