Local girl Louise takes to the stage at Llandudno’s summer festival

Jun 4 2009 by Beth Kennedy, North Wales Weekly News

OPERA singer Louise Winter will give a recital at Llandudno Arts and Music Festival this month.

International soprano Louise was first encouraged to sing at the age of nine by her primary school teacher, who helped her take the first steps to an international career.

“I’m very excited and think it will be enjoyable to come back,” she said. “Performing with Welsh clarinet player Peryn Clement-Evans would be extremely interesting.”

Her opera career has seen her at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden and English National Opera as well as the opera houses of Berlin, Brussels, Toronto and Barcelona.

Despite the many exotic locations she has seen, St George’s Primary School 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.

“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.

“The early opportunity Mr Jones gave me changed my life. I 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.”

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 on 01492 870849 or via www.llandudnofestival.com