Born in County Durham, the mezzo-soprano Sarah Connolly studied piano and singing at the Royal College of Music and continued her studies with Gerald Martin Moore. She made her United States début in the 1999/2000 season in the title role of Ariodante. This was followed in the 2000/2001 season by her début at the San Francisco Opera singing both Ino and Juno in Semele. She has since returned to the NYCO as Romeo in I Capuleti ed i Montecchi and in the title role of Xerxes. In 2005 she made an acclaimed Metropolitan Opera début as Annio in La clemenza di Tito and her Carnegie Hall recital début in the Weill Hall. Opera engagements in Europe have included Nerone in L’incoronazione di Poppea at the Maggio Musicale in Florence and her débuts at the Paris Opéra as Sesto in Giulio Cesare; at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées as Juno and at the Munich Festival in the title role of The Rape of Lucretia. At English National Opera her roles include Handel’s Xerxes and Ariodante, Ruggiero in Alcina, Susie in The Silver Tassie, Ottavia in L’incoronazione di Poppea, Dido in Dido and Aeneas and in The Trojans, Sesto in La clemenza di Tito, for which she was nominated for an Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in Opera, and the title role in The Rape of Lucretia, which was televised by the BBC. She has appeared at Glyndebourne and at La Scala, Milan. Her concert engagements include appearances at the Salzburg Festival, Tanglewood Festival, Vienna Konzerthaus, Berlin Philharmonie and the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, with distinguished conductors such as Sir Simon Rattle, Sir Colin Davis, Sir Roger Norrington, Edo de Waart, Philippe Herreweghe and Daniel Harding. She is a regular guest artist at the BBC Proms at the Royal Albert Hall and was invited to take part in the opening festival of Carnegie’s new Zankel Hall in New York. Sarah Connolly is committed to promoting new music, and her world première performances include Mark-Anthony Turnage’s Twice through the heartwith the Schoenberg Ensemble conducted by Oliver Knussen; Jonathan Harvey’s Songs of Li Po at the Aldeburgh Festival and Sir John Tavener’s Tribute to Cavafy at the Symphony Hall, Birmingham. She has collaborated in a number of important recordings in repertoire ranging from Bach to Schoenberg and Vaughan Williams.

Eugene Asti studied at the Mannes College of Music, New York with Jeannette Haien where he earned his B.Mus. and M.A. and subsequently studied piano accompaniment with Graham Johnson at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. Eugene now teaches at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and is Vocal Accompaniment Coordinator at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance and regularly gives masterclasses both in the UK and abroad.
One of the foremost accompanists of his generation, he has performed with many great artists including Dame Felicity Lott, Dame Sarah Connolly, Sir Willard White, Sir Thomas Allen, Sir Bryn Terfel, Angelika Kirchschlager, and Dame Margaret Price in venues such as the Wigmore Hall and the Barbican, London; the Musikverein in Vienna; Mariinsky Theatre in St Petersburg; the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam; the Kölner Philharmonie; the Megaron in Athens; the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels; the Pierre Boulez Saal in Berlin; Symphony Hall in Birmingham and the Alice Tully Hall and Carnegie Hall in New York. He also performs regularly with many leading recitalists such as Sophie Karthäuser, Sophie Daneman, Katherine Broderick, Mhairi Lawson, Helene Wold, Roderick Williams, Stephan Loges, Mark Padmore and James Rutherford.
His many recordings include the complete songs and duets by Felix Mendelssohn, songs by Fanny Mendelssohn and the complete songs of Clara Schumann all for Hyperion. Other recordings include a live recital disc with Dame Sarah Connolly for Signum; the complete Mozart songs with Sophie Karthäuser and Stephan Loges for Cyprès; a disc of Schumann Lieder entitled "Songs of Love and Loss" with Sarah Connolly for Chandos; a recital of English song entitled "Most Grand to Die" and Schubert’s "Schwanengesang" for BIS with James Rutherford and most recently, a disc of Poulenc songs "Les Anges Musiciens" and Hugo Wolf "Kennst du das Land" both with Sophie Karthäuser for Harmonia Mundi. For LAWO Classics he has recorded a disc of Norwegian inspired songs called "Roser og Kjerlighed" (LWC1029) with Helene Wold, Per Andreas Tønder and Vegard Lund and a disc of songs and piano music by Rikard Nordraak (LWC1119) with Helene Wold. Future recordings include a disc of Debussy songs with Sophie Karthäuser for Harmonia Mundi and Schubert’s "Winterreise" with James Rutherford for BIS.
In 2009 Eugene devised and curated a recital series to honour the anniversary of Felix Mendelssohn, for London’s King’s Place. He has also completed an edition of rare Mendelssohn songs for Bärenreiter which was published in 2008. Recent engagements include recitals with Sophie Karthaüser at the Landeskonservatorium, Innsbruck and La Monnaie, Brussels; a recital with Sir Bryn Terfel at the Dresden Music Festival; recitals at the Oxford Lieder and Spring Festivals with Dame Felicity Lott, Dame Sarah Connolly, Sophie Karthäuser, Roderick Williams, Stephan Loges and Mhairi Lawson; and he shared the platform with pianist Graham Johnson and seventeen of the finest young singers of today for the season’s final song recital at the Wigmore Hall.
Future plans include recitals with Dame Sarah Connolly, Sophie Karthäuser, Stephan Loges and James Newby at the Oxford Lieder Festival; with Dame Sarah Connolly at the Wigmore Hall; with Sophie Karthaüser at the Vortragssaal, Staatsgalerie Stuttgart, the Kölner Philharmonie, the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels and in Zürich; with Stephan Loges at the Barbican in London and in Harrogate; and with Sir Willard White at the Barber Institute of Fine Arts in Birmingham. Eugene is a Steinway Artist.