Sing into Spring gives voice to talented Black and South Asian performers 

The Black British Classical Foundation (BBCF) hosted Sing into Spring, an operatic gala at Birmingham’s St Philip’s Cathedral. The gala, hosted by Classic FM presenter Margherita Taylor, shone a spotlight on rising stars of opera from Black and South Asian communities. Performers mezzo-soprano Julia Daramy-Williams, soprano Natasha Agarwal, tenor Thando Mjandana and baritone Chuma Sijeqa performed a wonderful programme of solos, duos, trios and quartets. They were accompanied on the piano by musical director Beatrice Nicholas. The programme included songs from well-known operas such as Carmen, as well as a unique Mother Tongue section that allowed the singers to perform pieces from their homelands of South Africa, Senegal and India.

Captions:

1 Margherita Taylor

2 Andy Street, Vincent Osborne, Anita Bhalla, Iqbal Khan

3 Julia Regis, Nikki Tapper, Tim Pemberton, Satnam Rana, JJ Rana Grindley

4 Daniella Genas, Monder Ram, Arif Zaman

5 Dionne Buckingham Brown, Tom Mallens

6 Jaki Graham, Natalie Graham

7 Julia Daramy-Williams, Natasha Agarwal, Thando Mjandana, Chuma Sijeqa

8 Artistic director Vincent Osborne