Susanna MacRae (Voice) & Claire Habbershaw (Piano)

Join Royal College of Music trained soprano Susanna MacRae, accompanied by pianist Claire Habbershaw for an intimate lunchtime concert in the stunning setting of Northwood House's Ballroom. You can join us for lunch directly after the concert, served in the Drawing Room. Select from our three options when buying tickets.

Buy all 8 concerts in this series for the price of 7, by clicking here.

If you would like to join us for lunch afterwards, please pre-order by the end of the Monday, two days before the concert.

Welcome to Wight Proms Wednesdays! We would like to bring you a bit of the Wight Proms throughout the year and not just in August, and so we launched this lunchtime concert series. Taking place at 12:30 on Wednesdays and each lasting 40 minutes, they are the ideal addition to your lunch break.

BIOGRAPHY

Susanna MacRae

Susanna graduated from the Royal College of Music, London, where she studied with Jeffrey Stewart (Vocal Studies) and Nigel Clayton (Piano). She enjoys a busy performance schedule across the U.K. and Europe. Recent highlights include the launch of the curated song recital 'Words of Women' in collaboration with pianist Claire Habbershaw at the Jersey Festival of Words. This recital will tour multiple festivals in the U.K. in 2024. Earlier this year she debuted as Dorinda in Liberata Collective’s sold-out run of Handel’s Orlando at Buxton International Festival and Lichfield Festival in collaboration with Ensemble Hesperi and Adrian Butterfield. Susanna appeared on BBC Radio 3 to introduce the show, and the production received rave reviews, including 4 stars from The Stage; “MacRae brings Dorinda alive, her voice...matching Handel’s notes with perfect poise”.

In January she created the role of German Child in Noah Max’s critically acclaimed debut opera, A Child in Striped Pyjamas. For this role she appeared on BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme and received many review mentions including; “Finely sung” (The Telegraph),  “Stratospheric notation…admirably executed” (Evening Standard) and “MacRae’s coloratura was beautifully handled” (Opera Magazine). In February she also sang Anne (Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress) for Aylesbury Opera. Highlights from last season include a summer at Longborough Festival Opera.

Susanna, alongside Olivia Doutney is the Co-Founder and Co-Director of Liberata Collective CIC, a Community Interest Company serving Cultural Education and the Performing Arts. Baroque Gesture is central to their productions and their first production of Handel’s Orlando tours several major U.K. festivals over the 2023/24 season, supported by Arts Council England, The Fidelio Trust and The Golsoncott Foundation.

Claire Habbershaw

Claire is an award winning British pianist and musical director, who specialises in vocal repertoire. She is an experienced vocal coach and an increasingly sought after international recitalist, concert curator and recording artist. She has performed "Out of Winter" for Jonathan Dove, as part of his 60th birthday celebrations and "The Pine Boughs Past Music" op.39 in the presence of Ian Venables at 1901 Arts Club.

Claire has performed alongside world renowned tenor Charles Castronovo, for instance in major international music festival Midsummer Vilnius and Divas&Scholars. She recently played alongside Catronovo in Sainte-Chappelle for the Paris Opera Festival and received the following review from Olyrix magazine: "Habbershaw delivers an accompaniment full of finesse, knowing how to enhance the impetuosity of the tunes interpreted without going beyond the percussive dimension of her instrument". She recorded the songs of Tosti alongside Castronovo for global label Delos, due for release in late 2024 .

Claire performed alongside soprano Susanna MacRae as part of Jersey Festival of Words in September 2023 and will bring their original "Words of Women" programme to venues across the UK over 2023/24. She played alongside world renowned counter tenor James Laing for a recital for Divas& Scholars in October 2024. She has given/curated recitals at notable venues in the UK as well as abroad, including St James' Piccadilly, 1901 Arts Club, Faversham Assembly Rooms, Mansion House (performing for the Lord Mayor of London), Milton Court Concert Hall, PoundArts, Holy Trinity Sloane Square, Waltham Abbey, Farnham Maltings, Southwark Cathedral, St Stephen Walbrook, Old Royal Naval College Chapel & the Painted Hall in Greenwich, Blackheath Halls, Brentwood Cathedral and many historic churches in and around London/the UK.

Claire studied as a Guildhall Scholar at Guildhall School of Music and Drama and held the position of Junior Fellow there, where she is now a staff pianist for the music and drama departments. She previously studied as a Trinity London Scholar at Trinity Laban, where she won every duo Song prize available at the institution. She was awarded the Founders Prize for Piano Accompaniment and the Raymond Russell Prize for Harpsichord at Trinity Laban. At Guildhall, she won the Chartered Surveyors Prize. Furthermore, she was a recipient of the British Clavichord Society scholarship for lessons and is an experienced continuo player. She has curated projects for Guildhall and Trinity Laban, as well as being engaged as a musical director/arranger for productions at Guildhall, most recently "Our Town" written by Thornton Wilder and directed by John Haidar, which received four star reviews.