Vocal Focal: Becoming Song

The Opera People redefines the experience of opera both online and in live performances. The company was co-founded in 2018 by David Charles Tay, Jonathan Charles Tay and Shridar Mani and their 2023 5th anniversary season included performances of Purcell’s Dido, Bellini’s La Sonnambula, In Our Manner of Speaking: Altered States and Opera Tok.

Alice Cahya Putri is an Indonesian soprano based in Singapore. She graduated from the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music, National University of Singapore with a Bachelor's degree in voice, where she studied with Professor Alan Bennett. She earned her Master's degree in Opera Singing from the University of Pécs, Hungary, where she studied with Katalin Károlyi. Some of her notable accomplishments include reaching the semi-finals of the International Hans Gabor Belvedere Singing Competition 2022 in Latvia and placing second in the fourth category of the ninth International Singing Competition Lav Mirski in Croatia. She has performed as a part of operas, opera scenes, recitals, and concerts in Singapore, such as The Old Maid and the Thief and Bach Cantatas Series with Masaaki Suzuki. In Hungary, she made her debut as Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro under the direction of Kocsár Balázs, principal music director of the Hungarian State Opera House.

Kira Lim is currently in her third year of undergraduate studies at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music, majoring in Voice Performance under the tutelage of Professor Alan Bennett. She graduated from Lasalle College of The Arts with a Diploma in Performance (Theatre) in 2019.

Kira has participated in some notable singing performances including Hansel and Gretel (2016) as 'Gretel', Mass of The Children and New York Sounds of Summer, Carnegie Hall (Soloist, 2016), Los Angeles International Music Festival (2018), Carmina Burana (Soloist, 2019), Der Zwerg with The Opera People (2019) as ‘First Maiden’, Baby Shark Live! The Hidden Treasure musical (2021-2022) as ‘Shimmer’, In Our Manner of Speaking performing new locally commissioned pieces with The Opera People (2022), Come, Ye Sons of Art, Away! with the Red Dota Baroque and YST Conservatory (Soloist, 2022) and CabaRED with New Opera Singapore (2023). This summer, Kira performed the role of Zerlina in Mozart’s Don Giovanni, performing at the Musikverein in Vienna.

Rebecca Reavley, a British-Chinese soprano from Singapore is a passionate advocate for vocal music and communal singing. She actively engages in the music scene as an educator, conductor and performer. Rebecca began her studies in solo voice with Malaysian coloratura soprano Tan Sin Sim in 2015. She then went on to study classical voice with tenor Peter Wilson in 2017, earning an entrance scholarship at the Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM). During her time there, she has also worked with other established artists like Benjamin Luxon, Michael Chance and Eiddwen Harrhy and performed in the opera chorus for RNCM’s productions of Massenet’s Cendrillon (2018) and Humperdinck’s Hänsel und Gretel (2018). She performed as Gasparina in Haydn’s La Canterina and Giacinta in Mozart’s La Finta Semplice for RNCM’s Opera Scenes in 2019 and 2020. She has also performed as a soloist in Vaughan William’s Serenade to Music and Handel’s Messiah with chamber orchestra. In 2020, she completed her Bachelor’s of Music with RNCM, graduating with First Class Honours. After graduating, she continued her vocal studies with soprano Barbara Bonney from 2021-2022.

As an educator, Rebecca holds the position of Artistic Coordinator at Voices of Singapore, conducting and accompanying their children’s and community choirs. She also serves as a vocal specialist in classical singing at the Voice Company, giving individual singing lessons.