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Charlotte makes her solo debut with the Bury Bach Choir

The Bury Bach Choir is delighted that one of our own singers, soprano Charlotte Leeder, will make her major solo debut with the choir at our performance of Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas at The Apex on 15 June.

Charlotte was born and raised in Bury St Edmunds and began singing in local choirs aged eleven, including the St Cecilia Chorale at St Edmundsbury Cathedral. She studied voice, achieving ABRSM Singing Grade 8 at sixteen, and continued to study voice and sing in the University Chamber Choir while reading for her mechanical engineering degree at the University of Bath.

On returning to Bury St Edmunds, Charlotte focused on establishing a career in engineering while singing in local choirs, including the St Edmundsbury Singers at St Edmundsbury Cathedral and the Bury Bach Choir, enjoying small solo roles in Schubert’s Mass in G, Mendelssohn’s Elijah and Britten’s A Ceremony of Carols.

Charlotte says ‘I sang Dido and Aeneas with the St Cecilia Chorale at St Edmundsbury Cathedral as a teenager and I loved it; to this day it’s still one of my favourite works. As the Spirit, I tell Aeneas that he has to leave Dido after she’s finally relinquished her heart to him, which is a pivotal moment in the plot. I get to be the harbinger of doom, which is great, it’s a lot of fun playing the bad guy!’

Eighteen months ago, Charlotte returned to vocal training, studying with mezzo-soprano Katharina Megli. Since then, she has performed in concert pieces including Cherubino’s aria ‘Non so più cosa son’ from The Magic Flute, ‘Oh had I Jubal’s lyre’ from Handel’s Joshua and The Letter Duet from Nikolai’s The Merry Wives of Windsor.

‘When our Music Director Philip Reed asked me to sing the role, naturally I was thrilled’, says Charlotte. ‘It’s really exciting to have the opportunity to sing it under his excellent direction, this time on a much larger scale with a professional orchestra and soloists’.

We’re all looking forward to hearing Charlotte and wish her well with what could be an important early step in her professional singing career!

Tickets for the concert, priced from £15, can be purchased through the choir's website www.burybachchoir.co.uk, by visiting the Apex Box Office, or by calling the Apex on 01284 758000.

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