International opera singer raises cash for Newcastle special needs school

Feb. 1, 2013 - PRLog -- International opera singer Bibi Heal is performing in Newcastle later this month to raise funds for a city special needs school.  


Bibi, from Skipton, North Yorkshire, will be singing songs from the shows with Tyneside-based community band Bede Wind in a concert at All Saints’ Church, West Avenue, Gosforth, on Saturday February 16.

The programme includes numbers from Les Miserables and My Fair Lady, as well as jazz favourites by George Gershwin and Glenn Miller.

Bibi, who trained at the Royal Academy of Music, has an impressive musical CV with recent engagements including the Handel Festival in Göttingen, concerts in Northern Germany with Europaïsches Barockorchester Le Chardon, and the Philharmonia Orchestra’s Mahler 2011 series at the Royal Festival Hall in London.

Operatic engagements include Mary Turner in Gershwin

Of Thee I Sing and its sequel Let ‘Em Eat Cake, Masha in Shostakovich Paradise Moscow, Handel Saul, Barbarina (Marriage of Figaro) and Street Child (The Pied Piper) - all for Opera North.

Funds raised by Newcastle Gosforth Rotary Club on the night will be donated to Hadrian School, Benwell, which caters for pupils aged between two and 11 with a range of additional needs including severe learning difficulties.

Bede Wind was formed in 1989 by conductor Ernest Young to allow pupils to continue playing once they had left school, and rehearsed at Springfield Comprehensive School in Jarrow.

The band has since performed in Belgium, France and America and in 2005 was the first community band to perform at The Sage Gateshead, where it now rehearses every Friday night.

Brass, woodwind and percussion players of ABRSM Grade 5 standard or above who are interested in joining should contact conductor Ernest Young at suitemusic@talktalk.net.

Tickets for the February 16 concert, which starts at 7pm, cost £7 and are available on the door or in advance by contacting Newcastle Gosforth Rotary Club on (0191) 236 3681 or (0191) 285 1616.

Media contact

For more information contact Chris Jennings at

Cian creative pr at chris@cian-pr.co.uk or on (0191) 340 8422.