Mezzosoprano Rebecca Chellappah
Christmas Charity Concert 2024
The Westbury park Christmas show started as carols in my living room and rapidly expanded into a full annual concert and has now been running for over a decade raising money each year for charity.
Every year the show is bigger than ever featuring some of the best singers in the south west including some singers from Westbury park itself.
The concert is an hour long with singalong carols at the end and free mincepies to enjoy courtesy of our local Waitrose. The ladies of the WI also run a stall selling handmade Christmas crafts. We think it was a lovely musical afternoon for all the family.
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This years show will be on the 14th December 4-5pm
St Albans Church at Westbury Park Bristol
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About some of our current and past performers:
Bristol A Cappella is an award-winning mixed barbershop chorus of around thirty members who love to sing close harmony a cappella! We are a diverse, inclusive and fun group who have had an incredibly busy 18 months following winning gold at the British Association of Barbershop Singers (BABS) in May 2023, celebrating our tenth anniversary in October 2023 and performing three sets as champions at BABS May 2024. You can find out more about us here: https://bristolacappella.co.uk
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Loulita Gill is a Singer Songwriter and Worship leader, She released her debut album, 'The Last Twelve Years.' The album received wonderful reviews, and it paved the way for her to release seven additional singles under the banner of Homegrown Worship in 2019 and 2020.Her music is featured on several Christian radio stations in the UK and worldwide. She also had the privilege of touring in Johannesburg and Uganda, sharing her songs and messages of hope.​​In January 2022, she released 'Heaven is Holding You,' a song born from the pain of a miscarriage I experienced in 2015, shortly after earning a Masters in Practical Theology. The song has become a source of comfort for many who have lost loved ones and also reached #1 in the UK Christian Charts.
Throughout 2022, She recorded and released acoustic covers of her original songs and well-known CCM and worship tracks. From the outset of her music journey, She has engaged in therapy to process complex childhood and young adult trauma. As She began to comprehend my life and how all the pieces fit together, she turned to music as an outlet for her pain, culminating in her latest EP, 'Turn the Page.' These songs delve deeply into her healing journey. She is currently working on her next EP, 'Page 2,' which she aims to release by the end of 2024. She has also started writing songs specifically for sync placements. You can contact Loulita on loulita@loulitagilldesign.com
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Claire Alsop is a Bristol based pianist and organist. After beginning her musical studies in Durham, she came to Bristol to study music at the university and she was also organ scholar at Bristol Cathedral. On graduating, Claire was appointed organist of Cheltenham Ladies College, where she worked until 2001, and she was also accompanist to the Cheltenham Bach Choir. She gained the FRCO diploma in 2006, winning the Turpin prize. Claire is assistant organist at St Mary Redcliffe church, and as a freelance musician enjoys a range of music-making including teaching, accompanying and solo work, and has broadcast live on both Radio 3 and BBC1, as well as musical theatre work and ABRSM examining. Claire is involved in a wide range of music education activities in Bristol and beyond, and greatly appreciates having the opportunity to work with children at the beginning of their own musical journeys. During the recent lockdown, Claire gave daily online recitals via Facebook, which received over 20,000 views from across the globe.
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Gigi Strong is very pleased to be performing in Frank Bridge’s A Christmas Rose. A Master’s graduate from the University of York, Gigi has been performing in productions for a very long time. She has performed numerous roles in the South West, including Carmen, Flora (La Traviata), Mary (Bethlehem), Nannetta (Falstaff), Maddalena (Rigoletto), Kate Pinkerton (Madama Butterfly) and First Witch (Macbeth). Never getting enough of the theatre, she also enjoys working in chorus roles and even backstage.
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Angharad Davies is a freelance Mezzo-Soprano who performs both as a soloist and in opera choruses. Previous and current companies Angharad has worked with include: The Grange Festival, Mid Wales Opera, Grimeborn Opera Festival, Abu Dhabi Festival, Aurora Music Festival (Stockholm), Random Opera, Hampstead Garden Opera, SWAP’ra, Rose Opera and Bath Opera, among others. She regularly performs on the concert platform in recitals and as an oratorio soloist with choral societies throughout the UK. She also enjoys working and performing with her chamber music ensembles, Davies-White Ensemble and Victoria Salon Band.
For more information about Angharad visit www.angharaddaviesmezzo.co.uk
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Robert Felstead is a tenor based in Swindon singing as a regular concert performer and opera singer. Previous roles include Cavaradossi in Tosca , Count Almaviva in The Barber of Seville and Faust in Faust with Bath Opera, Loge in Das Rheingold with Tarnhelm Opera, Tamino in The Magic Flute with Kennet Opera, Don Jose in Carmen with Opera in a Box, Don Basilio in Le Nozze di Figaro with Cardiff Opera and Nemorino in The Elixir of Love with White Horse Opera. In addition to opera Robert has sung most of the Gilbert and Sullivan tenor roles and performed in a diverse range of plays and musicals. As well as performing Robert musically directs for Cirencester-based TinkCo and has written a play: EUgenia - performed by TS Theatre in Swindon in 2017. Upcoming projects include The Merry Widow with Bath Opera in February where Robert will be playing Camille.
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Thomas Wood is an Australian tenor, qualified music therapist and voice teacher. Nurturing a career in the arts that has crossed continents and time zones. He cut his theatre chops as an actor and musical performer before his professional opera career began with the West Australian Opera. Thomas was fortunate to be given many opportunities to learn his craft as an emerging artists with the company, and since he has had the privilege of continuing his performing career in musicals and operas in the UK and Abroad.
Roles have included; Don Jose in Carmen ,Rodolfo in La Boheme ,Turriddu in Cavelleria Rusticana, Froh in Das Rheingold, Alfredo in La Traviata, Archibald Craven in The Secret Garden, Lysander in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Candide in Candide, Tinman in The Wizard of Oz and Judge Danforth in the Australian premier of The Crucible.As an artistic director for Opera in a Box, Thomas is regularly involved in producing concerts and intimate opera performances in the South West. As a passionate advocate for making opera and classical music an accessible art form in the modern era, Thomas is looking forward to a busy and exciting year of music making. (www.thomaswoodtenor.com, www.operainabox.com)
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Baritone Charlie Morris is a music graduate from the University of Bristol and is Artistic Director and co-founder of touring opera company, Opera in a Box. Charlie has over fifteen years experience of professional opera and oratorio singing, and has produced seventeen fully-staged, award-winning operatic productions. Recent operatic roles have included Scarpia, Marcello, Escamillo, and Papageno. Alongside a busy singing career in the South-West, Charlie is also a Secondary Teacher of Music & Music Technology at Bristol Grammar School and a Saturday Morning broadcaster on BCfm Radio. In the new year, Charlie will be singing the role of Danilo, The Merry Widow with Bath Opera.
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Bass Robert Marson is delighted to take part in this little-known but heartwarming imagination of the Christmas story as witnessed by the shepherds and their families. He has performed many roles in opera productions in the South West, most recently as Angelotti for Bath Opera’s touring production of Verdi’s Tosca. For the same company, he appeared as Banquo in Verdi’s Macbeth and Swallow in Britten’s Peter Grimes. Other opera performances have included Kaspar in Weber’s Der Freischütz with Bristol Opera, Colline in Puccini’s La Bohème with Somerset Opera and Wotan in Wagner’s Das Rheingold with Tarnhelm Opera, of which he is a founder member. Robert has studied with Nigel Wickens, Nicholas Powell, Cathy Pope and most recently Neil Baker. Before being drawn to opera, Robert worked as a cathedral singer and in oratorio. He lives in Bristol with his wife and two teenaged daughters.
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Soprano Sophie Kirk-Harris was born in Germany, Sophie was a founding member of the Stuttgart Youth Opera
before accepting a place at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama. Sophie has sung with a number of opera companies including Bath Opera, Bristol Opera, Tarnhelm and Tessitoura. Sophie has also performed internationally in Japan, Abu Dhabi, France, Germany and Italy.
In 2018 Sophie co-founded the company Opera Boots ( www.operaboots.co.uk ) and has been introducing opera to school children in England and Wales. She also work as a singing teacher.
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Soprano Ethel-Jane Cormack graduated from Dartington College of Arts with a joint Honours Degree in Music and Arts Management, where she studied voice with the late Mollie Petrie and operatic baritone Ian Comboy. She has many years experience of performing principal roles in fully staged and touring Opera productions, as well as Oratorio in venues throughout the UK. Before having the first of her family in 2009, she also directed Opera and Musical productions, taking shows on tour to a variety of venues from theatres and festivals, to open-air parties. Ethel-Jane specialises in teaching both Classical and Musical Theatre, from beginners to Diploma levels. As well as teaching and performing, Ethel-Jane also teaches at Clifton High School.
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Mezzosoprano Rebecca Chellappah holds a Masters in Music with Distinction from the Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM). She works full time as a mezzosoprano and singing teacher. Rebecca's full opera roles include the title roles of Bizet's Carmen, Rosina in Rossini's The Barber of Seville, Delilah in Saint-Saëns Samson and Delilah and Helene in Offenbach's La Belle Helene. An active recitalist and alto soloist , Rebecca has given many well received concerts and recitals in Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea, Japan and the UK. Rebecca also teaches singing technique. Rebecca believes that everyone should enjoy the pleasure of singing and loves helping others find the best in their voices. She is very passionate about the promotion of a healthy lifelong singing technique and firmly believes that singing is simply good for the soul!
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