Last night, on Sunday 25th June, I sang for an open air charity event to raise money for the Grenfell Tower victims. It was organised by the community around the tower and in an open air space that directly faced the blacked out and charred remains of the tower. This was such an emotional performance for me - especially knowing that so many people had died inside of that building.

The crowd loved it - many of them had never heard an opera singer live before. And when I sang "You'll Never Walk alone" everyone was singing along with me. It was a very eclectic event, before me was a Blues band, and after me a reggae band. There had also been steel drumming and community gospel choirs. 

It was a performance like no other I had ever experienced before and like none I will probably ever experience again.

"When you walk through a storm
Hold your head up high
And don't be afraid of the dark
At the end of a storm
There's a golden sky
And the sweet silver song of a lark

Walk on through the wind
Walk on through the rain
Though your dreams be tossed and blown
Walk on, walk on
With hope in your heart
And you'll never walk alone
You'll never walk alone
​
Walk on, walk on
With hope in your heart
And you'll never walk alone
You'll never walk alone"

I was privileged to to be a Britten-Pears Young Artist this June. And wanted to write a blog about my experience now that I have returned from the singing Britten Course.

If you don't know who Benjamin Britten (1913-1976) is - here is his wikipedia page. In a single sentence; he was (and still is) one of the most influential British composers for vocal music and opera of the twentieth century.
He was mostly based in Aldeburgh, Suffolk where the course took place. It was fascinating to surround myself with many of the sights and sounds that he would have been inspired by. It really helped me to understand his song writing better.

We were also privileged to watch the opera production of A Midsummer Night's Dream while we were there. It is so interesting to compare the way he wrote for piano and voice with the way he wrote for opera.

The repertoire I was working on and performed in the masterclasses with my wonderful pianist Keval Shah, was:

On this Island (Op. 11)
I.Let the florid music praise!
II. Now the leaves are falling fast
III. Seascape
IV. Nocturne
V. As it is, plenty

Britten Folk Song Arrangements
Ca' the yowes
Lemady
O can ye sew cushions
She's like the Swallow
The Last Rose of Summer
The Salley Gardens

Who are these Children? (Op. 84)
II. "A Laddie's Sang"
IV. "Black Day"​
X. "Supper"
XII. "The Auld Aik"

I learned a great deal about music and artistry while I was on the course. I think the main thing I will take away is that it is important to be very specific when singing a song. You have to have an idea for every word and syllable that you sing. That is what will make the text come alive and really mean something.

I'm not finished with singing music by Britten (even if the course has now ended). I will be performing some of the songs that I worked on during my time in Santander, Spain. And in August I will be singing 2nd Niece in Britten's Peter Grimes for Dartington. 

As part of my job as a professional singer I am always travelling for work and taking photos of the places that I go and wonderful things that I experience. I then post these on social media so that my friends can follow my adventures.
But... my Mum doesn't do Facebook or Twitter or Instagram, so she never sees my posts and photos like this one from when I performed at the V&A Museum.

I have decided that I want to send some of my experiences, as personalised photo postcards to my Mum. I did a bit of research on the internet about which was the best mobile app to use on my phone. I have come up with my top 2 UK Postcard apps to use. I'm mostly writing this blog for my other musician friends as I hope that they can spread some love via good ol' snail mail to their Mums and Dads also. (I noticed that all the other blogs on this topic were for people posting to the USA.) Plus I'm secretly hoping that after writing this, people will post things to me too.

There were loads of apps to choose from; some had bad reviews so I discounted them, others didn't have all the features I wanted, others I didn't like the quality of the final thing, and most of the good ones cost as much as £2.99 per postcard. I was looking for the best quality for the best value and I have decided on my top selections.

App: Free to download
​Cost per postcard sent to UK address: $1.99 (when I ordered via paypal it cost £1.60)
This is great because you can customise up to 6 shots on one postcard. You can also send online via their website. The paper and printing quality is excellent and it is literally half the price of their rivals at touchnote.
PLUS: They are currently doing a deal where if you recommend a friend then you both get £3 to spend in credit. This will get you nearly 2 postcards free! If you are interested in trying it out for free, use my friends-code: EMXQTA

You can also design postcards from your computer via their website: ​https://www.mypostcard.com/en/ 
​

App: Free to download
Cost per postcard sent to UK address: 89p
​The cards aren't quite so fancy and look more like a polaroid photo, but they are really cute and cheap.
​https://swapshots.com 

I hope you send lots of postcards to each other!
​xxx