Post by richnorri on Mar 12, 2009 14:35:14 GMT
There is an interview with Laura at Isle of Man Today.
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Actually All Angels sang at the Classical Brit Awards in 2007, not 2006.
Richard
Angels are flying high
Published Date: 12 March 2009
By JOHN GREGORY
All-girl classical crossover group All Angels will be performing at the Villa Marina, Douglas, this summer.
What Where When editor John Gregory spoke to group member Laura Wright about their career and the exciting year ahead.
ON June 25 the Villa audience will enjoy a double bill as All Angels will be appearing in the Royal Hall along with fellow classical crossover act Blake.
Laura Wright, 18, is looking forward to coming to the Island, which she has heard is 'absolutely beautiful'.
By the time they make that journey, they will have a new release in the shops.
'We have just finished recording our third album,' said Laura, 'and we are hoping to release that around May. It is similar music to the previous two but there is a bit of a different spin on it and we have been working with different people as well and doing some collaborations which has been really exciting for us.'
Their self-titled debut album was released in 2006 – and shot to number nine in the album charts and number two in the classical charts – while the second, Into Paradise, came out in 2007.
To date they have sold more than 500,000 copies of their albums.
In addition to the launch of the new album, they are aiming to go to America to perform for the first time.
It is a prospect they are really looking forward to.
'It is really exciting. Some of the girls have managed to get over there for some travelling but to go over there to perform to people and see their reaction will be something different, a really good experience.'
Despite their fame in the UK it does mean they will effectively be starting from scratch again.
'You have to go back to basics and start from the beginning. No-one there, apart from anyone who has followed our story over here, would know about how the band got together or the first two albums or what we have been up to in the past few years.
'It will be like starting again, it is quite scary to think like that.'
Although Laura and her fellow bandmates – Daisy Chute, 19, Melanie Nakhla, 20 and Charlotte Ritchie,19 – are all very young they have achieved so much.
In both 2006 and 2007 All Angels were invited to sing at the Festival Of Remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall and from there for the Classical BRITs in 2006 where they were nominated for Best Album against such names as Sting and Bryn Terfel. Unfortunately they just lost out to Paul McCartney!
Their repertoire spans classical, choral, opera and pop – in terms of the latter they have performed Robbie Williams's Angels and Prince's Nothing Compares 2 U among others.
When asked about her own personal highlights so far, Laura said: 'For me my family is quite sporty and as well as the music I have always loved the sports side.
'We have sung at Twickenham several times now and that for me, the feeling of just having so many people – and it wasn't necessarily that they were listening to us in particular – but the way everyone was there for the same reason was fantastic and it was such a good feeling and it took the pressure off our singing as they were there for the sport.
'Singing in the Royal Albert Hall for the Festival of Remembrance was a very moving experience as well.
'We are so lucky at our age to have those opportunities.'
It won't be the first time they will be teaming up with all-male group Blake who formed on social networking site Facebook in 2007 and won the Album of the Year Award at the Classical BRITs in 2008.
'We are really looking forward to singing with them, we have done some other performances with them, ' said Laura. 'What they do is very similiar to us, so we have something in common for us to talk about and they are all enthusiastic musicians as well.'
Both All Angels and Blake will have attracted younger people to classical music, but Laura has a love of many different genres.
'I think it is fine for people to like both genres of music (pop and classical), I don't listen to classical music 100 per cent of the time, I listen to anything from jazz to classical to R 'n' B to dance music and it all fits for different reasons.'
Despite achieving so much success so young it is clear they have managed to remain level-headed.
'I think the most important word is "group", we have had each other throughout the whole time. We didn't know each other before the group was formed but we all have quite similar backgrounds and we all have a firm family grounding as well.
'All of our parents are equally proud of everything we do, as long as we do that to the best of our ability that's all a parent can expect.
'We have got each other to have that grounding. We still have the same nerves before every concert, we still have a little group hug, we all get really nervous and I think that's what makes the performances individual and also makes them special.'
Tickets for the All Angels and Blake concert at the Villa Marina, which has been arranged by Jersey International, are available from £40 from the Villa Marina, the Welcome Centre at the Sea Terminal, the ticket hotline on 694555 and online at www.villagaiety.com
Published Date: 12 March 2009
By JOHN GREGORY
All-girl classical crossover group All Angels will be performing at the Villa Marina, Douglas, this summer.
What Where When editor John Gregory spoke to group member Laura Wright about their career and the exciting year ahead.
ON June 25 the Villa audience will enjoy a double bill as All Angels will be appearing in the Royal Hall along with fellow classical crossover act Blake.
Laura Wright, 18, is looking forward to coming to the Island, which she has heard is 'absolutely beautiful'.
By the time they make that journey, they will have a new release in the shops.
'We have just finished recording our third album,' said Laura, 'and we are hoping to release that around May. It is similar music to the previous two but there is a bit of a different spin on it and we have been working with different people as well and doing some collaborations which has been really exciting for us.'
Their self-titled debut album was released in 2006 – and shot to number nine in the album charts and number two in the classical charts – while the second, Into Paradise, came out in 2007.
To date they have sold more than 500,000 copies of their albums.
In addition to the launch of the new album, they are aiming to go to America to perform for the first time.
It is a prospect they are really looking forward to.
'It is really exciting. Some of the girls have managed to get over there for some travelling but to go over there to perform to people and see their reaction will be something different, a really good experience.'
Despite their fame in the UK it does mean they will effectively be starting from scratch again.
'You have to go back to basics and start from the beginning. No-one there, apart from anyone who has followed our story over here, would know about how the band got together or the first two albums or what we have been up to in the past few years.
'It will be like starting again, it is quite scary to think like that.'
Although Laura and her fellow bandmates – Daisy Chute, 19, Melanie Nakhla, 20 and Charlotte Ritchie,19 – are all very young they have achieved so much.
In both 2006 and 2007 All Angels were invited to sing at the Festival Of Remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall and from there for the Classical BRITs in 2006 where they were nominated for Best Album against such names as Sting and Bryn Terfel. Unfortunately they just lost out to Paul McCartney!
Their repertoire spans classical, choral, opera and pop – in terms of the latter they have performed Robbie Williams's Angels and Prince's Nothing Compares 2 U among others.
When asked about her own personal highlights so far, Laura said: 'For me my family is quite sporty and as well as the music I have always loved the sports side.
'We have sung at Twickenham several times now and that for me, the feeling of just having so many people – and it wasn't necessarily that they were listening to us in particular – but the way everyone was there for the same reason was fantastic and it was such a good feeling and it took the pressure off our singing as they were there for the sport.
'Singing in the Royal Albert Hall for the Festival of Remembrance was a very moving experience as well.
'We are so lucky at our age to have those opportunities.'
It won't be the first time they will be teaming up with all-male group Blake who formed on social networking site Facebook in 2007 and won the Album of the Year Award at the Classical BRITs in 2008.
'We are really looking forward to singing with them, we have done some other performances with them, ' said Laura. 'What they do is very similiar to us, so we have something in common for us to talk about and they are all enthusiastic musicians as well.'
Both All Angels and Blake will have attracted younger people to classical music, but Laura has a love of many different genres.
'I think it is fine for people to like both genres of music (pop and classical), I don't listen to classical music 100 per cent of the time, I listen to anything from jazz to classical to R 'n' B to dance music and it all fits for different reasons.'
Despite achieving so much success so young it is clear they have managed to remain level-headed.
'I think the most important word is "group", we have had each other throughout the whole time. We didn't know each other before the group was formed but we all have quite similar backgrounds and we all have a firm family grounding as well.
'All of our parents are equally proud of everything we do, as long as we do that to the best of our ability that's all a parent can expect.
'We have got each other to have that grounding. We still have the same nerves before every concert, we still have a little group hug, we all get really nervous and I think that's what makes the performances individual and also makes them special.'
Tickets for the All Angels and Blake concert at the Villa Marina, which has been arranged by Jersey International, are available from £40 from the Villa Marina, the Welcome Centre at the Sea Terminal, the ticket hotline on 694555 and online at www.villagaiety.com
Actually All Angels sang at the Classical Brit Awards in 2007, not 2006.
Richard
