Tag Archives: Jonathan Antoine

Beth Ford’s Voyage

Almost exactly a year ago, I blogged about Beth Ford’s debut single, If I Could Escape, which reached number 3 on an iTunes chart.  Following a year in which Beth has performed live with People’s Soprano Rebecca Newman and tenor Jonathan Antoine as well as recording a duet with Michael Boe, I’m thrilled to be able to bring you the news that this wonderful single is being followed by a three track EP, to be released on Wednesday 13th July.

The Voyage comprises the title track, How We Love and Follow Your Dream and all three tracks showcase the improved maturity and strength of Beth’s voice.  Last year I was struck by how much Beth had improved since I first heard her sing (on Alfie Boe’s Bring Him Home tour, with Alfie himself and Flo Bannigan) and a full twelve months on, I’m again struck by a much richer tone in her voice.

Beth new photo

 

My favourite track is Chris Broom’s Follow Your Dream which sums up the performers mantra of believing in your dreams.  Beth herself says “This sums up so perfectly what I believe in, nothing is impossible if you pursue your dreams…The lyrics of the song are simply perfect ‘your star will shine if you follow your dream‘”.

All three tracks flow seamlessly, telling a story of voyage, adventure and following your dreams which is what Beth seems to be doing quite successfully at the moment. Indeed, this weekend saw Beth sit at the top of amazon’s movers and shakers chart, thanks to all the pre-orders so far – an amazing achievement.

To order your download of The Voyage, just click on the image below:

beth ford voyage

If you click through now, you will also receive a musical gift from Beth to say ‘thank you’ and the chance to grab a special edition CD which features two bonus songs not available anywhere else.  Having heard these extra two tracks, I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend pre-ordering now.  How do you get your hands on this?  Once you have pre-ordered, just email freemusic@angrybaby.co.uk with ‘The Voyage Bonus’ in the subject line – then you sit back and wait for your download and free musical gift to arrive.  Hurry – you only have until Wednesday to get this exclusive special offer!

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What a Start for Beth Ford in 2016!

2015 was a phenomenal year for singer Beth Ford, with a top ten iTunes hit on her debut single, a viral YouTube video and a slot with soprano Rebecca Newman at Lichfield’s Garrick theatre.  All this and I haven’t mentioned Beth’s duet with Michael Boe for his album (with Sean Ashmore), Along the Way!  However, 2016 is only a few weeks old and looks set to be just as good as last year, as Beth has just performed with Jonathan Antoine on the Birmingham leg of his Believe tour.  Sharing the stage with Jonathan is an early highlight for Beth who said “I don’t have words to describe what was one of the best days of my life. I have been on Cloud nine ever since and I am so happy that everyone had a good time. I am grateful to Jonathan Antoine for giving me this fabulous opportunity”.

Angry Baby’s Flo Bannigan went along to the concert and reviewed it for us – thanks Flo!

Jonathan is the endearingly shy young man from Britain’s Got Talent who, along with his duet partner, Charlotte Jaconelli, shot to overnight fame at the audition stage.  Only Pudsey the dog robbed them of first place!  At that time, Jonathan was only 17 years old.  He has still only just turned 21, but despite his young age he has developed confidence that commands the stage as a solo performer. Thankfully, this isn’t at the expense of a natural personality and playfulness that infects his singing and his chat with his audience. But it was the music that we came to hear, and we were not disappointed. Jonathan is much more than a classically-trained singer. His effortless vocals move from the strength and projection required for Granada through rich, plaintive tones for romantic Italian arias, to a truly tender lullaby Hushabye Mountain and love songs sung with softness and intensity that requires truly accomplished interpretation.

Jonathan’s talent for singing is matched by his talent for choosing supporting acts and the highlight was local girl Beth Ford.  Enchanted by Beth’s pure, natural voice, which provided a gorgeous contrast to Jonathan’s rich tones throughout their duet of Come What May, there was an audible gasp from the audience when they heard that Beth is just 15 years old.

If it’s possible to feel an audience leaning in to hear and appreciate the emotion in every note, that’s the effect that Beth created through her solo Beautiful Dreamer. There is something other-worldly about Beth’s presence on stage and her hypnotic rendering of this classic song definitely left everyone wanting more.  [Luckily Beth can give you more – click here to get your free download of I’m Always Chasing Rainbows.]  Another local act, Rugby’s teenage ensemble The Strawhouse Singers ably rose to the challenge of supporting Jonathan’s powerful vocals.

Thank you for a wonderful review Flo!  Of course, like six degrees of separation, Jonathan and Beth have both appeared on the same stage as Alfie Boe – Jonathan at 2015’s Llangollen Eistedfodd and Beth memorably sang Impossible Dream with Alfie on his 2012 Bring Him Home tour.  Dare I say that Beth has gone one better than Jonathan in recording with a Boe?  As mentioned in the introduction, Beth recorded a duet version of Streets of London with Alfie’s elder brother Michael in 2015 – click here to order.

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A Phenomenal Year for Beth Ford

Although this blog is primarily about Alfie Boe, I also like to bring you new music and one person who has featured fairly regularly here this year is the super talented Beth Ford, who first came to our attention singing Impossible Dream with Alfie and Flo Bannigan.  That was a few years ago now and Beth’s voice has matured and taken her to places she never even thought of at the beginning of the year.

So far in 2015 Beth has released her debut single, If I Could Escape, which reached number 3 in an iTunes new releases chart, scored a viral YouTube video with a hauntingly beautiful rendition of Pie Jesu and supported People’s Soprano Rebecca Newman in concert at the Lichfield Garrick.  The chance to sing on Rebecca’s stage meant a lot to Beth. She said “Appearing at the Lichfield Garrick to support Rebecca in July was a wonderful experience and I was genuinely touched by the generosity of Rebecca in asking me to be a part of her show.”  Luckily, we can all enjoy the fruits of Rebecca’s generosity as she has given us permission to show this video of Beth’s performance:

This hasn’t been shared anywhere else yet so aren’t we the lucky ones!

Somehow or other Beth also found time to record a duet with Michael Boe which is included on his and Sean Ashmore’s new album, Along The Way, record an entry for G4’s Search for a Christmas Star competition and now she’s busy preparing to sing with young tenor Jonathan Antoine on the Birmingham date of his current UK tour (11th November, click here for tickets).  We know that Beth has sung with Alfie Boe but did you also know that Jonathan has appeared with him too?  They both appeared on the same night at the Llangollen Eistedfodd this summer – and another link – Beth went backstage to meet Alfie when he appeared at the Eistedfodd in 2012.  Jonathan’s first solo tour is a bit of a back to basics approach, he says “The aim of this tour is to do away with over production.  The intent with ‘An Evening with Jonathan Antoine’ is to remove the barriers between me and the audience…and go back to basics”.  Having a local singer on the bill will do wonders to enhance Jonathan’s rapport with his audience too.

With all this happening for Beth in 2015, I can’t wait to see what she gets up to in 2016!  Until then,as she’s such a lovely girl, she’s giving away a free music track, so hope over to www.bethfordmusic.com to add her beautiful voice to your music collection.

Michael Boe and Sean Ashmore’s album, Along The Way (featuring Beth on Streets of London) is available here: North Star Opera.

Tickets for Jonathan Antoine’s tour can be found by clicking here.

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Friday Round Up with Alfie Boe: No. 8

Banish the winter blues – two new dates for Alfie Boe’s 2015 concerts have been announced this week!

Alfie will first headline the Utah Stars and Friends benefit concert on 14 March, joining other Utah based musicians such as Lexi Walker, We Are The Strike and the One Voice Children’s Choir. Click here for tickets.

Announced the same day, Alfie will return to the Llangollen Eistedfodd on 9 July.  In contrast to his previous two visits, Alfie will be singing at a dedicated musical theatre evening and will be joined by Sophie Evans (runner up in TV’s Over The Rainbow), saxophonist Amy Dickson and fellow tenor Jonathan Antoine.  Festival Director Eilir Owen Griffiths said

I’m thrilled Alfie Boe has agreed to headline what will be an absolutely fantastic evening concert. Alfie’s unforgettable West End performances as Jean Valjean in Les Miserables were critically acclaimed and rightly so.  This isn’t his first appearance at Llangollen of course and audiences have always responded to him, he is definitely a firm favourite. But this will be the first time we have had a concert which will specifically celebrate musical theatre and movie themes. It will be a wonderful night and one not to be missed.

Alfie’s previous two appearances at Llangollen could not have been more different; in black tie in 2008 to sing the Pearl Fishers duet with David Kempster and then in 2012 his appearance was in keeping with his repertoire of that summer tour – more Elvis than opera!

Tickets for Llangollen will be on sale in February so if you don’t want to miss out, don’t forget to sign up for emails.  Until then, click here for the festival website.

My next interview is with the youngest ever JVJ – and a good friend of Alfie – John Owen Jones – it will be out next week.

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