Jonathan Cilia Faro
From Now On In His Own Words
“
I am Italian so for me food is a
huge part of my life. Cooking, eating, sharing life over food. Imagine going back home after your chemo treatment [with] no dinner because even the idea of food, any smell of food makes you sick to your stomach to the point where you can’t imagine ever eating again. While you are sleeping all you can taste is bitterness in your mouth, it's so intense that you cry. Everything about your life is bitter now. This thing is a monster - it scares an adult man who once thought of himself as strong and brave. Waking up in the middle of the night alone and scared. You try to scream but your voice does not come out, you are
feeling that you are losing your voice along with your dignity and your willpower… day by day you lose your self-confidence along with your actual real self. You feel like you are disappearing completely. All you know is pain and loss and mindnumbing fear. You become a loser for all the people close to you because you are no longer “somebody", and nobody encourages you, all this gets confirmed by vocal exercise failures when the voice does not do what it used to and the piano which was once your salvation and a place of joy becomes your enemy. Your mind has forgotten every note of every song, and your body just wants to give up and nothing goes right and you think it never will again. For a singer losing your voice is like for a runner losing
a leg. For most of my life, my voice was all I had, all I could count on and what made me the person I thought I was and was meant to be. You start to neglect your own personal care; your hair grows wild and your beard is a jungle and you let go. You start to focus on other things and soon you are away from music, working as a waiter in a restaurant and helping in the kitchen… You are slow and spend your life in a daze feeling like shit all the time both physically and emotionally.
” These startling words give us a little glimpse into the hell that tenor Jonathan Cilia Faro experienced when he was diagnosed with cancer at the age of twenty-five. Up until then, Jonathan had been well on his way to fulfilling his dream of becoming an international classical crossover singing star. It was a nun who first discovered his voice and encouraged the potential she heard. The rich distinctive voice of Luciano Pavarotti drifting through the Sicilian summer made a lasting impression on Jonathan and solidified his love for music.
Success, although not easy, came fairly quickly for Jonathan. He was signed to a recording contract at sixteen and sold over 100,000 copies of his first album, “Always Close to Me.” Not content to develop his voice only, Jonathan has established himself as a talented pianist, songwriter – and those are just his musical talents. He has served in the army, studied theology and enjoys to cook and make his own wine. However, when Jonathan was diagnosed with cancer his career came to an abrupt halt. With seemingly everything lost, it was the hardest battle that he’s yet had to fight. Through surgery and chemotherapy, Jonathan battled his way back. Coming out on the other side has completely changed him, not only as a singer but as a person. His latest album, “From Now On” named after a track of the same title, puts on display a rich tenor voice ringing out with purpose. Singing mainly in his native Italian, Jonathan distinguishes himself not only as a solid singer with the potential of wide appeal but as an artist with a passion that is inspiring. “Music is the most beautiful thing to ever happen in my life, music is true art,” Jonathan tells us. Despite everything he has gone through he
says, “The music inside you never stops, it keeps playing inside you even when you stop hearing it for a while
it's still there. Every pain, every hardship can become a beautiful melody.”
“From Now On” is available to purchase now.
jonathancf.com
Robert Emery
Music is my home “Music is all I’ve ever known. I’ve been performing since the age of seven, so the stage is really not a stage, but home.” Pianist. Arranger. Conductor. Producer. Entrepreneur. Robert Emery is the definition of a multipassionate musician that is constantly evolving. His influence is seen in crossover artists such as Russell Watson, Joanna Forest, Jonathan Antoine and I believe his presence in the genre will only grow with time. The piano was a gift that had been passed down from his grandmother. The popular program “Top of the Pops” was a favorite of the Emery’s and provided a special challenge for Robert. “I used to just listen to the number one song on Top of the Pops and would go to the piano and play it.
I had no training and didn’t know how I could do this, didn’t know it was an unusual thing to do, it was just something that I did.” However, his special ability did not escape the notice of his mother who decided soon after it was time to get him lessons. Robert began to study with a local piano teacher. “After about a year I was put through a test and I couldn’t read music.” His incredible ear for music had allowed Robert to play back the examples from his teacher without actually learning how to read music. “Nobody knew but they found out at that point. So, I was then taken to another
teacher who focused me really hard on learning to read music.” His education continued in primary school where he also began studying cello. “We also had general music classes twice per week where we would all get together and play percussion. I also sang in the choir and there was a little school orchestra that I played in, so I was surrounded by music.” Robert refers to this nurturing period as being covered in a “musical duvet” which helped him become the musician he is today (which includes being a self-taught conductor). “When I was eighteen, I conducted the Birmingham Philharmonic Orchestra… I created a concert called, ‘The Classical Spectacular’, which looked great, sounded okay, but I had the time of my life. And I thought, ‘How hard can waving a stick be?’ So, I just threw myself into it. After that I realized, yes, it is quite hard. When you throw yourself into the deep end like that you learn, hopefully, to be successful very quickly, and if you don’t then you realize it’s not for you. I was very lucky that I realized conducting was for me.” However, the piano will always be significant for Robert. “There are a couple of things I love about the
piano. One is that you have all eightyeight notes in front of you, you can see them all, it covers the range of pitch, and it covers all instruments. It goes up to the highest note any other instrument can play and goes down to the lowest note that any other instrument can play. And because of that, and because of the volume, that you can play really loud or really quietly, I fell in love with the idea that I could produce sounds on the piano that would sound like a finished piece right away. Whereas if I wanted to play the pop song I heard on Top of the Pops on the flute, you’d only hear the tune, and almost any other instrument you would just play the tune or you would play the bass, but with piano you can do everything.” Through the years he has grown to love many pieces but favorite among them are Rachmaninov’s “Piano Concerto No. 2” and Gershwin’s, “Rhapsody in Blue.” Robert seems not only to love the music but the composers as personalities. “Rachmaninov incidentally, was an interesting character. He lived in Russia and when he wanted to move to America, he loved his house so much he effectively dismantled it, shipped it to America and rebuilt it in the states. Gershwin was an interesting character because when he wrote Rhapsody in blue, he
couldn’t actually physically write music, he didn’t have the theoretical knowledge. He was a ‘Jazzer ‘really. On the very first performance the orchestral parts were written by his arranger and he essentially said to the conductor, ‘When it gets to the piano solo bits I’m going to play what I play, it’s not written down, and basically when I want you to join back in I’m going to give you a nod, and that’s when you rejoin.’ And that first performance was never recorded, the sheet music was never there, apart from what the orchestra played, so the conductor ran home and tried to remember what Gershwin had played, and that is what we know today as Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, it’s the memory of what the conductor heard on that night.”
to London to go to the Royal College of Music and I get a job as a church organist in Chiswick, just to earn a bit of money. Literally the first Sunday that I played the Vicar said to me, ‘I’d like you to meet someone whom I think you might find useful.’ And Mike Dixson walked down the aisle.” The vicar also introduced Robert to Michael Reed. “I have become very close with both of them, but Mike Reed in particular, who is even the Godfather to my son, and that really sparked off my interest in theatre.”
Robert studied acting at fourteen and although he decided to give it up in favor of music his flair for storytelling is evident. With this background it seemed natural that he would be drawn into the world of Broadway. “I saw Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat at the London Palladium when I was ten. I circled Mike Dixson, musical director, Michael Reed, musical supervisor, and I wrote in my program as a ten-year-old, this is what I want to do when I grow up. If you cut to eight years later, I moved
Robert’s credits in theatre include “Bat out of Hell” a musical on which he worked with Meatloaf and Jim Steinman. “The story’s bonkers, the set was even more bonkers and the music is thrilling to play and conduct on a nightly basis and I was lucky enough to conduct it. The highlight for me was to conduct it at the London Colosseum with the English National Opera.”
“What it means to me is the combination of a great story with drama, hopefully, a great set, and costumes. Bringing that story to life through that medium, on stage, and through music, is for me a perfect combination of the arts put together.”
Nowadays he writes his own material and hopes to see them performed. “I was lucky enough to premier one of
my musicals in Switzerland in 2018, and there will be another musical coming up in mainland Europe in 2020.” Despite his incredible talent, Robert realized early on the fickle nature of the music business. “I wanted to create myself an insurance policy, and a pension pot, and I thought the best way to do that would be to create a company which deals with the arts just in case my career as a pianist, or as a conductor, or as a composer, didn’t take off. Then I would still have the company beside me.” To this end, Robert created a production company at sixteen. “I wanted to start getting performance experience and I didn’t want to rely on other people giving it to me. I wanted to generate it for myself…I come from a standard family background, didn’t have a lot of money, and I knew that to move to London and go to the Royal College of music I would need some money.” He figured the best way to make the funds he needed was to not only be the artist but the producer as well. “If I could also be the producer and get the ticket money in as the producer does, then it’s a double whammy. You get two sets of income.” This was in his mind “the sensible thing to do” but of course this new
venture was not without its complications including commuting every day between London and West Midlands. The pace was unsustainable. “In the third year out of the four-year course at the Royal College of Music, I was called in for a meeting and told that I was in danger of being thrown out of the Royal College because I wasn’t concentrating enough on my studies. I was too busy gigging around the UK and setting up productions. So, I decided for the fourth year of my college degree to pause the business.” However, this was only a temporary setback for the budding entrepreneur. “Once I had successfully graduated, I formed a new business called The Arts Group, whereupon I decided to split the business up into different sectors. We have Arts Symphonic, which is one of the most creative orchestras having multi-ensemble options ranging from a small eightpiece chamber group to the full 90piece symphony orchestra. Then I figured out if I am going to create an orchestra, I’d need to create a commercial choir as well to sing on any albums or in any concerts that we were producing, and that’s the Arts Voices. The Arts Academy was something that was born as well
in 2005, because I saw a gap in the market where music teachers needed more work and people who are new didn’t have easy access to highquality music teachers. So, I set up the Arts Academy. At that point I opened up an office in West London. I had seven people working for me. Arts Festivals was something that I originally created to produce but we’ve pivoted away from that idea. Its sole function now is to help consult with other artistic establishments to produce events and also to produce our own events.”
straight and narrow. At the end of 2011 I had what some people call ‘burn out’ and struggled to get over that because it also lowers your confidence. I learned that I have to be careful with how much I work. Back then I was doing easily 100 hours a week. I have to make sure that I pace myself and be a bit pickier and more choosey as to who I work with and what I do.”
“Music is never the problem, people are.”
If Robert has one flaw it’s having too many ideas and getting spread too thin. “I do ideas and that’s the bit that I’m great at. I’m terrible at getting it from an idea into something which can happen because I just move on to the next idea.” Despite the many opportunities that have come his way Robert has also learned to place limits. “It looks very glamorous, it sounds very glamorous, but in 2011 as an example, I caught a flight every three days for the whole year, and at the end of that year, I was completely worn out. I really struggled emotionally and physically, to some extent, to keep me on the
He’s learned to delegate and now has an assistant Annika. “One of the things I realized is that having a professional experienced person running the show behind the scenes, which is my assistant, that’s a real saving grace in my life because without that I would really struggle to achieve what I’ve achieved. Without that I would run around like a headless chicken going, ‘I can do this, I can do this! But I don’t know how!’ Because I would be overwhelmed with the amount of work that is needed. Having an assistant is a God sent!” Robert remains happy about being a multi-passionate person saying, “Creativity is the source of all life. For me, it is impossible to be overwhelmed by that because it is a thrilling thing to have.”
It’s a good attitude to have in a world where artists are continually required to produce new content. “The people, you tend to find, who are successful, are the ones that are not pigeonholed. If you look at someone like the Beatles, in some of their most famous tracks they used a sitar - that’s definitely not pigeonholed. Look at someone like Simon Rattle, when he was first at the CBSO in Birmingham. He was a young person, he was vibrant, full of passion, full of energy (still is), and he really challenged the orchestra to play works that were not being played in the country, and he was definitely not pigeonholed. Whatever you choose to do in your career, you have to really do to the very best of your ability. You have to try your very hardest at all times. Always have in the back of your mind that you are only as good as your last performance.” Classical Crossover was the perfect genre for someone with as much appreciation of various genres as Robert has and he dived in deep serving as a conductor for one of the genre’s most successful performers, Russell Watson. “I was lucky enough to tour the world with him. One of the reasons I was lucky was, yes, I got to see some amazing places and conduct some amazing orchestras in amazing venues, but I also got to spend a lot of
time with Russell. He is one of the characters that have been around for so long in the industry, he really knows how it works, where the pitfalls are, what people are going to expect and what they are not going to expect. Golden rules like, you need to be utterly gracious and polite even in the most stressful situations with promoters, and producers, and financial backers, and record labels, at all times… it was just acting like a sponge around him and learning what he did, that advice put me in good stead for my future career.” Not surprisingly Robert thinks it’s time for the crossover world to get a little shaken up. “I think Classical Crossover as a genre has gone a little stagnant. You can see that by the album sales of even the biggest stars like Russell and Katherine Jenkins, the album sales are not what they were five years ago let alone ten years ago. Does that mean that they are producing worse albums? No, I don’t believe it does. I think people like Russell are still doing great work, however, I do feel that the genre as a whole has stagnated a little and needs an injection of new blood, new music, and new types of music. The tricky thing about this is that as much as I believe we need to have new music I
do also understand that audiences don’t necessarily like change… it’s a tricky conundrum. How do you inject new creativity, new sounds, into the Classical Crossover genre, so it doesn’t become tedious and every record doesn’t sound like the record before, how do you do that and update the genre to modern-day without alienating the audience? And that’s the million-dollar question.” Robert recently produced The Rhythm of Life for Joanna Forest and sees it as a bright spot. “I’m thrilled with it. Not just because it’s an album I produced, but because I think the style of the album, and the mix of the music on it, and the new arrangements, and the new sound that I’ve worked on quite heavily with Joanna from day one with the first album, is, hopefully, inserting new life and color into the industry. I hope this will continue to help Joanna grow as an artist but also in a transition phase, from just buying CDs and hold them to streaming. The classical genre in streaming is still unbelievably low, yet the CD sales have declined. So, we are in a transition phase and I do believe that in five years, and I do think it will
take at least five years, we will come out the other side and the genre will have another renaissance. But it will only happen if people, like Joanna, keep on challenging the Classical Crossover genre, bringing out new material which is applicable for the audience, but also challenging.” If anything is clear through his extraordinary career it’s that Robert Emery loves music and all the challenges that come with. “The nice thing about music for me is that it is in every fiber of my being. I feel totally at home when I am on a stage in front of two or twenty thousand people. I don’t feel nervous, I don’t feel daunted, I don’t feel worried. Put me in a party with twenty people and I’ll skulk in the corner, very shy. But music puts me at home. It’s where I feel most comfortable, it’s where my heart is, it’s where my brain is, it’s where my soul is. Every fiber of my being loves creating new music and performing old music, hopefully in new ways. That’s what motivates me and I hope it will continue to do so for as long as I live.”
The podcast “Backstage with Robert Emery” is available from
robertemery.com
Getting to know
Danielle Louise Thomas Hailing from Liverpool, Danielle has made a name for herself as a mezzo-soprano with a beautiful dark voice and a poised stage presence. Danielle has recorded two albums and performed on numerous high-profile events. Here are some of the things we’ve learned about this talented songstress.
The first song Danielle sang as a child was ‘Part of Your World.’ I knew at that very young age that I loved to sing and I would sing pretty much every Disney song going at every opportunity to anyone that would listen! She was featured on ‘Songs of Praise’ at only eleven-years-old. Songs of Praise was a fantastic platform for me but most of all, it was fun which is so important when you start any profession from a young age. I was studying privately with a vocal teacher and also a piano teacher, and was just about to start as a student of
the junior school of the RNCM in Manchester so things were all go for me at that point. Her idea of success has evolved over time. At that stage in my life, my future goals were to do A-Level Music and go to conservatoire to study opera/vocal studies and then become a singer within the opera world - that was my expectation. That very much drastically changed for me… I was getting bullied in school so I didn’t want to be there. I couldn’t stay on to do my A-Levels as the bullying got so bad and even more unfortunate, I just wasn’t in any position to be able to
afford a place at a conservatoire. Instead, I left school at 16 and began working pretty much straight away. Tesco, support work for adults with learning disabilities plus night shifts as a care assistant in a nursing home whilst still have singing lessons and doing the odd few gigs. I genuinely thought I had failed. However, my idea of Success is completely different now - to me, I am successful. I am just singing for a living now and to compare what my life was like only a few years ago, seems like a miracle. People get the wrong idea of what success is, I’ve never wanted fame and fortune, I just wanted to be doing something I love for a living, and that is exactly what I do now. She is Liverpool’s Singer in Residence. Anyone who has been to Liverpool and met us scousers will know what type of people we are! We have had a lot of bad press on the past but [wait] until you’ve been here and witnessed it yourself, then make a judgment. You couldn’t get a more supportive city if you tried. Being Liverpool’s Singer in Residence is something I am incredibly proud of; it is thanks to this City that I am able to do what I do. We created the biggest band in history and there is so much talent here, in every genre of music. They believed in me and have continued to support me on my career journey. I am a very lucky girl. Liverpool will always be
in my heart no matter where I end up in life! She went through a rather dramatic voice change. (Yes, girl’s voices change too!) From a young age, I grasped the breathing techniques quite quickly. What I have struggled with, is my voice changing. I used to be a Soprano but quite drastically when I was around 17/18 the quality in my voice changed and has stayed pretty much the same since. Being a Mezzo is great but you suddenly have this fear of high notes! I do anyway! What I need to focus on more is dropping my jaw to create more space and not overthinking in the higher register. I’m always told ‘if the higher notes sound squeaky to you, it’s correct because the sound that the audience hears is full’ and I need to get used to that! Danielle studies with a coach from the Royal College in London. My vocal coach teaches at the Royal College in London so I only see her a few times a year. I have an intense technique lesson with her each time and go over any repertoire I am performing at that time. We recently looked over Handel’s Messiah and Rutter’s Requiem. I am currently working on Karl Jenkins ‘The Armed Man’ and the beautiful aria ‘Una
Voce Poco Fa’ from Rossini’s Barber of Seville.
I approach every performance I do in the same manner, whether that be singing at a funeral or singing on live television. Granted there’s a lot more pressure with bigger events but I wouldn’t want to feel like I haven’t given my all into something just because there were fewer people there or it wasn’t a huge event. I just love singing and I would want people to feel that from me.
Years back, the dream would have been to pursue a career in the opera world, however, because I didn’t go to conservatoire and study full time, that will never happen - so I’ve been told. It’s amazing how a piece of paper can determine your future really. However, I am very much at home being a concert/event singer which is what I do full time. No performance is the same, I get to work with the most incredible musicians such as the Band of Her Majesty’s Royal Marines, the Band of the Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment, the amazing Mike Moran, Aled Jones, Russell Watson to name a few.
Her second album Serenade is available for purchase now.
She is an Ambassador for North West Cancer Research.
Serenade is something I wanted to do where I could add most genres into one cd. I get a lot of mixed audiences - some really love the opera, some not so much. So, I felt as if I wanted to experiment with a few things, like singing ‘Music of the Night’ from Phantom and a cover of ‘Run’ by Snow Patrol. I just wanted to give something for everyone. I have a fantastic pianist, Stephen Mannings, who is assistant director of music at Liverpool Cathedral who accompanied me on the album so he made it even better for me with his wonderful talent.
The biggest influence in my life was my Gramps. He was the person who discovered I could sing, would sit and listen to me practice, take me to my singing lessons, support me at every performance - you name it, he did it. My Gramps lived with me from a very young age, he took me to see Phantom of the Opera when I was 9 and I remember turning to him and saying ‘Gramps I want to do that, I want to sing like that’ and within weeks I had a singing teacher. He was incredible.
She takes each performance seriously.
Danielle is very happy being a concert singer.
Back in 2011, he got diagnosed with Colorectal Cancer. My sister and I nursed him at home until he passed away seven months later in 2012
holding our hands. I wanted to do something to raise awareness and funds to find a cure. That year, North West Cancer Research asked me if I would open their Christmas concert with ‘O Holy Night’ which I did. I did everything they asked me to do because I knew in some small way I was helping as I vowed to my Gramps
I would. A few years later they asked if I would become an ambassador for the charity to which I couldn’t refuse. I perform free of charge whenever I can for them and have regularly been out in Liverpool City Centre busking for them to raise funds. If I can help a little bit by using my voice, then I’m happy.
Keep up with Danielle’s performance schedule at her website:
daniellelouisethomas.co.uk
EMER BARRY IS EMER BARRY By Chantelle Constable While studying opera, Emer Barry had a chance to work with coach Mark Shanahan in London. Once, during a masterclass, he said, "Angela Gheorghiu is not a soprano, there are thousands of sopranos in the world. Angela Gheorghiu is Angela Gheorghiu." The advice resonated with Emer, and she says, "I was obsessing about my voice and trying to make it sound 'more operatic', 'bigger', 'warmer', 'rounder' - all the words I kept hearing were good things for a voice to be. But in the process, I was essentially sounding less 'me'. The best gift any artist has is their unique personality, past, and physicality - being true to all of that and allowing them to be part of your music is the real challenge - and the real art."
Emer's father compared her voice to Sissel, and told her, "Never force it, just let it be what it is." Sarah Brightman and Sissel were some of Emer's earliest influences - although she grew up with a strictly classical training singing in Mass - and she would love to work with the Norwegian soprano, both in her own capacity as a fan and as a remembrance of her dad, who passed away in 2002 from cancer. Of that time, Emer says, "It was such a difficult time for me both personally and professionally as my Dad represented my confidence in myself. I think it's one of the reasons I went through a period of 'over singing'. I was trying so hard to feel accepted and admired in the music world and I thought having a bigger, more operatic voice would do that. I
thought it would bring me the encouragement and praise I was longing for after my Dad died. It was a long time before I realized that being myself - the me with the small voice, the me who was sensitive and the me with the amazing Dad - was actually the most valuable thing I possessed." While the fairy tale princesses she grew up with were all blonde and the witches all distressingly brunette, Emer found a role model in Audrey Hepburn. "I think I identified with her because she represented a different kind of beauty. Audrey Hepburn was like me - tall, skinny, flat-chested, softly spoken, gentle - all the things I didn't like about myself and she made them seem great! I think that's one of the reasons role models are so important." Emer is a fan of film in general, and she loves to curl up with a glass of wine, a bowl of popcorn, and a good movie. She admits to being "a big kid," favoring superhero films and comedy. For fun, she says she would probably go see a live comedian rather than a music act, because "I can't switch off fully if there is music involved!" Her love of comedy was sparked by playing the role of Serpina in "La Serva Padrona" and watching Anna Moffo perform the role in YouTube videos. "She was dazzlingly funny!"
But for all her love of a cozy night in, it's safe to say that Emer is no couch potato - in addition to performing with Celtic crossover trio Affiniti, the traveling show "Songs of Ireland," and her own solo work - Emer also juggles all the management aspects of her career by herself. "The issue of balance tends to rear its head more between performance and administration but I think any independent artist will say the same! I often say it's like I work a full-time job and 4 part-time jobs! My full-time job is as a performer/recording artist but I'm also my own graphic designer, promoter, social media manager and project manager. I love that I have complete creative control but it can be tough leaving enough time to actually use that creative freedom!" Though she works with a producer and film crew for her acclaimed music video projects, Emer even does her own styling for the videos which she says is, "both challenging and rewarding!" Affiniti formed when Emer met Mary McCague and Aisling Ennis just after completing her Masters in Opera. "We're all from classical backgrounds but we really enjoyed playing around with different styles and creating a new sound. You can't do that in Classical Music - you play it the way it's written! But there is more flexibility in Crossover music. Whether that's a good thing or not is
often the subject of debate depending on who you're talking to!" From the business side of things, Emer has this advice to offer other artists seeking team members for their career: "I book the best people, regardless of price. I want to surround myself with as much talent as I can in the hope that some of it rubs off. So, I guess I'd say, don't be afraid to invest in yourself, money shouldn't stand in the way of producing art you can be proud of. Reach out to people you admire but don't be offended if they don't reply or don't want to work with you - nobody owes you anything in this industry and being offended is just energy you can redirect somewhere else! I have often reached out to be people and gotten nowhere, only to have them contact me at a later date because they have liked my latest work. Just keep creating and working and improving and be grateful for every achievement however small. Big fan of gratitude here!" Like many singers, Emer is no stranger to stage fright - experiencing up to a week of nerves before a big performance. However, she says, "I find if I do some yoga, practice meditation, and warm my voice up gently every day I do ok." Emer has a relaxed approach to the high glamour of the classical crossover genre. Though known on
Instagram for her "corridor struts" wearing beautiful ball gowns, she says, "You know, I think perfection can be so tempting and in this new world of filters and face apps, it's very achievable! But it's not real. I think if you ever find yourself avoiding looking in the bathroom mirror because it doesn't come with a filter, it's time to take a step back! Every so often I make myself post a nonfiltered, no make selfie, just to maintain balance in my newsfeed...and my life!" In her video for “Never Enough” and in a section of another video, “The Voice” Emer appears with a natural, not-made-up face. "Being an artist is all about allowing yourself to be vulnerable and never sacrificing the emotion in search of perfection so I wanted that video (and my social media sites) to reflect that. Besides, real, imperfect people are super interesting!" She also says, "My Dad had a saying 'The mind develops as the body decays'. I feel the same about music. It only gets better the more you work at it so if people focus too much on their appearance instead of their music, they're investing in the wrong thing!" Later on, however, she added jokingly, "My Music Video creator wanted me to wear no make-up for a section of the Wuthering Heights video also and put grease and dirt on my face to echo Cathy's desperation...it was just a step too far for me!"
Emer's motto is, "Let the emotion in the song be louder than the sound of your voice." She hopes her fans feel uplifted after seeing her in concert or listening to her albums, but between the two, she says, "I actually think live performances are slightly different to albums. For a live performance I like to chat with the audience and create a relaxed atmosphere and if I can make them laugh, that's a bonus! For albums, I always think of people popping the CD into the car and listening while driving so I like to keep the music both evocative and relaxing."
There are no signs of Emer slowing down as she continues to perform and record. "I will be releasing a new single early next year with a very lovely crossover singer from the UK whose name I can't reveal yet but the track is already recorded! And I'm currently working on a new album which is all about celebrating my rebirth as a singer and as a person. It'll be much more commercial than my previous album which was an ode to my classical background but I'm really taking my time with this one and I'm really excited by the shape it's taking! I'm also writing some music for the album which is something new, there are lots of exciting things happening!"
“Let the emotion in the song be louder than the sound of your voice�
Emerbarry.com affinitimusic.com
Concert reviews with john harvey
Emily Haig Stepping Into The Light The Pheasantry Pizza Express – 12 August 2019 ‘The Pheasantry’ in Kings Road, Chelsea is one of my favorite venues. Seating is at tables (well, it is a restaurant after all) set around a central low stage, giving a wonderfully intimate atmosphere with a chance for performers and audiences to interact in a way that is quite
special. If you book early enough (I usually do) you can ask for a small table immediately in front of the stage (performers regularly place their drinks on these tables to be within easy reach) but even the most distant is probably no more than about 30 feet (9m) away from the stage.
Thus, one Monday evening in early August, I found myself in a prime position with coincidentally (or maybe not) two friends at the tables either side of me, comfortably satisfied after a bowl of delicious Pollo Pesto and eagerly anticipating Emily Haig’s grand entrance. Emily had already been through a little earlier in her curlers (the only way from the dressing room to the ‘facilities’ is through the restaurant – I did say it is an intimate venue, didn’t I?) and said hello. The dressing room at The Peasantry is behind and above the stage with a grand sweeping staircase connecting the two. As the appointed time approached, David Harvey (no relation as far as I know) descended the staircase, sat at the Steinway and began to play as the lights came up. Emily made her appearance at the balcony at the top of the stairs and launched into a powerful Broadwaystyle number – which was new to me.
I wrote down the first line “What’s a lady like me” intending to look it up later to discover the title. It turns out the title of this song by Murray Grand is, in fact, the same as first line. Emily successfully navigated the staircase (not the easiest of feats, I am told, in a long tight dress and heels) to reach the stage during the song, and followed up with the somewhat more familiar ‘Broadway Baby’. We then turned to the world of opera, with ‘Habanera’ from Carmen. A more familiar song perhaps, but there was no sense of complacency in the energy and sensuality which Emily brought to the performance. Two Andrew Lloyd Webber numbers were next – ‘Unexpected Song’ and ‘Love Never Dies’, both beautifully sung with feeling. We were back to more traditional opera for the two Puccini arias which followed –
a playful ‘O Mio Babbino Caro’, and the intense ‘Vissi d’arte’ from Tosca.
before a delightful Trip to the Library – ‘She Loves Me’.
On to Bernstein’s Candide for the spectacular ‘Glitter and be Gay’, powerfully performed by Emily encompassing the whole gamut of emotions. Emily doesn’t just sing a song – she lives it.
All good things must come to an end, but as the concert drew towards its conclusion we were brought to a high with a wonderful rendition of ‘Never Enough’ from The Greatest Showman, and ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ from Carousel.
The next few songs from the world of Broadway are perhaps less frequently performed in a classical crossover context but were nonetheless welcome as I love to hear different music. These were ‘You Don’t Know this Man’ from Parade, Gypsy Rose Lee’s ‘Some People’, and Kurt Weill’s ‘What Good Would the Moon Be’ from Street Scene. Perhaps the highlight of the evening for me was Gershwin’s ‘Summertime’. I could feel the goosebumps rising on the back of my neck as Emily’s voice glided sensually through the high notes. A little light relief came with ‘Popular’ from Wicked, before turning on the emotions again for ‘With You’ from Ghost the Musical. ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow’ brought us back to safer ground
You should never leave things on two Nevers, and sure enough the standing ovation and shouts of “More!” brought the hoped-for response with an encore of ‘Orange Colored Sky’. All in all, it was a fantastic evening with a wonderfully varied selection of music from opera and musical theatre. There were enough familiar classics to leave the audience with that warm comfortable feeling, but some unusual and even unknown songs to make you sit up and take notice. Emily sings it all with such passion – living every line. Emily is definitely an artist worth making an effort to see. If you can catch her singing an anthem at a sporting event, that’s great, but if you get that rare opportunity to attend a full-on Emily Haig concert then I suggest you grab it with both hands.
Learn more about Emily haig
emilyhaigsoprano.co.uk