Dutch concert pianist Willem Brons is a national treasure, still performing in the famous Concertgebouw in his eighties and giving master classes as far afield as Japan. It was an honour to join him and the Leidse Cantorij under the direction of his nephew, Hans, to perform Liszt’s Via Crucis. In contrast to his more flamboyant style, Liszt’s stations of the cross are intimate and bare, sometimes with a single line in the piano. Willem’s rendition captured the intense suffering of Jesus and, at the end, the fragile gimmer of hope.

This spring I’ll be singing at several wonderful events. 

On Palm Sunday, I’ll join concert pianist Willem Brons, a national treasure in the Netherlands, to perform Liszt’s “Via Crucis.” Liszt is well-known for his flamboyant piano music, but “Via Crucis” is much more intimate and vulnerable: it’s a very powerful piece.

I’ll travel to Arras in northern France to sing for the commemoration of the Battle of Arras which took place 109 years ago. The ceremony will take place at dawn at the Wellington Tunnels where many of the allied soldiers involved in the attack spent their last night. 

On ANZAC Day I’ll be singing in CWGC Ockenburg in the Netherlands during a dawn ceremony organised by the Australian Embassy to the Netherlands. 

Then on 29th April I’ll launch my new LP with Simple Harmonic Motion, “Voices in a Modern Style,” in a beautiful church in the Cotswolds in the heart of England. For more information and tickets, please follow this link. 

But first, I’ll be singing during a fund raising concert to support a Dutch band who plan to travel to Normandy to support the ceremonies of the Parachute Regiment over D-Day, on 28th March in Leiden’s City Hall. 

2025 was an intense year, which began with orthopaedic surgery and ended with some wonderful performances and the opportunity to work with a renowned Dutch singing teacher.

I learned in 2024 that, following a cycling accident in 2017, I had been given the wrong diagnosis for my shoulder. Early in 2025 I finally had the surgery I should have had years ago, and so began a recovery period, with intense physiotherapy and strict rules about not overdoing it. I took on some performances here and there, including the ANZAC day ceremony organised by the New Zealand Embassy in The Hague, a very carefully-planned trip to Normandy to sing for the D-Day commemorations, first world war remembrance in the Somme and Ypres, plus some Christmas concerts.

I also took time to compose. I’m working on a large-scale work about Violette Szabo, a Second World War spy, called “Violette: A Requiem for the Unseen.” I published “Give Peace,” an easy a capella SSATB motet suitable for remembrance ceremonies. My work helping behind the scenes at Commonwealth War Graves Commission planning the orders of service for commemorations in Normandy and the annual carol service organised by their foundation drew my attention to a lack of easy, a capella choir repertoire suitable for remembrance ceremonies. This is hardly surprising given that the tradition of holding a ceremony to remember the fallen grew out of the widespread grief following the First World War. Here is my setting of “Give peace” – the versicle and response used in evening prayer:

In the summer, I was given the chance to work with mezzo-soprano Marion van den Akker, so for the coming months I’ll be knuckling down and training. It’s wonderful working on new repertoire, including Brahms, Verdi, and Wagner, and I love the sense that my voice is continuing to develop. Especially after feeling stagnated for nearly a decade following my shoulder accident, I am intensely enjoying finding this new freedom in my voice!

I wish you a very happy, inspiring, and healthy 2026.

I joined K&G 3 in the Pieterskerk, Leiden, the burial place of Pilgrim Father John Robinson, for two jam-packed Christmas Eve services. 

With thanks to René Lekkie,  Margreet Klokke, Willeke Smits, Jos, Thijs, and the team who organised the services and made them happen. 

Happy Christmas! 

Possibly the most confronting event of the year, worldwide candle-lighting day brings those who have experienced bereavement after the death of a young person together for a moment of reflection. 

The event has been held in Leiden for ten years now. Candles are lit, names are read out, and photos are shown. 

Perhaps most magical is the reception afterwards, where the sorrow transforms into warmth and laughter. I cannot begin to imagine the depths of sorrow people feel at the loss of a young person, a child, toddler, baby, stillborn, or miscarriage. But I can imagine that coming together and knowing one is not alone may help in this process. 

With thanks to Xenia Hospice and the Leiden City Council for organising and hosting this event for a decade.