All In The Family: Diana Montague & David Rendall Produce Heir

Portrait of Huw Montague Rendall
 by Walter van Dyk

Sometimes in the opera world, celestial singers come together to create some formidable offspring. Such is the case with mezzo-soprano Diana Montague and tenor David Rendall. The English couple made Brockenhurst, Hampshire, their home and produced four children: Mimi, Ed, Nell, and Huw. It is impossible to not have talent on some level when growing up in a house surrounded by music. Witness the jazzy vocals of daughter Nell by clicking here. But it can be expected with such dramatic vocalists for parents, one of the children would venture into the world of opera. Such is the particular case of Huw Montague Rendall. He attended the Ballard School in New Milton, Hampshire, where he graduated in 2010. He went on to study at Brockenhurst College where he received a BTEC National Diploma in Performing Arts. Currently living in London, he is attending the

The Montague-Rendall clan with the
matriarch: Ed, Mimi, Diana, Nell, and 
Huw (Photo: Facebook)

Royal College of Music where he is studying as a baritone and will graduate in 2016 with a Bachelor of Music degree. Thanks to YouTube, we are able to witness his budding talent. Below are videos featuring Huw singing "Questo amor, vergogna mia" from Edgar by Puccini, "Oh What a Beautiful Morning" from Oklahoma by Rodgers & Hammerstein, "Ombra mai fu" from Xerxes by Händel, "Les Berceaux" by Fauré, and "Se Vuol Ballare" from Le Nozze di Figaro by Mozart:

The name Huw is of Welsh
origin and means "heart,
mind and spirit"
(Photo: Facebook)

Other than a brief work stint at Tesco, a multinational grocery and general merchandise retailer headquartered in the UK, Huw's only other venture outside the classical music realm has been performing with the band Shrunk In The Wash. He has been lead singer since 2004. The band plays jazz and rock, among other favorites, for various functions. You can see the band in action by clicking here and listen to an amazing rendition of "It Ain't Necessarily So" below:

(Photo: Twitter)

Best of luck to Huw Montague Rendall on his future in music and we will be sure to feature him more often when he reaches the stages of the world's leading opera houses. Be sure to visit his Facebook page and his Twitter page to keep abreast of current engagements. You can read more about Diana Montague and David Rendall after the jump. [Source]

Christine Brewer Talks About Doing Musical Theater For The First Time

The soprano leads a chorus of nuns in The Sound of Music. (Photo: Todd Rosenberg/BWW)

"Christine Brewer usually goes several days between performances. As a dramatic soprano who specializes in the taxing roles of Richard Strauss and Richard Wagner, rest is important to conserve her voice and her strength. Not this time. This time, as the Abbess in Rodgers and Hammerstein’s The Sound of Music at Lyric Opera of Chicago, she’s on a musical theater schedule of eight performances a week, including just one day off and two days with two shows, a matinee and an evening performance. 'This is an unusual schedule for me,' the Lebanon, Illinois-based singer said in a telephone interview last week. 'I’ve never done a musical theater piece before. I don’t sing that much (in the show), but when I do, it’s big guns. I'm eating a lot of chicken soup and taking my vitamins.'....Brewer worked on her dialogue in St. Louis with her voice teacher, Christine Armistead, and with director Mark Bruni, 'and then it was Jenn [Gambatese]. She'd say, 'Let’s just run the lines.' We’ve developed a really nice relationship on and off stage. Words are so important in singing, and this is really giving me a chance to bring that to my mind in a different way.' She's connected with others in the cast, too. 'When you’re in an intimate, very emotional preparation and performance, it’s like family,' Brewer said. 'I knew (soprano) Elizabeth (Futral, who plays Elsa), and some of the women from the chorus, and that was it. The first days were a little tense; the musical theater people had never worked in an opera house, with such a big space to rehearse in, such a big stage, and a full orchestra.' They had some trouble adjusting to the idea that singers regularly fill that giant auditorium with sound with no amplification....In her free time, Brewer is working on her music for Dialogues of the Carmelites at Opera Theatre of St. Louis. 'I'm feeling holy,' she joked, with back-to-back nun roles." [Source] A picture of Elizabeth Futral, as Elsa, is after the jump.