I actually wrote text for this blog on the evening after the marathon, but I have been so busy lately that I didn't get around to actually posting an update! I am still buzzing reading back over this, it was such a perfect race, a perfect city, and even more perfect that both my partner Tom and I managed to achieve a marathon personal best (PB).

New marathon PB: 3:43:57 

So here is my journal entry from the day itself:
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This morning, Tom and I woke up in our fabulous hotel, threw on our race kit (lovingly flat-layed the night before), and headed to the start line for the Vienna marathon. As we arrived at the train station nearest the hotel, we were primed to buy tickets at the ticket machine, when another passing runner informed us that public transport was free with your race number! Yes- a mini win to start the day.

The race HQ was slightly chaotic with not quite enough signage for my liking. However there were PLENTY of portaloos every few meters, and what more could a runner want on race day!
We stumbled into our correct start block by reading fellow runners race labels (no signage at all for the blocks). And we waited under our thermal blankets for the race to begin. It was a very cold morning, but the sun was shining and the conditions were seemingly ideal for what we wanted.

The first two kilometres were a bridge over the Danube river. I particularly enjoyed the down. Then suddenly the course was gorgeously flat, and running felt so effortless. We were surrounded lots of other well seasoned runners who were setting good pace to keep to. Yet somehow I never felt as though someone was going to step on my toes, or me step on other people. Despite it being quite busy, I always felt like I had space to stretch my legs.
Then we started to run through the historic and monumental city centre. It was all the iconic sights of Vienna in her full glory. Then we were back along the Donaukanal.
My favourite moment was the tree lined path of Park Prater where Kipchoge set his infamous 1:59 marathon with Nike. It was simply stunning, although after nearly 10km in the park I began to wonder when it would ever end. Then at 37km Tom finally caught up with me and overtook me. I chased him as hard as I could, but I never quite caught him. Then at 40km with only 2km to go, I realised that I could actually achieve my target goal dream time. I ran as hard as I could, and my last 700m were a fast, angry push with lots of swearing and shouting.
Vienna will stay in my heart forever, and I will 100% recommend it to all runners.

So it's all over now... what a whirlwind it has been. Here is an action shot from one of the Royal Opera's official photos. Sorry, I don't know who the photographer was - I had to get this photo by print-screening one of their Facebook advertisements. They didn't send out any of the professional photos that they took. You can see me and my curly hair as a blurry mess behind the captivating mezzo-soprano Aigul Akhmetshina who was a marvellous Carmen.

So I have supplemented this shot with a couple of photos of my in the dressing room wearing two of my 4 costumes!

I am thrilled to announce that I finally got my letter to go to Hogwarts (a.k.a The Royal Opera House)! I knew it would happen eventually if I didn’t give up faith. I will be performing as a soprano in the chorus of Bizet’s Carmen at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden in April and May 2024. Come and watch if you can get hold of tickets and are in Laaaaaandan. Otherwise you can check your local cinemas across the world to see if you can watch a live screening, or a replay. I will be a little blob in the corner of a crowd somewhere having the best time of my life, but also pinching myself as my lifetime dreams come true! 

This will be my third production of Carmen in my life. The last time I sang this opera, I played the role of Frasquita and thoroughly enjoyed all the trios and quintet that she gets to vocally skip above the other voices.

The first time I performed this opera was in 2010 - yes the same year as instagram was born. It was my third year as an undergraduate at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, and I remember having huge amounts of fun with the other cast members whilst the curtain was down and the overture was playing. Here are a couple of photos of my costumes from 14 years ago. I wonder what I will wear this time around...

I will update my blog again once rehearsals get more into motion!

Nurse Jenny is back again after 5 years since she last made an appearance in this production of Bizet’s Les Pêcheurs de Perles. All the performances have long been sold out. We are now coming towards the end of the run, but I can’t express how immensely I adore Bizet’s music. When I am hiding inside of the stage while it is rotating, or in the wings preparing for my next entrance, or during my quick changes backstage, I seem to always find myself dancing to this music. I just can’t help but move my body when I listen to these beautiful romantic melodies being played by the Opera Ballet Vlaanderen Orchestra. It is a sublime experience every show, and I am so grateful that I get to do this as my job. I will be sad when the run of 14 shows comes to an end.  Last time we had 16 performances because we also took it to Luxembourg, so that is a total of 30 performances of the same opera - I think this is my record for the most performances of the same production!

​Hello friends, many of you have asked if I could let you know when I am next performing somewhere nearby my hometown (South Bucks). So here you go… it’s a short lunchtime concert (circa 30mins of music) at the pretty church St Mary and All Saints in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, UK. I am going to be experimenting with trying out some new opera arias. It’s a very ambitious programme and a fun challenge to put together. I will be performing with the very talented Andrew Gallacher on piano.

See you there?

Saturday 23rd September at 12:30
Just turn up - no ticket necessary.

And so here it is the start of the 23/24 Season with OBV! We have opened Mozart’s La Clemenza di Tito in Antwerpen, and soon we will be travelling to perform the show in both Gent and Luxembourg. The director has added some strong undercurrents of Belgium’s colonial past in the Congo with the way he has directed this production. My favourite thing that he has done is to recreate the famous painting from the French Revolution, but instead of the red flag, there is a carrier bag tied to a stick. And each of the parallels and props has a softy behind it and a nuance. Very thought provoking stuff, and the reviews are raving about it. Come see it before it goes!

Fri, Apr 21 2023, 19:00 - 20:30h, Opera Gent
Sat, Apr 22, 2023 19:00 - 20:30h, Opera Antwerpen


Here is a clip I just found from when we were rehearsing Fauré’s Les Berceaux for the concert entitled “Friede auf Erden”. We performed this concert the two nights before I had the London Marathon. Immediately after the concert in Antwerp I had to drive to Calais to get the final Eurotunnel crossing to the UK so that I could make it to the start line on time. What an adventure! I remember getting very little sleep that night. 


Anyway in the video, you get a little video, you can get a taster for what it is like for use behind the scenes in the chorus rehearsal room in Opera Antwerpen. This is where the magic all begins!



Choral music by Johannes Brahms, Arnold Schönberg, Fauré, and Hugo Wolf e.a. by the chorus of Opera Ballet Vlaanderen
"It is perfectly possible to compose a peace hymn without believing in eternal peace," Arnold Schönberg reported about 'Friede auf Erden' in 1906. This spellbinding choral work, in which peace figures like a hard-won dream, is accompanied by Johannes Brahms' 'Vier Gesänge, opus 17', in which the women's choir is enveloped in a gloriously romantic sound with horns and harps. Other gems from the German romantic repertoire also make an appearance.
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​Opera Ballet Vlaanderen 2023/24 Season Programme Announced

Mozart: La Clemenza di Tito (Antwerp/Gent/Luxembourg, September-October 2023)
Fauré: Requiem (Gent, 30th September / Antwerp, 4th October 2023)
J Strauss: Die Fledermaus (Antwerp/Gent November 2023)
Bizet: Les Pêcheurs de Perles (Antwerp, December 2023/ Gent, January 2024)
Daan Janssens: Brodeck (Antwerp/Gent, February-March 2024)
Bach/Mozart: Ombra (Antwerp/Gent, March-May 2024)
Janáček: Jenufa  (Antwerp/Gent, June-July 2024)
Beethoven: Symphony 9 & Strauss: Metamorphosen (Gent, 22nd June / Antwerp, 23rd June)