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Natalie
joined CHTC in the junior chorus for Fiddler on the Roof
in 1998. Following that she progressed up through the Junior and Adult Chorus
for several more shows. She took on the role of Kathy Cratchit in
Scrooge and one of the Andrews Sisters in
Happy as a Sandbag before making her
sensational lead debut as Mei Lei in Flower Drum Song in 2006
(Photo below).
She also took on a number of roles with the Youth Theatre and
the Players in
productions such as The Gut Girls,
Once a Catholic and
Ritual for Dolls. She returned to CHTC briefly
in 2007as a
one-person pit choir for Hello Dolly!
In her
programme notes for Flower Drum Song Natalie said
that she had always enjoyed being part of CHTC with the rest of her family
(Sister: Louise, Mum: Jennifer and Dad: Paul) and had made many new friends over
the years.
As well as being an accomplished actor, Natalie is a
talented Soprano Singer. She also plays the Oboe and Piano. Whilst
at St Gabriel's School in Newbury she played Oboe with the Berkshire Maestros
orchestra before she moved on to spend her
sixth form years at The Purcell School near Watford under the DFES Music &
Dance Scholarship Scheme. Purcell is the specialist music school where she sat her A levels.
Whilst
there she performed as a singer or oboist at venues including The Wigmore
Hall, St John's, Smith Square, Buckingham Palace, St Jude’s Church, St Olave’s
Church, and the Barbican Centre in London, Peterborough Cathedral, Corpus
Christi College Cambridge, and The Birmingham
Symphony Hall, also St Lawrence's Church and The Croft Hall in Hungerford! She also took solo and
lead roles in a number of school events, including a Carol
Concert conducted by John Rutter. She is currently training at the
Birmingham Conservatoire of Music and hopes to become a professional opera singer.
Natalie is a member of the National
Youth Choir of Great Britain and performed on their recent, critically acclaimed
CD,
Sanctum Est Verum Lumen.
In July & August 2009 she toured with The NYC in the USA at venues including the
Mormon Tabernacle in Salt Lake City and the Disney Hall in LA with renowned composer, Eric Whitacre.
In
March 2009 Natalie performed a
Vocal Recital
at St Lawrence's Church in Hungerford. One knowledgeable musician said "Natalie's concert
was a delight. There are lots of people who can sing but Natalie
is somehow very special. Her singing and interpretation seem so
natural and unforced. Today there are so many over blown
performances. Natalie's whole presentation is so modest that the
music is able to speak for itself."
Please
Click Here for the programme.
In July 2009 Natalie
(Pictured Second left - Click for bigger
picture) delighted the Croft Hall audience with her
HADCAF
performance. This was as part of the "Concert:
Five Students of Birmingham Conservatoire".
In September Natalie sang as
part of the unique massed youth choir at the Royal Albert Hall as part
of
BBC Proms concert no 68 - Handel's Messiah.
This was broadcast live by the BBC. In
November she sang at Birmingham Town Hall with Ex Cathedra in
anniversary performances of Elgar's Dream of Gerontius.
In June
2010 Natalie won the Ambache Prize for the
performance of Music by Women Composers in Birmingham - her first
competition win. There were 22 entrants
and 6 finalists and Natalie won first prize with a wonderful performance of a
song cycle by US composer Gwyneth Walker called though love be a day.
In June 2011 she won a £500 prize and was highest placed singer in the Delius
Prize.
In 2010 Natalie delighted a sell-out Croft Hall audience with An Evening of Song with
Birmingham Conservatoire Students - a HADCAF event. Also
she
sang on a world premier CD of choral works by MacMillan and was leading choral workshops with the Music For Youth Festival in
Birmingham, working with the National Youth Choirs of Great Britain and singing with Ex Cathedra at the Royal Festival Hall in London.
In 2010 Natalie was accepted into Laudibus - the elite chamber group of the
National Youth Choir of GB. Her first concert with them was at East Woodhay Church on 15th May 2011as part of the Newbury Spring Festival.
Natalie also performed again as part of HADCAF 2011.
"An
Evening of Song " on
July 19th
2011. This featured Natalie and a Tenor performing, solos and
duets from all corners of classical music.
 In
October 2011 Natalie featured in Newbury Weekly News (Click thumbnail left to
enlarge) and performed to great acclaim as soprano soloist with the Basingstoke
Hospital Orpheus Male Voice choir at the United Reform Church in Newbury on
Saturday 15 October. Proceeds of the concert went to West Berkshire branch of
Alzheimer's Society. (Click thumbnail right to enlarge)
We will keep this page updated with her
progress and wish her the best of luck for the future.
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