The Battle of the Lys, also known as the Fourth Battle of Ypres, took place between 7^th and 29^th April, 1918. It was part of a German offensive known as the “Spring Offensive” whose goal was to recapture Ypres from British Forces. There were over 200,000 casualties and losses. On 29^th April, the German High Command called off the offensive.

The First World War was the first war to involve tank warfare. The Tanks’ Regiment was formed by the British Army in 1916. Tanks were first used in 1916 in the Battle of Flers-Courcelette in the Somme. During the Spring Offensive, the Germans used tanks in large-scale warfare for the first time. As the First World War progressed, tank warfare became increasingly common. It was perilous. Tanks often became stuck in mud, leaving soldiers vulnerable to shells and gunfire. However, only about a quarter of the casualties in the Tank Regiments occurred in tanks: many fell after dismounting to fire machine guns. The Tanks’ Regiment earned great respect from the Infantry Commanders to whose battalions they were attached.

The Tanks Memorial Ypres Salient is a monument in Poelkapelle, Belgium. On 15^th April, a ceremony will held at the monument at 16:30 followed by a service in St. George’s Memorial Church in Ypres. Emma will sing at both ceremonies.

Sunday, 15^th April, 2018

16:30 – Tanks Memorial Ypres Salient, Poelkapelle: blessing and placement of wreaths.

18:00 – Remembrance Service in St George´s Memorial Church in Ypres commemorating the centenary of the Battle of the Lys.

During the First World War, the allied forces sometimes sheltered in tunnels as well as trenches. In the French town of Arras, the New Zealand Tunneling Companies dug a large network of tunnels which connected to the town’s existing Roman and Medieval tunnels. These formed a base for over twenty thousand Allied soldiers, including a hospital with seven hundred beds and several operating theatres. There was running water and electricity. The New Zealanders named the tunnels ‘Wellington’ after their capital.

On 9^th April, 1917, at 05:30 am UK time, the Battle of Arras began. Soldiers ran out of the tunnels into No Man’s Land. In the thirty-seven days that followed, nearly 300,000 soldiers and officers were killed or wounded.

On 9^th April, 2018, at 06:30 am local time, there will be a remembrance ceremony at the Wellington Tunnels to mark the anniversary of the Battle of Arras. Emma will sing Abide with Me, Danny Boy, and Amazing Grace. Music will also be provided by the Orchestre d’Harmonie d’Arras, piper Anja Pepplinkhuizen, and ‘cellist Fabrice Bihan in what promises to be a moving and fitting ceremony. Britain and the Commonwealth will be represented by attachés and military personnel, and the Mayor of Arras will also attend and lay a wreath.

9^th April, 2018, 06:30 am, Wellington Tunnels, Arras, France.

Bach’s St. Matthew and St. John Passions are perhaps his most often performed works during Holy Week. The St. Mark Passion is less well-known and it was nearly lost completely.

First performed in 1731, the St. Mark Passion was revised in 1744, and then the manuscript was lost. Fortunately, it was possible to reconstruct much of the work for two reasons: firstly, because the libretto survived, and secondly, because the St. Mark Passion reused music from Bach’s other works. This included movements from the Christmas Oratorio, the ode Laß Fürstin, laß noch einen Strahl (BWV 198), and the two arias from the cantata Wiederstehe doch der Sünde (BWV 54). In order to complete the work, the remaining words were set to other Bach arias or as recitative.

Emma will sing extracts of the St. Mark Passion together with soprano Caroline Stam and baritone Frits Karskens and the Brederode Consort in a concert on 31^st March. They are accompanied by an period instrument ensemble with conductor Henk Gijzen.

The concert will also include extracts from a St. John Passion which was originally considered to be an early work of Handel. More recently, the work has been attributed to Bohm. The Brederobe Consort will also perform a composition of conductor and organist Henk Gijzen

Saturday, 31^st March, 16:00

Marekerk, Leiden, the Netherlands

Free entry: a collection may be taken to support the work of the church

On 24^th March, Emma will appear as a guest soloist with the West Yorkshire Police Band and the Cheshire Constabulary Corps of Drums in Pontefract, England. The concert is to mark the centenary of the end of the First World War this year. Emma will sing popular songs and songs of remembrance.

Emma has sung with the West Yorkshire Police Band in Flanders in 2016 and 2017, at ceremonies in Tyne Cot CWGC cemetery, the Menin Gate, the New Zealand Memorial, and Messines Ridge. She is delighted to be joining them in England for the first in several events this year to mark the centenary of the armistice.

The concert is sponsored by the Hospice and Charities Darts and Domino League and hosted by the Rotary Club. All proceeds from the tickets will be donated to the Prince of Wales Hospice .

Saturday, 24^th March, St. Giles Church, Pontefract, England, 19:00.

Tickets are available by contacting Bill Henderson on +44 7939 100 215

The Alpe d’Huez is a Dutch initiative in which people ascend the Alpe d’Heuz mountain in France six times, either by foot or by mountain bike. They have the motto “Never, ever quit.”

In Emma’s hometown of Leiden, the Netherlands, staff at the Leiden University Medical Centre are raising funds for the Alpe d’HuZes Dutch Cancer Foundation and participating in the climb. A concert has been arranged for 14^th March in the hospital foyer. There, Emma will sing Rimsky-Korsakov’s “Song of the Shepherd Lell” from his opera the Snow Maiden, arranged for mezzo-soprano, piano, and clarinet by Pamela Weston. Hein Putter will play the piano and John Macfarlane the clarinet.

Wednesday, 14^th March, 17:00, Boerhaaveplein, LUMC, Leiden, the Netherlands.

On 11^th March, Emma will sing Harrie Janssen‘s “A Poem Against War” with Het Fanfare Collectif and conductor Jurgen Nab at the Flemmish Open Wind Band Championships in Heist-op-den-Berg, Belgium.

“A Poem Against War” is a beautiful piece for mezzo and wind band. The poem, by New York poet Karen Karpowich, is the reflections of a person seeing a war memorial and realising the futility of war and the tragedy that the soldiers are forgotten.