Open Workshop with Sebastian Black and Hannah Dienes

Saturday 20th June – 4:30pm at Old House Barn

A one off open workshop with Sebastian Black and Hannah Dienes!

The workshop will run like a concert, but involve dialogue, discussion between the performers regarding the interpretation of the pieces.

Some of you will remember the incredible concert with Hugh Hermann Wilson, baritone and Serbastian’s wonderful informative talk and intense accompaniment of the Shostakovich Michelangelo cycle last year.

Tickets are free, but donations via the website or on the day are welcome. Please do book your ticket online, by sending an email or calling 01206 271 291

Programme

Sebastian Black (composer / pianist) and  Hannah Dienes – Williams (voice)

Hugo Wolf – Michelangelo-Lieder (1897)

György Kurtág – Requiem for a friend Op. 26 (1982-86)

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Jean Sibelius – Seven Runeberg Songs Op. 13 (1891-92)

More about the performers

Hannah Dienes-Williams

Hannah Dienes-Williams is a London based soprano working across Europe as a soloist and ensemble singer, with a particular affinity for contemporary music. She graduated with Distinction in her MA from the Royal Academy of Music in July 2025, where she was awarded the DipRam for her final recital, the Edlee Prize for singing and the Edwin Samuel Dove Prize, selected from the whole of the Academy. Whilst studying, she was a member of the Academy Song Circle and supported by the Josephine Baker Trust, as well as being chosen for the Glyndebourne Opera Lab. She became an EQ Artist in 2026, providing mentorship from Barbara Hannigan. Before this, Hannah studied Music at Clare College Cambridge, where she graduated with a First and the Lester Brough Prize for Music.

As a soloist Hannah has performed with Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, London Mozart Players, London Sinfonietta, Riot Ensemble, Savaria Symphony Orchestra, Cavatina Orchestra and Haydn Chamber Orchestra. She is looking forward to performing Huber’s ‘miserere hominibus’ at Salzburger Festspiele this summer with Cantando Admont and ensemble PHACE, as well as singing as a soloist alongside Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra. She regularly sings as an ensemble member with EXAUDI, Edvard Grieg Kor and The Carice Singers.

Sebastian Black is an NZ / British composer, born in 1996 in Colchester, UK. His work has featured at such organisations as the BBC, Budapest Music Center, Het Concertgebouw, Ensemble Modern, Lucerne Festival, Royal Albert Hall and the WDR.

Most recently his work has included Unmentionable Scenes, a 20-minute work for soprano and orchestra based upon the Proceedings of the Old Bailey, historical reports of criminal cases in London. It was written for the Péter Eötvös Foundation, and received its premiere by Hannah Dienes-Williams (supported by Equilibrium Young Artists) and the Savaria Symphony Orchestra. Other recent projects have included the world premiere tour of a new Clarinet Quintet for Quatuor Agate and Jonathan Leibovitz, and performances of To Shimmer, To Quiver, To Quake at Lucerne Festival Academy and in Frankfurt with Ensemble Modern.

Other significant vocal works have included The Mosaiqe of the Aire (a Mahler Foundation commission premiered by the New European Ensemble at Het Concertgebouw as part of the Mahler Festival 2025) and These Harmonious Colonies, a cantata about the colonial history of New Zealand with WDR Sinfonieorchester- und Chorakademie in Cologne. 

Forthcoming projects include a new piece commemorating ANZAC Day for At the World’s Edge Festival (NZ) for performance in London and New Zealand.

He was educated at Chetham’s School of Music and the University of Oxford, before studying with Sir George Benjamin at King’s College London. He was the mentor composer at Péter Eötvös Foundation in Budapest, studying with the late Péter Eötvös, and has participated in the Lucerne Festival Academy.