Deborah Sanders joins Rayfield Allied as Director of Vocal

Rayfield Allied announced today that Deborah Sanders will join the agency from 17 September, 2012.  Deborah, who was an international artist manager at IMG Artists in London from 2007 until earlier this year, will work alongside Ben Rayfield, Andrew Rosner and Robert Slotover to expand and consolidate the company’s roster of singers as Director of Vocal. During her time at IMGA Deborah shaped the careers of such artists as Kostas Smoriginas, Luciano Botelho, Ekaterina Semenchuk and Jay Hunter Morris. 

Managing Director Ben Rayfield commented: “We are delighted that Deborah will be joining our management team as Director of Vocal.  I have always admired her entrepreneurialism, building up a roster of the most exciting clients from scratch as she did at IMGA, and her ability to spot, develop and nurture talent.  Deborah’s passion and drive and her undisputed international track record in a variety of arts management roles will be a huge asset to Rayfield Allied, and we all look forward to this next exciting chapter in the development of the agency.”

Earlier in her career, Deborah was recruited by Sir Richard Attenborough to manage London’s Duke of York’s Theatre under Capital Radio’s (former) ownership; she produced Live from London, a series of weekly rock concerts transmitted live across Europe on Sky; she was founding company manager at Santa Fe Stages, an international theatre festival in New Mexico; she provided her casting and promotional expertise to the Puccini Festival at Torre del Lago, Italy; and was general director’s liaison at San Francisco Opera under the leadership of Lotfi Mansouri.

Deborah Sanders commented: “Ben and I share a common ambition, and I’m delighted to have this unique opportunity to bring my experience to the table and develop the eminent roster of international artists at Rayfield Allied. In these challenging times, I believe it’s important to keep the welfare of the artists foremost in our minds and I’m convinced that together, our roster of exceptional artists will, with careful strategy and planning, enjoy long and successful careers.”

As well as Jay Hunter Morris, Kostas Smoriginas, Luciano Botelho and Janai Brugger (2012 winner of Operalia and the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions), the other artists Deborah brings to Rayfield Allied’s roster are sopranos Aivale Cole, Susanne Elmark and Elena Xanthoudakis, mezzo sopranos Erica Brookhyser, Carla Dirlikov and Ronnita Miller, countertenor Gerald Thompson, tenors Andrew Bidlack,  Andrej Dunaev, Hubert Francis and Mika Pohjonen, and baritones/basses Robert Bork, Tiziano Bracci, Paolo Gavanelli, Reinhard Hagen and Phillip Rhodes.

For more information on Rayfield Allied, please click here: www.rayfieldallied.com/about/

For more information on Deborah Sanders, please click here: www.rayfieldallied.com/about/deborah-sanders/