Yes, the winner is Bryn Terfel with 35% of the votes! The vote was very close though, Laura Wright and Barcelona were a close second with 27% and Emilia Mitiku and Dimming of the Day was third with 25%.
Bryn led for most of the way although he was initially lagging behind Laura and Emilia. I suppose we shouldn’t be surprised at the result, as classical won the previous Alfie Boe poll by a country mile.
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Laura Wright was one of two singers (the other was Emilia Mitiku) to receive two nominations for your favourite duet with Alfie Boe. Indeed, both were nominated for Angel From Montgomery although neither ended up on the short list with it.
I first became aware of Laura through – well, if it’s on this blog, how else would I know her I can hear you all say! It’s no secret that I, along with many other fans, have been introduced to many others singers and genres of music by Alfie.
Although I wasn’t able to attend any of the Bring Him Home tour or the summer 2012 concerts that Laura performed at with Alfie, I fell in love with her voice by watching the many YouTube clips that are out there. At the time, it was hard to believe that she had yet to graduate from the Royal College of Music, so self assured did she seem. This may have been down to her previous incarnation as part of the female vocal group, All Angels.
Since then, Laura has gone from strength to strength, recording the official Diamond Jubilee song, Stronger As One as well as releasing her second solo album, The Rose. She has continued to perform in concert and I was lucky enough to see and hear her at the Huawei Winter Concert at the Royal Festival Hall in December 2013.
Fans of Laura will know that she is incredibly fit; most of her blog posts are about fitness and she was a natural choice to run the London Marathon for Nordoff Robbins, the music therapy charity of which she, like Alfie, is an ambassador. Unfortunately, in the (pardon the pun) run up to the 2013 event, Laura suffered an injury which meant she had to pull out. Thankfully, there was no such occurrence this year and she completed the 26 miles, stopping along the way to sing Jerusalem at Tower Bridge!
As if all this wasn’t enough, her brand new EP, Sound of Strength was released the next day. A bargain at under £2, the tracks showcase Laura’s beautiful voice to an accompaniment of drum and bass sampling. Some may not like this approach but it’s a great way to bring classical music to a new audience. The stand out track for me was Nessun Dorma, a song I’m far more used to listening to tenors sing! Click here to buy Laura’s music on Amazon.
Enjoy Laura and Alfie singing Barcelona – UK fans will also thrill to this on ITV Perspectives tonight – 10pm. Anyone going to be watching???
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So, for a week now you’ve all been voting for your favourite Alfie Boe duet...and the results are now in!
Of course, if you subscribe, you’ll already be aware of the short list – if you want to get in on the action before anyone else, subscribe now!
The voting was very competitive and although there has been a clear leader right from the start, the singers bringing up the rear have changed over the week.
If your favourite made it through, fantastic, why not vote for them again? If your favourite is missing, click on the new video short list to help you choose a new one!
Watch out for regular updates and profiles on the short listed singers – if you subscribe, you” also get sneak previews on the way the voting goes…before everyone else!
Announced this week, Alfie will be appearing at a charity concert in aid of Parkinson’s UK in June at the Royal Albert Hall. The concert is the idea of conductor James Morgan who was recently diagnosed with the disease. James and his wife, Juliette Pochin have worked with Alfie in the past, notably on the Bring Him Home Tour of 2011/2012 and on the Bring Him Home album. Other guests are Armstrong and Miller and Jason Manford.
This has caused considerable excitement amongst UK Alfie fans, so much so that one particular fan who shall remain nameless (Sally) who is notorious for never going anywhere near the front of the crowd at an Alfie event has broken her rule and is sitting in the front row!!! We are all amazed, especially since she booked it herself and didn’t have to be persuaded!
Here is a look back to Alfie and James having a laugh on the Bring Him Home Tour (and also a chance to hear Alfie sing with the lovely Laura Wright):
Since I first heard the first snippets from Alfie Boe’s latest album Trust two tracks stood out for me: Rosie and Glory, Glory. Upon hearing the full length versions for the first time when Trust was released in November, those two songs quickly became my favourites. I defy anyone to sit still and not dance to Glory, Glory, in particular. From talking to other fans, it was obvious that I was not alone in the opinion that those were the two tracks we wanted to hear live, above all others. Well, it seems that good things happen to those who wait (in this case, we didn’t have to wait very long) as Alfie treated us to Rosie and Glory, Glory at the Huawei Winter Concert on 1 December. Playing the entire second act, Alfie and his extremely talented band (Murray Gould, Matt White, Richard Causon et al) burst into Rosie first off before moving easily into the album title song. Rosie was everything we had hoped it would be, a fabulously foot tapping gospel infused number. On this evidence, Rosie will remain a favourite for the live shows for some time. Once again, thank you to the lovely Linda Wellington for sharing the video
Glory, Glory rounded off the evening, before an encore of Forever Young, and in typical Alfie style, half the audience ended up dancing on the stage! This really was glorious and we should all say Hallelujah for its inclusion on the album – absolutely loved it. Another live show favourite for sure.
Other songs from the evening included Trust, Wayfaring Stranger, If You Go Away and Keep Me In Your Heart, all beautifully sung but the highlight for me (Rosie and Glory, Glory notwithstanding) was Dimming of the Day with Laura Wright. Finishing off the first half in style, Alfie and Laura’s voices blended wonderfully to showcase this lovely song we first heard on the Storyteller tour earlier this year. Laura performed throughout the first half with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and the Tiffin Boys Choir and was at times, breath taking.
Alfie Boe fans are truly blessed at the moment – on 5th September Alfie performed at the Freddie for a Day event in London, organized by the Mercury Phoenix Trust. We knew next to nothing about what Alfie would sing at this event and were not particularly hopeful that we would find out anytime soon. After all, Alfie performed at this event last year and no videos have emerged yet. The event came and went and a couple of details were tweeted; namely, that Alfie sang the Freddie Mercury / Montserrat Caballe duet “Barcelona” with soprano Laura Wright. Again, we all wished for a video to appear from somewhere but didn’t really think it would happen.
Imagine our surprise and delight then when someone (whoever you are, a huge thank you from all Alfie fans everywhere) posted the following video on youtube. I defy anyone to watch this and not be swept off their feet by Alfie and Laura! Oh, and if anyone feels like sharing Alfie’s solo song (Love of my Life) please don’t be shy!!!
