​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)

At the end of last season, we performed OBV’s brand new production of Mozart’s opera Le Nozze di Figaro with direction by Tom Goosens. It is quite a non-traditional setting for the opera, in a deconstructed castle. The chorus are used throughout the opera and walk into many different scenes to add a playful charm and interest to some of the set arias. I have 4 different costumes to wear during the production, and they are all quite playful and unique. The concept for the costumes, was to go back into Opera Vlaanderen’s costume archives and dig out all the costumes from those that had previously been designed and mad for other productions, but never used. The costume department said that they really enjoyed this brief because there was so much to choose from, and they were glad that many of their previous working hours were finally going to be showcased. My costume begins with a corset and petticoat underneath. As if I have just woken up in the morning and am still undressed yet. Then we wear a soldiers/military jacket and accessories. Next we are all dressed as judges for a German courtyard scene (that was added into the opera by Mahler), and finally I wear a beautiful deep red party dress for the wedding party celebrations.

It was a very fun production to be a part of, even if the rehearsal process felt a little intense at times. You can currently watch the full show on OperaVision, it is currently live!