Greetings from the North West!

After a fantastic few weeks settling into life back up north it is time to get back to work for the new teaching term and the new season of concerts. I am so enjoying being back home after all these years. The pace of life is definitely slower and without the hustle and bustle of London life I feel like I can focus more on what I want to do. I love being being closer to my gorgeous boyfriend and being able to spend more time with my family. Moving back to Manchester has definitely been the best decision I have made in years.

 I have quite a few exciting concerts coming up in the next couple of months and I need to get cracking with learning the repertoire. I had a lesson with my very first singing teacher yesterday, the amazing dramatic soprano Jane Irwin. It was lovely to see her again in her Blackpool home and have the opportunity to sing to her after all these years (I think it must be 15 years since I was a student of hers). We discussed repertoire for the recital in Levenshulme and I am exploring some songs by Dvorak, Debussy and Strauss. The Operetta is coming along for this year's Clapham Opera Festival. I am really looking forward to heading down to London for rehearsals in the next few weeks.

I will start my new teaching job at Bolton Music Service in a week. I will begin rehearsing my 3 community choirs in the next fortnight and I am exploring repertoire to work on for this season. My boyfriend has a great knowledge of all types of music (I am very rusty on pop music - I can't deny it!) and he has come up with some great suggestions. It will be my first time directing any ensemble so this term will be a great challenge to me but I am facing it head on and hoping to gain so much from this new experience.

I will keep you all updated as much as I can. For now I am looking forward to this weekend as it is birthday celebrations for both my niece and my little sister and a lovely trip to Wales is on the cards for the Bank Holiday Monday.

Enjoy the last of the sunshine dear friends

xxx