Sarah Richards
Cinderella
Born into a family of professional musicians, Sarah could hardly escape the musical gene. From a young age she learnt to play both violin and piano, and in her early teens her voice became her full focus. Proving her worth in the genre of musical theatre she received the principal roles in shows such as ‘Bugsy Malone’, ‘Annie’ and ‘Joseph and his Amazing Technicolor Dream-coat’. At the age of sixteen, she then turned her attention towards the classical style, receiving great ac-claim in many concerts and competitions around the North West. Sarah graduated from the Vocal and Operatic studies course at Birmingham Conservatoire under the tutelage of Mezzo-Soprano, Christine Cairns. She has given recitals and performed in concerts around the country with the Birmingham Conservatoire Chamber Choir under Paul Spicer, the NEO singers under Nigel Swinford and also as a solo artist.
In 2010 she was nominated to represent the Conservatoire in the Kathleen Ferrier bursary award, and in 2011 was a finalist in the Reginald Vincent Lieder prize and the Cecil Drew Oratorio Prize (2nd). In the world of Opera, Sarah has sung various roles including Ida in J. Strauss’s ‘Die Fled-ermaus’, Genevieve in Puccini’s ‘Suor Angelica’ and 2nd Lady in Mozart’s ‘Die Zauber-flöte’ (Scenes), 2nd woman in Purcell’s ‘Dido and Aeneas’ and Nella in Puccini’s ‘Gianni Schic-chi’.
Sarah has worked with Elgar Howarth both for Birmingham Conservatoire Chorus’s performance of ‘Belshazzars Feast’ (2010) and on the world premier of his work ‘A Menagerie for Reverend John Beauchamp’. She has also performed Mozart’s ‘Exsultate Jubilate’ with the Chamber ensemble ‘Epiphany’ along with performing as a soloist in many of their concerts. Sarah’s solo Oratorio credits include Monteverdi’s ‘Vespers 1610′, Rutter’s ‘Requiem’, Bernstein’s ‘Chichester Psalms’, Britten’s ‘A Ceremony of Carols’ and Mozart’s ’Regina Coeli K108’. Sarah is also a member of the Philharmonia Chorus, under Stefan Bevier.