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Louise Winter, Llandudno Arts and Music Festival
INTERNATIONAl soprano Louise Winter was first encouraged to sing at the young age of nine by her primary school teacher, who helped her to take the first steps to a worldwide career on the opera scene. Next month Louise will return to her roots for the Llandudno Arts and Music Festival.
"I'm very excited and think it will be enjoyable to come back," she said. Performing with the Welsh clarinet player, Peryn, would be extremely interesting," she said.
Well-travelled would be a fitting way to describe the highly successful mezzo-soprano. Her opera career has seen her at Glyndebourne, the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden and the the English National Opera as well as the opera houses of Berlin, Brussels, Toronto and Barcelona.
She has also performed with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, City of Birmingham Chamber Orchestra and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra.
Despite the many exotic locations she has seen, St George's Primary School, Llandudno was the first inspiration for Louise's operatic dreams.
"I started in music with the help of my primary school teacher Mr Jones," she reminisces.
"He said to me ‘Would you like to look at this piece of music' and from then on I suppose this was my introduction to singing. When I was 11 I played Brigitta in The Sound of Music and I sang on the pier and the pavilion. But of course that has burnt down now."
Louise has fond memories of Llandudno, where her parents ran a hotel along the Promenade.
"I loved all my animals and I worked as a chambermaid at my dad's hotel to pay for their upkeep. I would stay with my grandparents in Deganwy, go crabbing on the beach with our dog and go for nice walks along the West shore," she recalls.
"I would sing at the local talent contest and they would get a bit fed up of me as I would win every time," she laughs.
Louise claims it is the smaller things that have happened to her in life that have managed to influence her so strongly.
"The early opportunity that Mr Jones gave me changed my life a lot. It had a considerable impact." as I then moved on to Chetham's School of Music and the Royal Northern College of Music. When I moved to Manchester things were so different to North Wales."
Clarinet player Peryn Clement-Evans will accompany her at St John's Methodist Church, on June 13.
The festival runs from June 6, beginning with Gareth Pearson, an acoustic guitar player and composer from Cwmbran in South Wales.
Other events include Duck Baker (June 20), Poetry Trio (June 27) Steve Tilston (July 4) Prospero: A Fantasy Opera (July 11) choral concert (July 18) Philip Rushworth (July 23) and John James (July 25).
Louise Winter and Peryn Clement-Evans, St. John's Methodist Church, Llandudno, June 13, tickets from £8. llandudnofestival.com or 01492 870849
