The BBC Performing Arts Fund  is a charity funded through revenue from the voting lines of BBC One entertainment programmes such as ‘Strictly Come Dancing’, ‘Over the Rainbow’ and this year ‘The Voice’ will be raising money through their voting lines.  The fund has been running since 2003 and has already awarded over £3.8m worth of grants – seeking out and supporting aspiring performing arts individuals and community groups to enable them to achieve their greatest potential through the fund.

This week marks the start of  ‘The Voice’ live shows.  The artists compete against each other during several live shows on BBC One.  Ultimately just one competitor will be named “The Voice” – and will win a recording contract.  You can start voting for your favourite singer this week on ‘The Voice’ and from each vote, a minimum of 10p per call will go to the BBC Performing Arts Fund!

Kathryn and Reggie Yates, presenter of the The Voice UK, BBC One. Image courtesy of the BBC Performing Arts Fund.

On 19th March 2012 I performed at BBC Broadcasting House in a showcase event for the BBC Performing Arts Fund. It was a great evening celebrating the work of the fund and  showcasing the talent of past recipients.  The BBC PAF were also delighted to announce that this year they will be giving £450,000 towards the development of new music and new musicians through two new schemes:   Community Musicians and Music Fellowships.

This year the Kathleen Ferrier Society are celebrating the centenary of the life and work of Kathleen who was born at Higher Walton, near Blackburn,  on 22^nd April 1912.    Kathleen became a singer of international renown but never lost contact with her roots in the North West of England which both shaped her personality and provided many formative musical experiences.

My first contact with the Kathleen Ferrier Society was as a second year postgraduate student in 2005 when I was selected to represent the RNCM at the Kathleen Ferrier Young Singer’s Bursary Competition.  It was my first experience of an external vocal  competition and  I can remember the apprehension I felt wondering what to expect from the day and how I would cope with a competitive public recital.      It was a very special day and I was so thrilled to be awarded the Joyce Budd Bursary Prize.    I have very happy memories of the competition day and the members of the Kathleen Ferrier Society (KFS) made me feel very welcome and were so supportive throughout the event.    I have been so honoured to be associated with the KFS – through the memory of Kathleen Ferrier they genuinely care and support young singers. There is a lovely pride and enthusiasm as they follow singers at the beginning of their singing careers.

The ‘sell out’ concert took place in Bridgewater Hall’s Barbirolli Room. The day prior to the recital Dr. Christopher Fifield, Kathleen’s Biographer, and I were invited to BBC Radio 4 Woman’s Hour to talk to Jenni Murray about Kathleen’s life and career.  Here is a clip of the broadcast. A revised and enlarged edition of the ‘The Letters and Diaries of Kathleen Ferrier’ edited by Dr. Christopher Fifield has been published to mark Kathleen’s centenary year – it is a great read!

It was a great pleasure to perform with pianist James Baillieu for such an enthusiastic audience. The programme included some pieces from Kathleen’s repertoire  – ‘The Stuttering Lover’s’ is one of my favourite recordings by Kathleen.   Peter Davison, Artistic Director at Bridgewater chaired the event.  A special mention must go to Sylvia Alexander who works tirelessly as co-chairman of the Ferrier Society and to Kath Hopcroft , Kathleen’s God Daughter,  who has been such a wonderful support  and has attended many of my concerts and opera performances.

On being awarded the Joyce Budd prize in 2004 I was introduced to Joyce Budd’s sister Dorothy Ford, a very special and inspirational lady. Dorothy is sadly no longer with us, but to have met her and to have spoken with her regularly in the early stages of my singing was the most wonderful gift to have been given that day.

For more information about The Kathleen Ferrier Society’s and their wonderful programme of Centenary Events this year please visit http://www.kathleenferrier.org.uk/kfs.nsf/Pages/2012_Diary.

Special thanks to everyone involved in making the concert at Bridgewater Hall a great event!

Crosby Hall Educational Trust Sunday Recital Series

Crosby Hall Educational Trust (CHET) is a charity which aims to provide bursary assistance to children who otherwise would not be able to afford such a valuable educational experience. The CHET Bursary Fund is sustained through a number of fundraising activities throughout the year – including the Annual Art Fair, Coffee Mornings, Carol Concert, Crosby Hall Garden.

It was lovely to perform  a recital with pianist Daniel Browell as part of the Sunday Concert Series on 18^th March 2012.  It is a beautiful venue and there was a very friendly enthusiastic audience.

…and I think I have found a new friend!

Thanks to everyone who helped to organise the event!

For information on forthcoming CHET events click here.

I began rehearsals for Giulio Cesare at Opera North in November 2011, one week after the completion of English National Opera’s production of ‘The Marriage of Figaro’.   I had originally been engaged to cover the role of Sesto in the production and was thrilled to be offered the opportunity to perform in the principal role.  It was certainly a great transition from my role as Mozart’s cheeky Cherubino into Handel’s serious character of Sesto – a young boy to a young man.

The experienced cast, crew and team at Opera North were wonderful to work with.  Under the direction of Tim Albery and the musical guidance of Conductor Robert Howarth the production made great progress and I learned so much.  I loved exploring the musical style and the dramatic journey of Sesto through his will to avenge the perpetrators of his father’s murder .   The set and costume for the production were designed by Leslie Travers  and in the first week we gained a great insight into the production plans through a model showing and talk with Tim Albery.  It was really exciting to learn about the ideas for each character and to see Sesto’s military style costume for the first time.

There is a great blog by Technical Manager Peter Restall on the design of Giulio Cesare which gives a real insight into the set,

“The main set represents Egypt; it is a pyramid box that is annexed by tall Roman concrete walls. The Romans invented concrete and their civilisation was very structured, in contrast to the decadence and corruption of the Egyptians, inhabiting this gold inlaid pyramid. The pyramid was based on a jewel box seen at the British Museum, and interpreted here as one that is breaking down and rotting, reflecting elements of their society. The movement and rotation of the set by ‘slaves’ also allows for the opera to flow fluidly from one scene to the next: it opens up, reveals a warren of passageways and beautiful gold, mirrored walls and floors.”

We were able to utilise the set throughout rehearsals and get to grips with sliding doors and steps. We had a wonderful team of people moving the heavy structure of the set from one scene to the next which made for magical transitions. This was my first time working on a production that would be going on tour and it was really interesting to see how this would be taken into consideration throughout all of the staging.  It was a real pleasure to be a part of such a lovely cast and when I wasn’t needed on stage it was such a treat to watch the drama unfold and listen to the beautiful music.

Set for 'Giulio Cesare' at Opera North

Rehearsals finished a couple of days before Christmas and our final rehearsal was a studio run. It was a lovely atmosphere and there was sense of achievement to run the piece for the first time … just in time for the Christmas break!    Leeds is a great city – especially for shopping! I was really grateful that the theatre was located so close to the wonderful Victorian shopping arcades and I made the most of the opportunity to do some last minute late night Christmas shopping!

Home of Opera North: Leeds Grand Theatre

Our sitzprobe rehearsals commenced in January and following this we continued rehearsals on The Grand Theatre stage – I had made sure that I didn’t overdo the Christmas festivities in order that I would still fit into Sesto’s uniform!   As soon as rehearsals began in costume it was great to see how the character would look and the wig was a wonderful addition to becoming Sesto!

We had  five wonderful evenings of Guilio Cesare in The Grand Theatre in Leeds before going on tour with the production.   The theatre was built in 1878 in a backlash to the music hall tradition. With 1,500+ seats over five levels, it is one of the most beautiful  theatres  in Britain.   It was such a pleasure to perform there to full houses and to very enthusiastic audiences  – I take away such fond memories from having made my debut with Opera North in the role of Sesto and a big thank you to everyone who made it such an amazing experience.

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Author and screenwriter Frank Cottrell Boyce presented the evening and  Professor Ian Tracey conducted. The programme included Verdi’s Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves, Handel’s Zadok the Priest and Halleluiah Chorus, concluding in a Last Night of the Proms-style finale. The event raised in excess of £12,000 for the Hospice  and the monies will go towards Jospice’s work in caring for Merseyside people with terminal and life- limiting illnesses.

Pat Murphy, Ashley Holland, Danielle Louise Thomas, Kathryn Rudge, Monica McGhee and Paul Charles Clarke at the Liverpool Philharmonic Hall. Image Courtesy of Jospice

Click here to read the Crosby Herald article

In 1974 the UK Jospice opened in Thornton, near Crosby. Founded by Father Francis O’Leary, a missionary priest, St Joseph’s Hospice (Jospice) originally began in South America and Pakistan in the 1960′s.

Jospice provides care and support to terminally ill people and their families from within the Liverpool and Sefton areas. The hospice can care for 25 people at one time providing high quality end of life care in an out of a hospital situation. Jospice has also continued its work overseas and has hospices in Honduras, Guatemala, Peru and Ecuador and is also linked to hospices in many parts of South America, India and Pakistan which still bear the Jospice name.

Jospice is partially funded by the NHS, fundraising is a vital part of the work they do. There are many more fundraising events taking place throughout 2012 in aid of Jospice – if you would like to support them and get involved you can find more information here .

 

  “Clatterbridge Cancer Research works to fund research to advance the understanding of cancer for the people of Merseyside and Cheshire. …our research laboratories based in Liverpool focus on how to prevent, diagnose and treat cancer, as well as understanding how to provide the most effective on-going care for cancer patients.”

Clatterbridge Cancer Research - Donate

Over the past 31 years Clatterbridge Cancer Research has invested more than £20 million into cancer research – but they can’t continue to do this without support. Clatterbridge Cancer Research is an independent charity which receives no NHS funding and relies solely upon public donations to survive.

  “We need to raise in excess of £2 million every year to continue with our vital research – that is nearly £5,500 every day. Visit our donate page to find out how you can support us today, or find out about all the ways you can get involved in supported cancer research in your region.”

Interesting facts about the Liverpool cathedral…

• The Cathedral is the largest in the whole of the UK and the fifth largest in the world (I can’t begin to imagine how big the biggest is!) It’s bells are the highest and have the heaviest peal in the world.
• There are two pipe organs in Liverpool Cathedral – The Grand Organ is the largest in the UK and is considered to be one of the largest operational church organs in the world with 10,267 pipes.
• The Cathedral is considered to have 2 out of 3 of the most powerful stops in the world. The Trompette Millitaire and the Tuba Magna on the Great Organ operate on 50” of wind pressure and are each as loud as an entire organ played on their own. The sound of the stops is aided by generous 8-9 second reverberation in the Cathedral.
•  The setting was magical and what a magnificent space to sing in! I found another concert Christmas tree…and it was huge! (a 50ft. tree from Grizedale Forest in Cumbria!). They also had a huge wreath (weighing 25kg.) on the Great Western door of the Cathedral.

It was a pleasure to be involved in the evening and the people from Clatterbridge Cancer Research were lovely to work with and truly inspiring in their dedication to raising awareness and funds for their continued research for Cancer patients.

 A wonderful way to mark the start of the 2011 Christmas celebrations.  

Merry Christmas Everyone!

 ”Clatterbridge your cancer centre’ raises funds to directly benefit the patients of Clatterbridge Centre for Oncology, the leading cancer treatment centre for people in Merseyside, Cheshire, Lancashire & the Isle of Man. They are dedicated to delivering excellence and always striving to improve what they do, creating a positive environment, providing vital research and the best possible care and support to around 26,000 patients each year and their families. They do this for their Centre in Wirral, their network of chemotherapy treatment clinics across the region, and their brand new radiotherapy centre in Liverpool.”

Roland Wood as Count Almaviva, Kathryn Rudge as Cherubino, Iain Paterson as Figaro in The Marriage of Figaro, performed by English National Opera

The final performance of the 2011 run of Fiona’s Shaw’s production at the ‘Marriage of Figaro’ on the London Coliseum took place on 10th November and marked the tenth performance.

Curtain Call with Timothy Robinson (Basilio) and Mary Bevan (Barbarina)

 

It was a great pleasure to be a part of such a popular piece as Mozart’s ‘Marriage of Figaro’ and to be stood in Cherubino’s long-johns! It was an honour to work with such a great team at ENO and thank you to everyone who shared, supported and made it all so special!