Kathy Leigh

[dazza]

Hi Everyone,

Kathy Leigh is supporting All Angels on their current tour so I feel that she deserves her own thread here.

www.kathyleigh.com/

Enter her site, click on 'Debut Album' and you can listen to clips of her songs. She performed We'll Gather Lilacs and O Mio Babino Caro in York.

Dazza

[winglessflight]

Hi Dazza, thanks for the link!

Kathy has a nice voice, an impressive resume, and a professional image. Very accomplished at "only" 17!

I wonder what led to her being invited to open for AA? I've been out of the loop, so if that info was given elsewhere I missed it.

[dazza]

Hi Chantelle,

I'm not sure how supporting All Angels came about for her, especially as it was something that was never advertised.

I will ask her if I can on Friday when I'll be buying her album too.

Dazza

[bonnie]

Hi Dazza

Glad you have set up a thread to Kathy Leigh. I found out the info that Kathy was invited by the Tour Organisers to open the AA Concerts having seen her perform only 10 Days before the first Concert. that ws the reason why their was no advertising!!

But if you go to her Website www.kathyleigh.com you can see that she has already performed at some important venues. I was quite impressed. I can now understand why she was asked to open the AA Concerts and i hope she is involved with them again in the future. she did tell me at Bury St Edmunds that she has been asked to sing to our troops but cannot tell me where yet.

She told me to keep an eye on her website for future dates to be posted.

Cheers Bonnie

[keithp]

I was impressed with Kathy on Friday, so much so I bought the album Sadly, (as she said it was one of her favourites) I thought "Violets" was the weakest of her 3 songs

[dazza]

Hi Everyone,

I listened to Kathy's album today and I like it, there is a good mix of classical and pop songs on it, I think that she has a lovely voice.

Dazza

[richnorri]

Hello everybody!

Here's an interesting article from the Scarborough Evening News.

Published Date: 11 April 2008
Location: Scarborough

Kathy's special dedication with debut album


Kathy Leigh 081464e

A TEENAGE opera singer who lives in the Scarborough area has launched her debut album.

Kathy Leigh, 17, of Wykeham, says her first album, From Me to You, is dedicated to her uncle Jim Hughes, who died four years ago from cancer.

The rising star has given more than 100 performances and raised thousands of pounds for Cancer Research and Lady McAdden's Breast Screening campaign.

Last year Kathy, who was born in Southend, moved to Wykeham with her family and will shortly be moving to Pickering.

Kathy told the Evening News she is loving Yorkshire life and often spends time in Scarborough. "I really love Scarborough at the moment. I've got a lot of friends in the town and it's a great place to go shopping. I would love to perform at the Spa.

"The tracks on my album are really nice to listen to and appeal to all ages. My friends in Scarborough are teenagers and they know it off by heart, as well as their mums and dads."

Her new CD was recorded at Abbey Road Studios in London and features tracks such as Puccini's O Mio Babbino Caro, Ivor Novello's We'll Gather Lilacs and the music hall classic The Boy I Love Is Up In The Gallery. She sings in French, Italian, English and Welsh. Profits from the album are going to Cancer Research UK.

It is another achievement for the talented teenager, who was head soprano at The Cliffs Pavilion in Southend and won the Child Achiever award in London aged 12 for her singing ability and work for cancer charities.

She has also appeared on TV, the New York stage and the West End. And she has her own website, www.kathyleigh.com.

Her interest in singing started as a youngster, listening to opera divas such as Maria Callas, and she made her first public appearance aged 10.

She appeared on a Royal Caribbean cruise ship aged 13 and was recently a guest artist with top girl-singing group All Angels, at York Minster.

Now she has joined Pickering Musical Society and will be appearing in its annual Wartime Weekend Show in October.

Her mum Barbara, who used to live at Potter Hill, Pickering, before marrying her husband Jeff and moving to the south of England, said: "The Yorkshire people have been brilliant with Kathy. She's fallen in love with the region and wants to stay up here."

Richard

[winglessflight]

Perhaps she sounded different in a live concert, but after listening to the samples on her website I personally think Kathy is even less deserving of the "opera singer" appellation than most crossover singers today!
I wish Kathy all the best, but I think she and her "managment / marketing" team (whoever they may be) need to really back down on the "opera singer" tag... or I have a feeling that if Kathy ever becomes really popular, she's going to catch a lot of flack for it!
And, um, I won't even say anything about how she calls her CD a mix of "opera and jazz music".

[dazza]

Hi Chantelle,

I think that Kathy is a lot better performing live than the clips on her site. I enjoyed listening to her album but I wouldn't describe her music as opera either, I would say there is a good mix of classical crossover, pop and jazz.

I believe that her management team is Purple Dragon Productions.

Dazza

[winglessflight]

Sorry, but "A Nightingale Sang in Berkely Square" given the same orchestral/classical treatment as "O Mio Babbino Caro," and an equally lush music hall song (The Boy I Love...) don't count as jazz!
Two articles that have proved very helpful to me in the jazz "definition" crisis are,
"What Makes a Jazz Singer" and "Are Krall and Monheit Jazz Singers?"
They make interesting reading, if you're interested. ;D
However, I can sum them up with this-- it is not the selection of material that makes a jazz singer. It is 1) Singing in a jazz musical setting (ie, with jazz musicians) 2) An innate swing in the vocal delivery; jazz rhythm, and 3) The vocalist has to have a story to tell. With those three elements, Ella Fitzgerald could make "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" a jazz song, but if even one of them is left out, undeniable standards such as "I've Got You Under My Skin" and "Fly Me To the Moon" become as square as a... Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy duet!

That "whoever they may be" statement was a bit dumb on my part. I know Kathy was recently "signed" by Purple Dragon Productions, but I believe that was rather recently and I was referring to the fact that there seems to have been a steady stream of operatic labeling from the get-go, and I assume that would be the 'fault' of a smaller, more informal mangament team. Her parents, perhaps?

Again, I honestly think Kathy has great talent, but I honestly think she's going about her career in the wrong way! I'm only being so critical because I believe she could be quite successful, if only she would change her strategy!

[dazza]

Hi Chantelle,

I probably should have been clearer in my previous statements, a few of Kathy's song's give off a 'jazzy feel' to them rather than being out and out Jazz..her album mainly consists of crossover, with a bit of pop.

You maybe correct in everything that you say, I am not going to debate it, however - and I am not critisisng you - I feel that you are being a little harsh on Kathy considering that you haven't listened to her album and are basing your opinion just on the samples on her website.

Dazza

[winglessflight]

Fair enough; I'll hold off on any further judgment or praise until I have more to base it on.
Thanks for letting me voice my opinion as it stands so far!

[bonnie]

Hi Chantelle

I have read your comments and thought it might help that I spoke to Kathy at the VIP Party after the concert (which I presume you did not see and heard her sing the Puccinni aria 'Vis D'Arte which is not on her Album) and found out that she has been training and singing opera for some time. She told me that she did perform recently as the lead soprano in the Marriage of Figaro and Don Giovanni (Mozart) at a large prestigious venue in Aid of the Lady Mc Adden Breast Screening Unit. Seemingly her Album was recorded when she was only 16 and she decide to keep the Opera minimal on her first Album as it was aimed at a more general audience in order to raise as much as possible for Cancer Research UK. I am going to follow her progress and I agree with you that she has a impressive resume for one so young and her live performance showed her operatic ability.

I am going to keep checking her website for future venues as I am sure that she will be performing more this year following her success with the All Angels Tour.

Bonnie

[winglessflight]

Apr 15, 2008 17:46:47 GMT bonnie said:

Seemingly her Album was recorded when she was only 16 and she decide to keep the Opera minimal on her first Album as it was aimed at a more general audience in order to raise as much as possible for Cancer Research UK. Bonnie

Sorry to keep beating a dead horse, but if this is the case, then why is she calling it an opera CD? I don't care how or what she sings, I just wish she (and other 'crossover' artists!) would get their genre classification correct.

[drew]

Switching on of the Southend-on-Sea Xmas Lights 15th November 2008

15th November 2008 - Southend-on-Sea High Street

As an up and coming celebrity, Kathy has been asked by Ian Wyatt of BBC Essex Radio to join them on the platform at the seafront end of the High Street near the Royals, in her home town of Southend, with another celebrity at the switching on of the Xmas Lights. This will be followed by a spectacular firework display. She will be singing live on the Radio and the times are as follows

Kathy singing at 4:45pm

Lights switch on 5:00pm

Kathy sings again just before 5:30pm


Immediately followed by the firework display