Helen Chadwick (musician)

Last updated

Helen Chadwick is a British composer and singer who has written over 300 songs, mainly for unaccompanied voices. She has ten albums and creates song theatre performances, both solo and with her group. As a singer she has worked with Meredith Monk, Orlando Gough and for the Royal National Theatre.

Helen's recordings to 2005 are included in the Women's Revolutions Per Minute (WRPM) Collection and Archive at Goldsmiths University of London Special Collections. [1]

In 2008 she created, composed and sung in two productions commissioned by the Royal Opera House: Dalston Songs, based on interviews with her neighbours on the theme of home, in collaboration with choreographer Steven Hoggett, [2] [3] [4] and The Singing Circle, featuring the massed voices of several choirs, and choreography by Liam Steel. [5] In 2014 she created War Correspondents, based on interviews with frontline journalists; on this show she again collaborated with Steven Hoggett. [6]

Helen composed music for a sound installation at Wollaton Hall, Nottingham, which won the East Midlands Heritage Award (Judges Special Prize) in 2017. [7]

In 2002, in collaboration with the Thames Festival, Helen co-founded the mass singing charity project Sing For Water. As of 2019 it has raised 1 million pounds for WaterAid. [8]

Helen is a long-time member of the Magdalena Project, an international network of women in contemporary theatre and performance, and performs regularly at Magdalena festivals around the world.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dalston</span> Area of East London, England

Dalston is an area of East London, in the London Borough of Hackney. It is four miles northeast of Charing Cross. Dalston began as a hamlet on either side of Dalston Lane, and as the area urbanised the term also came to apply to surrounding areas including Kingsland and Shacklewell, all three of which being part of the Ancient Parish of Hackney.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sarah Brightman</span> British soprano (born 1960)

Sarah Brightman is an English classical crossover soprano singer and actress.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kiri Te Kanawa</span> New Zealand opera singer

Dame Kiri Jeanette Claire Te Kanawa, , born Claire Mary Teresa Rawstron, is a New Zealand opera singer. She had a full lyric soprano voice, which has been described as "mellow yet vibrant, warm, ample and unforced". On 1 December 1971 she was recognised internationally when she appeared as the Countess in Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro at the Royal Opera House in London.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Renée Fleming</span> American soprano

Renée Lynn Fleming is an American soprano and actress, known for performances in opera, concerts, recordings, theater, film, and at major public occasions. A recipient of the National Medal of Arts, Fleming has been nominated for 18 Grammy Awards and has won five times. In June 2023, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts announced that Fleming would be one of the five artists recognized at the 2023 Kennedy Center Honors, which she received in December 2023. Other notable honors won by Fleming have included the Crystal Award from the World Economic Forum in Davos, the Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur from the French government, Germany's Cross of the Order of Merit, Sweden's Polar Music Prize and honorary membership in England's Royal Academy of Music. Unusual among artists whose careers began in opera, Fleming has achieved name recognition beyond the classical music world. In May, 2023, Fleming was appointed by the World Health Organization as a Goodwill Ambassador for Arts and Health. On April 9, 2024, Penguin Random House published Fleming's anthology Music and Mind: Harnessing the Arts for Health and Wellness, a collection of essays about the health benefits of music and the arts, by scientists from leading research institutions, practitioners, educators, arts leaders, musicians, artists and writers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kathleen Battle</span> American operatic soprano (born 1948)

Kathleen Deanna Battle is an American operatic soprano known for her distinctive vocal range and tone. Born in Portsmouth, Ohio, Battle initially became known for her work within the concert repertoire through performances with major orchestras during the early and mid-1970s. She made her opera debut in 1975. Battle expanded her repertoire into lyric soprano and coloratura soprano roles during the 1980s and early 1990s, until her eventual dismissal from the Metropolitan Opera in 1994. She later has focused on recording and the concert stage. After a 22-year absence from the Met, Battle performed a concert of spirituals at the Metropolitan Opera House in November 2016, and again in May 2024.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bryn Terfel</span> Welsh bass-baritone singer ( born 1965)

Sir Bryn Terfel Jones,, is a Welsh bass-baritone opera and concert singer. Terfel was initially primarily associated with the roles of Mozart, particularly Figaro, Leporello and Don Giovanni, and has subsequently shifted his attention to heavier roles, especially those by Puccini and Wagner.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Ball</span> English singer, presenter and actor (born 1962)

Michael Ashley Ball is an English singer, presenter and actor. In 1985, he made his West End debut as Marius Pontmercy in the original production of Les Misérables. In 1989, he reached number two in the UK Singles Chart with "Love Changes Everything", from the musical Aspects of Love, where he played Alex Dillingham. He played the role in the West End and on Broadway. His album Coming Home To You reached number one in the UK making it his 4th number one album to date. On 24 April 2020, Ball and Captain Tom Moore entered the UK Singles Chart at number one with a cover of "You'll Never Walk Alone", with combined chart sales of 82,000 making it the fastest-selling single of 2020.

Heather Mary Harper was a Northern Irish operatic soprano. She was active internationally in both opera and concert. She performed roles such as Helena in Benjamin Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Royal Opera House, Elsa in Wagner's Lohengrin at the Bayreuth Festival, and the Countess in Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro at the Metropolitan Opera. She became known internationally when she stepped in for the world premiere of Britten's War Requiem in 1962, and remained associated with the composer's work, but also sang other premieres.

Madeleine Winefride Isabelle Dring was an English composer, pianist, singer and actress.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Magdalena Kožená</span> Czech mezzo-soprano (born 1973)

Magdalena Kožená, Lady Rattle is a Czech mezzo-soprano.

Sir Willard Wentworth White, OM, CBE is a Jamaican-born British operatic bass baritone.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kerry Ellis</span> English actress and singer (born 1979)

Kerry Jane Ellis is an English actress and singer who is best known for her work in musical theatre and subsequent crossover into music. Born and raised in Suffolk, Ellis began performing at an early age before training at Laine Theatre Arts from the age of 16.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alfie Boe</span> English actor and singer (born 1973)

Alfred Giovanni Roncalli Boe is an English actor and singer who performs primarily in musical theatre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Helena Blackman</span> British musical theatre actress (born 1982)

Helena Blackman is a British musical theatre actress, best known for being the runner-up in the hit BBC1 Reality TV programme How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria?.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sarah Connolly</span> English mezzo-soprano

Dame Sarah Patricia Connolly is an English mezzo-soprano. Although best known for her baroque and classical roles, Connolly has a wide-ranging repertoire which has included works by Wagner as well as various 20th-century composers. She was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2010 New Year Honours and a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the 2017 Birthday Honours for services to music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Louise Kirkby Lunn</span> English coloratura contralto (1873 - 1930)

Louise Kirkby Lunn was an English coloratura contralto. Born into a working-class family in Manchester, She appeared in many French and Italian operas, but was best known as a Wagnerian. In addition to many appearances at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London, she was seen frequently at the Metropolitan Opera, New York in the early years of the 20th century. She died in London, aged 56.

Margaret Preece is an English operatic soprano who has performed internationally in opera as well as musical theatre productions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Radford</span> British bass singer

Robert Radford was a British bass singer who made his career entirely in the United Kingdom, participating in concerts and becoming one of the foremost performers of oratorios and other sacred music. He had equally great success in a broad spectrum of operatic roles, ranging from Wagner to Gilbert and Sullivan, due to the strength and burnished beauty of his well-trained voice.

Jamie Barton is an American mezzo-soprano. She won the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition in June 2013. She is also the winner of the 2015 Richard Tucker Award.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abigail Kelly</span> English soprano opera singer

Abigail Kelly is an English soprano opera and concert singer.

References

  1. "WRPM Collection". Goldsmiths, University of London. Retrieved 19 November 2019.
  2. "Dalston Songs". Royal Opera House. Archived from the original on 23 July 2011.
  3. Kimberley, Nick (2 May 2008). "Migrants' hymn to their home". London Evening Standard. Archived from the original on 5 June 2011.
  4. Carter, Kenneth (1 May 2008). "Concert Review: Dalston Songs". classicalsource.com. Retrieved 19 November 2019.
  5. "VOICES ACROSS THE WORLD: Helen Chadwick And The Singing Circle at Royal Opera House – Hard dance". Time Out London. 27 July 2008. Retrieved 19 November 2019.
  6. Gardner, Lyn (27 May 2014). "War Correspondents review – tuneful tribute to frontline journalists". The Guardian.
  7. "City Museums and Galleries Service scoops three prestigious Awards". My Nottingham News. Nottingham City Council. 20 November 2017.
  8. "Sing For Water". Thames Festival Trust. Retrieved 19 November 2019.