​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!

​I am very excited to have been asked back for The York Proms 2023 after my performance there four years ago. This year’s prom will be at York Museum Gardens on Sunday 18th June at 7:30pm.

I will be duetting with Tom Smith, an incredible tenor from Opera North who has performed solo roles at Glyndebourne and at all major U.K. opera houses.
Alongside some new pieces, will be reviving the ‘Tonight’ duet that I performed at the proms in 2019 and was an audience favourite. You can watch a clip from that performance here.

The theme for this year is Musical Theatre, and I am delighted to be able to channel my inner Julie Andrews to some of my favourite songs at the event ranging from Bernstein to Rogers & Hammerstein. Of course, the finalé will be the traditional Last Night of the Proms patriotic classics that the crowd can sing and wave flags along with. Plus there will be an incredible fireworks display to close the even with a bang (pun intended).

It promises to be a wonderful evening. There are only limited tickets still remaining, so book now to avoid disappointment.

https://www.yorkproms.com/

In May this year, the Opera in Montpellier, South France invited the chorus of Opera Vlaanderen to join them in performing Verdi’s Requiem. I honestly had the best time. We travelled there for a whole week and the sun decided to come out for us.
It was very good for me to get the opportunity to practice my French. I studied French for only 2 years at school, and it wasn’t taught particularly well, so I don’t feel confident forming my own sentences. But as the week went on, my confidence was growing, and I began to say more, and I was also able to understand more too. I also decided to take the opportunity to take in some French cuisine. I visited a Fromagerie and bought some incredible cheeses that I ate for lunch daily with fresh baguettes. When in France, right?


The concert itself was a great success. To my eye, the 2000 seater auditorium “Le Corum” looked completely sold out, and the rapturous applause after was very heart warming. They certainly like to cheer in the Mediterranean. Best of all, my new French colleagues expressed how much they had enjoyed working and singing with us, and the chorus master said that she would very much like to collaborate with us again. I really love touring, it really is one of my favourite parts of my job. I hope that we will get more opportunities to travel and sing again soon.

I did it! This has been the most intense marathon training plan so far. 


What an adventure it has been. I did it. After what felt like a never ending training block of 17 weeks. This time I upped training to 5 runs per week, and I even did 300km in the month of January alone. I am in the best shape of my life physically. A month ago I totally smashed my half marathon pb, and was looking good for setting a new marathon pb in London. BUT - I did an extra training run that wasn't on my plan that involved going down some irregular steps on a big hill and injured my hip with only 10 days to go. I saw a physio, rested, did walking recovery, took all the supplements I have in my cupboard. But I knew when I got to the start line (after driving through the night after a concert in Belgium on the Saturday night - which was exhausting in itself) that I wasn't fully recovered.
The race started really well. I was excited. Probably too excited, and wasted a bit of energy soaking up the atmosphere and high-fiving children on my way round. I stuck with the sub 3:40:00 pacer well for the first half - though it was hard to do that when trying to get around the crowds and slower runners. I had to do quite a bit of weaving just to stick with him.
My hip started talking to me after about 10km. By half way at 21km I was in pain. At 30km I hit the wall and it was sheer stubbornness and determination that kept me going to the end. By the finish I was in agony in my hip. When I stopped running it completely seized up and I could barely even walk.
Still, I am pleased to have done it in 03:52:14. Bitter sweet, because I can just imagine what might have been possible had I been in top shape. Going to have to go for my good for age qualifying time at another event.
Photos show the total contrast of me near the start compared to right at the end.
A massive shout out to everyone at Burnham Joggers , Antwerp Athletics, and Antwerp Running Crew for training with me. To my family for travelling with the babies to come and cheer me on on race day, and of course to Tom Kingsbury for being my running mentor and emotional support throughout.
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