Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone! It has been such a wonderful year and I'm very grateful for the new home I've made in London this year. There have also been some great visits up North which have been amazing.
After such a hard time in the arts it has been really wonderful to finally feel like the arts are on the up. Let's keep it going!
The start of the year was spent in beautiful Perth. In January Caitlin Cassidy and I launched the inaugural audition wkshp which was such a brilliant day of singing and chatting about auditions. Come November, I met with one of our participants in London after her first UK 'audition season' and it was great to hear how the workshop prepared her for them. She got a Masters offer and is moving to the UK next year!
Some other Perth highlights include my debut with Perth Symphony Orchestra, an outing of My Best Judys at World Fringe Festival and the launch of my new joint WA venture with Karl Brown, Bloomhouse Projects.
I then moved to back to the UK and spent a few months living out of a suitcase and staying with lovely friends and hosts. I had the opportunity to work with Leeds Lieder, tour with The Easy Rollers and then moved all my things down to London!
Summer brought my debut with Opera Holland Park in the UK premiere of Little Women by Mark Adamo then heading up to Liverpool to perform the world premiere of A Most Wanted Man by Stephen Davismoon,
I'm very grateful for the performance opportunities from last year and also the brilliant pianists I worked with such as Adrian Soares, Jonathan Fisher, Silvia Magagni, Ewan Gilford, Ella O'Niell, Iwan Davies, Mark Rodgers, Chris Pullen and Mairi Grewer. We are so lucky as singers to collaborate with such incredible musicians.
This has been my first Winter since December 2019 and although it was absolutely freezing, it was filled with beautiful music making. It was lovely to return to Furness Bach Choir and perform some stunning early music under the baton of Alex Robinson. The last time I sang with this choral society was at the Manchester Cathedral with the Michael Hayden Orchestra for Solomon!
This Winter also saw my first Carmina Burana! Thank you to Tom Newall for inviting me to sing with Congleton Choral Society again. It was great fun and goodness me, I can't wait to sing it again soon!
I think this December has had the furthest singing destinations I've possibly ever had in the UK. Going from London to Norwich to Manchester to Newcastle to Plymouth to London all within 2 weeks. I still don't quite know how I didn't miss any trains or how I dodged the strikes..!
I've just returned from a good old Handel's Messiah in Plymouth where I stayed with my good friend Charlotte and spent a few days exploring Devon and Cornwall. But now...to my friend's house in London where we will celebrate Christmas with some other Australians, eat way too much food and rest!
Thank you for a heartwarming Winter and for all the beautiful memories that came along with it. I'm very grateful for the experiences I've had and the people I've met.
Heading into 2023, I am now preparing for my debut with Ensemble 10:10 in the Tung Auditorium at the Yoko Ono Lennon Centre in Liverpool. I will be performing Love Bytes for Soprano and Chamber Orchestra by Stephen Pratt. This will be conducted by Clark Rundell.
Wishing you all a healthy and joyful festive season ✨ 🥂 May 2023 be filled with good health, beautiful music and joy. Looking forward to the adventures ahead! Many blessings xx
- D
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