Music

Embroidery in childhood

In 2024 I recorded this aria from the opera Peter Grimes by Benjamin Britten. Have you ever been faced with an ugly truth that’s hard to deny? That’s the core of the Embroidery Aria, sung by Ellen Orford near the end of the piece. She’s one of the few people in her small English town who is sympathetic to her friend Peter, and the ostracism he’s feeling from his community. Yet when she finds the sweater that belonged to a young boy that Peter enlisted to help on his fishing boat, she’s forced to put her personal feelings for her friend up against what might be damning evidence of his actions.

Vain, fluctuating state… Thou, God, most high

Recorded during the Semi finals of the Handel Singing Competition 2019 in Grosvenor Chapel, London.

This recit and aria Vain, flucuating state… Thou, God, most high is from the oratorio Bellshazzar by G.F. Händel. Accompaniment by Heather Tomala on harpsichord.

Banquo’s Buried

Contemporary classical music is one of my great loves and passion. To create new pieces, or reimagine old ones is such a joy. This piece is called Banquo’s buried, by British composer Alison Bauld. The text is from Lady Macbeth by Shakespeare. Recorded in 2022 with Maxime Snaterse in the Bizet Hall, Doetinchem, The Netherlands.

All our guiltiest pleasures

There is no feeling similar to that of the operetta… A perfect mix of silly entertainment, happy endings, great ensembles and catchy tunes. I love singing these pieces and have the audience enjoy them with me… Like the ever popular meine Lippen, sie küssen so heiß by Franz Lehár!

The power of the intimate

Where opera aims for a feeling of ‘larger than life’, the Art of Song finds its power in intimacy. The twist of a phrase, the tone of a syllable; music and language are entwined like none other. I particularly enjoy the quick changes in temperament a song cycle of program can provide: so much to hear, to feel!