Last night at the gala fundraising evening hosted by Bowdon Festival Opera I had a fabulous time catching up with friends, spending time with my family and performing alongside a group of singers brought together for the event from around the UK and Ireland.
To open the evening’s performance, I was accompanied by the festival chorus and performed two of Gretel’s arias from Englebert Humperdinck’s “Hansel and Gretel”: Ein Männlein steht im Walde and Abendsegen (Evening Prayer).
It was great fun to perform these arias again especially with the chorus providing an English translation of ‘The Evening Prayer’. In a packed program I also enjoyed performing in the second half of the evening along with vocalists singing excerpts from Dido and Aeneas; Macbeth; Don Giovanni and many more.
The evening was a great success and I am so pleased that I could play a part in it. It’s so expensive to put on an opera production that without the support provided by these fundraisers it would be impossible to do, so I must pass on a big thank you to everyone that came along and especially to all the people who organised the evening. As Jayne explained during her final speech, many festivals and music groups don’t get the financial support from Lottery funds or Art Grants so it was great to see the local community support the event, it was also wonderful to see so many new students participating in the evening and the progress they are making.
Today after a few hours with my Mum and Dad I have the long drive back up to Glasgow, so I can only manage a short post tonight. Thank goodness the clocks went back last night and I gained an extra hour.