Meet our Associate Artists
Ashley Beauchamp
British conductor and pianist Ashley Beauchamp studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. He has worked on over 30 productions for companies including the Royal Opera House, Glyndebourne, Garsington, Nevill Holt, Music Theatre Wales and Blackheath Halls. He is Head of Music and Co-Director of the Young Artist Programme at Waterperry Opera Festival, Music Director of the Glyndebourne Youth Opera and an Associate Artist (formerly Music Director) of the Thames Opera Company. Ashley is also a guest coach at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire.
Hugely passionate about music education and participation, Ashley regularly runs workshops and projects across the UK, introducing thousands of people of all ages and backgrounds to opera every year. Recent and upcoming highlights include conducting the world-premiere of Spark (Lucy Armstrong) and working as assistant conductor for the world premiere of The Railway Children (Mark-Anthony Turnage) both at Glyndebourne; conducting the world-premiere of Held in the Tide (Charlotte Marlow) for Jersey Opera House; returning to Garsington as assistant conductor for The Importance of Being Earnest (Gerald Barry) and as Vocal Director for their 2026 OperaFirst programme; making his recital debut at the Wigmore Hall with mezzo-soprano Nancy Holt and recording his debut album with internationally renowned flautist Stephen Clark.
Anita Watson
Australian/British soprano Anita Watson is a graduate of the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and the Australian Opera Studio. She was a member of the Cologne Opera Studio and the Jette Parker Young Artist Programme at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden
She has won prizes in many prestigious competitions including the Australian Singing Competition, the Queen Sonja International Music Competition in Oslo, Neue Stimmen in Germany and the Plácido Domingo Operalia competition. She was awarded the first prize and the audience award at the ARD International Music Competition in Munich and the SWR Emmerich-Smola Prize.
Her operatic career highlights include Gretel (Hänsel und Gretel) for the Royal Opera House, Fifth Maid (Elektra) for the Salzburg Festival, Mimi (La bohème) for Opera North, Donna Anna (Don Giovanni) for Opera Australia, Governess (The Turn of the Screw) Teatro la Fenice, Ann Trulove (The Rake's Progress) for Teatro Municipal de Santiago, Flowermaiden (Parsifal) at the BBC Proms. Her most recent roles have included Pamina (The Magic Flute), Micaëla (Carmen) and Countess (Le Nozze di Figaro) for Welsh National Opera, First Lady (The Magic Flute) for the Royal Opera, Governess (The Turn of the Screw) for English National Opera and Freia (Das Rheingold) for Orchestra of the Music Makers, Singapore.
Concert highlights include Strauss' Vier letzte Lieder with the Mariinsky Orchestra in St Petersburg, Mahler's 8th Symphony with Sir Mark Elder and Beethoven's Symphony No.9 with the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia under Sir Antonio Pappano.
Nancy Holt
British mezzo-soprano Nancy Holt recently completed the National Opera Studio 24/25, having previously graduated from the Guildhall School of Music & Drama Opera Course. She is an Oxford International Song Festival Young Artist 2024/25, a Britten Pears Young Artist 2025/26, Opera Prelude Young Artist 2026 and an Edinburgh International Festival Rising Star of Voice 2025. Nancy is the recipient of the 2024/25 Musicians’ Company Salomon Seelig Award, through which she made her debut recital at the Wigmore Hall. She was a finalist The International Handel Singing Competition 2026 and a semi-finalist in the 2026 SWAP’ra Rebecca Clarke Song Competition.
This autumn, Nancy made her debut at The Royal Ballet and Opera as Guest Singer in Like Water for Chocolate. She covered the role of Hebe in HMS Pinafore at English National Opera 2026. She will then be joining The Glyndebourne Festival Chorus for their 2026 season.
Other recent highlights include being awarded the Simon Sandbach Award for her time at Garsington Opera 2024 as an Alvarez Young Artist, where she covered Hermia in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and performed as Maenad 2 in Rameau’s Platée. She won second prize at The Ashburnham English Song Awards 2025.
Nancy is supported by the Help Musicians Sybil Tutton Opera Award and the Countess of Munster Trust. She studies with John Evans. Nancy is also a trained dancer, having studied ballet, modern, and tap dance for over ten years.
Luis Gomes
Portuguese tenor Luis Gomes has earned recognition for his "sunny, Italianate tone", "impeccable legato", and "ardent stage presence". Winner of the Don Plácido Domingo Ferrer Prize of Zarzuela and the Audience Prize at the Operalia Competition 2018, he was also finalist at BBC Cardiff Singer of the World in 2019.
His repertoire include many core lyric tenor roles, including Rodulfo (La bohème), Pinkerton (Madama Butterfly), Edgardo (Lucia di Lammermoor), Don José (Carmen), Alfredo (La Traviata), Nemorino (L'Elisir d'amore), and the Duke of Mantua (Rigoletto).
Luis began his musical education in Lisbon before moving to London, where he graduated from the Guildhall School of Music & Drama. He later trained at the National Opera Studio and the Jette Parker Young Artists Programme at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. Since then, he has performed with leading institutions such as Deutsche Oper am Rhein, Glyndebourne, Finnish National Opera, Teatro Nacional São Carlos, National Theatre Prague, Opéra de Monte-Carlo, Welsh National Opera, and Grange Park Opera.
In concert Luis has performed works including Verdi's Requiem, Beethoven's Symphony No.9, Mozart's Requiem, and Puccini's Messa di Gloria at prominent venues such as Royal Festival Hall, Opera di Roma, Teatro Massimo Palermo, Semperoper Dresden and Concertgebouw Amsterdam.
Upcoming engagements include Beethoven's Symphony No.9 at Teatro Real and Verdi' Requiem at Auditorio Nacional in Madrid, and Rinuccio Gianni Schicchi at Coliseu do Porto and Festival ao Largo, Lisbon