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"...how lovely I thought her solo was, so touching." |
Born in Sussex, and now London-based, Shirley graduated in music at Liverpool University and continued her education with postgraduate studies in viola da gamba at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. She then turned her focus onto developing as a singer, her teachers having included Arwel Treharne Morgan, Jeffrey Talbot, and Alison Pearce. She has participated in masterclasses with Russell Smythe, Richard Jackson, Laura Sarti, and Graham Johnson. She is currently studying with Derek Barnes, and working as a freelance soprano.
Her highlights as a soloist include the premiere of Cecilia McDowall's Through a Glass, Darkly (in commemoration of 'Kristallnacht') at Westminster Abbey; Handel's Messiah and Alexander's Feast, Vivaldi's Gloria, and Fauré's Requiem at Gray’s Inn; Mozart's Requiem at St Martin-in-the-Fields, and Haydn's St Nicolas Mass and Little Organ Mass, Mozart's Coronation Mass and Spatzen-Messe, and Schubert's Mass in G at St George's Hanover Square.
Shirley has sung in concerts at the London Handel Festival, including JS Bach's St Matthew Passion and St John Passion, directed by Laurence Cummings; she has worked with the chamber ensemble Exulta Filia, exploring the solo and duet vocal music of Monteverdi and his contemporaries; she has appeared at the Mananan International Festival, and in broadcasts for BBC Radio 3 and 4.
In opera, she has performed the roles of Belinda (Dido and Aeneas), Pamina and Papagena (The Magic Flute), Suor Dolcina (Suor Angelica) and Midinette, Voce di Sopranino, and Lover (Il Tabarro) for Porcupine Productions.
In her solo recital work, she has a particular interest in performing Scandinavian song repertoire, owing to her Danish/Swedish roots. She has appeared both as a singer and as an instrumentalist in Tudor banquets at Hatfield House. She is also a member of the choir of the West London Synagogue.
Her highlights as a soloist include the premiere of Cecilia McDowall's Through a Glass, Darkly (in commemoration of 'Kristallnacht') at Westminster Abbey; Handel's Messiah and Alexander's Feast, Vivaldi's Gloria, and Fauré's Requiem at Gray’s Inn; Mozart's Requiem at St Martin-in-the-Fields, and Haydn's St Nicolas Mass and Little Organ Mass, Mozart's Coronation Mass and Spatzen-Messe, and Schubert's Mass in G at St George's Hanover Square.
Shirley has sung in concerts at the London Handel Festival, including JS Bach's St Matthew Passion and St John Passion, directed by Laurence Cummings; she has worked with the chamber ensemble Exulta Filia, exploring the solo and duet vocal music of Monteverdi and his contemporaries; she has appeared at the Mananan International Festival, and in broadcasts for BBC Radio 3 and 4.
In opera, she has performed the roles of Belinda (Dido and Aeneas), Pamina and Papagena (The Magic Flute), Suor Dolcina (Suor Angelica) and Midinette, Voce di Sopranino, and Lover (Il Tabarro) for Porcupine Productions.
In her solo recital work, she has a particular interest in performing Scandinavian song repertoire, owing to her Danish/Swedish roots. She has appeared both as a singer and as an instrumentalist in Tudor banquets at Hatfield House. She is also a member of the choir of the West London Synagogue.
