British tenor Philip Clieve was born in Lancashire. He is a graduate of the prestigious National Opera Studio and gained both his MMus and Bachelors’ from the Royal Northern College of Music. 

Philip has worked with most of the UK’s major opera companies, including Opera North, Welsh National Opera and English National Opera. 

Operatic roles include Max Der Freischütz, Alfred Die Fledermaus, Prince Philippe A Dinner Engagement, Gherardo Gianni Schicchi, Zorn Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Ralph H.M.S. Pinafore, The Defendant Trial by Jury, Mr Box Cox and Box and Colonel Fairfax Yeoman of the Guard. He has also performed many Oratorios, including Handel’s Messiah, the Mozart Requiem, Mendelssohn Elijah, Puccini Gloria, Rossini Petite Messe Solennelle, J.S. Bach Magnificat and Stainer The Crucifixion. 

Philip enjoys a varied concert portfolio, having sung Strauss, Schubert and Schumann lieder, English song of the 19th and 20th century and the songs of Paolo Tosti. 

Philip returns to the National Opera Studio as an Associate artist for the 21/22 season.

Armand Rabot is an award-winning young Bass-Baritone from the North West of England. He is currently a third-year undergraduate student at the Royal Northern College of Music studying under Quentin Hayes. Armand recently won the prestigious Junior Kathleen Ferrier Bursary award and in the summer of 2020 he was highly commended in the Elsie Thurston Prize. He has also recently won the Charles Wood Junior Song Competition and the Junior Charles Wood Song Prize, the James Martin Oncken Song Prize and placed second in the inaugural Flat Pack Music Opera Competition. 

Armand grew up in a musical household in the North-West of England and began playing the violin at an early age. However, seduced by its sound, he soon switched to the viola. He played the viola in several amateur orchestras including the Liverpool Philharmonic Youth Orchestra, and with EMAE, an early music group, which offers training in historically informed performance (HIP) and chamber music. 

Armand also has a strong interest in composition and was on the Rushworth Young Composers scheme run by the Liverpool Philharmonic. He still composes regularly and has received commissions from the Wilfred Owen foundation and the Associazione Musicale Gabriella Cipriani. 

Armand only started singing  at the age of 17, having hitherto been busy with viola playing, rugby and cricket, when he joined the Birkenhead School Chapel Choir. This fired in him an enthusiasm for singing and he went on to sing with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Youth Choir, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Choir, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Chamber Choir, Liverpool 24, the Liverpool Bach Collective, and the RNCM Chamber Choir. He gained his experience in cathedral music as a choral scholar at Liverpool Cathedral, as a Deputy Lay Clerk at Manchester Cathedral, Bradford Cathedral and Shrewsbury Cathedral and by singing with the Charles Wood Singers under David Hill.

Armand’s concert appearances include recitals at Liverpool and Shrewsbury Cathedrals, Mozart Requiem at Liverpool Cathedral, Messiah with the St Peter’s Singers and an online recital at the RNCM.