Karin Churchill (1930-2018)

Karin and Patrick Churchill, photograph: Matt Cardy

Last Wednesday, Emma sang at the funeral of an extraordinary lady, Karin Churchill.

“I first met Karin in Normandy in 2015. She paid me a complement that suggested she understood about singing. It turned out that her mother was a mezzo-soprano.

I noticed she was wearing a medal on her left side, which meant it was her own. Karin had received her medal for rebuilding her local church after the blitz. The church in question was the Frauenkirche in Dresden.

During the blitz Karin sheltered with her mother and her twin brother in the cellar of their Dresden apartment. An unexploded British bomb left a shaft from the cellar up to the street. Karin’s brother walked out first and was immediately blinded by the heat, a blindness that would last for the rest of his lift. Karen went next. She let go of her mother’s hand to step outside.

It was the last contact she would have with her mother. When Karin returned to the cellar some days later, she found only her mother’s blue enamel earrings: her body had been cremated.

After the war, Karin decided she wanted to become a nurse and work for Mother Theresa in Calcutta. She learned Hindi and Sanskrit and she wrote to Mother Theresa. She received a reply which said she first needed to improve her English: “We have more stones here than bread,” wrote Mother Theresa, “you are much needed here.”

So Karin moved to Oxford to learn English. It was there that she met Patrick Churchill. They married in 1964, a Dresden survivor and a D-Day Commando. She never made it to India.

Karin worked at the Rivermead Rehabilitation Hospital in Oxford for people with brain injuries. One of her patients had served in the RAF as a navigator in a Lancaster Bomber: he had been flying over Dresden on the night Karin’s mother was killed. She helped him recover and in his gratitude he gave her his navigator’s torch.

At Karin’s funeral, Patrick asked me to sing the last song her mother had ever sung in public, Bach-Gounod’s “Ave Maria.” Her last performance had been a New Year’s Concert at the Frauenkirche in 1945, some six weeks before she was killed by the firebombs.”

The funeral was held in the local church in their Oxfordshire home town of Witney. Emma sang Bach-Gounod’s “Ave Maria.”

2018-03-02T12:13:25+02:00February 3rd, 2018|

“Perhaps” – a new composition by Roland Bouman

Vera Brittain in her V.A.D. uniform.

On 13th January, Emma will record a new composition by Roland Bouman: a setting of a poem by Vera Brittain for mezzo-soprano and ensemble.

Vera Brittain wrote “Perhaps” in 1916 whilst working as a Voluntary Aid Detachment (V.A.D.) nurse during the First World War. Her fiancé, Roland Leighton, had been shot on 23rd December, 1915, whilst inspecting the wires in front of a trench in Hébuterne, France. The poem is dedicated to him.

Bouman’s setting of “Perhaps” captures the intimacy of the poem in beautiful, lyric lines. Scores of Bouman’s music can be found here and videos here.

2017-12-31T20:21:53+02:00January 5th, 2018|

Weihnachts-Oratorium

Bach’s Christmas Oratorio consists of six cantatas for the days from Christmas to Epiphany. On 6th and 7th January, Emma will sing the alto solos in the fifth and six cantatas. The fifth cantata describes the journey of the Magi and the sixth cantata concerns the adoration of the Magi. The alto often sings the words of Mary.

Trajecti Voces and the Amer Consort are conducted by Dirkjan Horringa, with Aldona Bartnik, soprano, Jelle Leistra, tenor, and Andrew Popper, bass.


Saturday, 6th January, 20:15, Geertekerk, Utrecht, the Netherlands. Tickets are available here.

Sunday, 7th January, 15:30, St. Xaveriuskerk, Amersfoort, the Netherlands. Tickets are available here.

2018-01-01T21:20:46+02:00January 3rd, 2018|

Reflecting on 2017

Photo: Elinoor Veltman

I’ve really enjoyed my work in 2017: especially the focus on remembrance and work with veterans. A personal highlight for me was singing for the centenary of the Battle of Passchendaele. The week began with the ninetieth anniversary of the Menin Gate in Ypres, Belgium. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission arranged a ceremony to mark the occasion and to commemorate the soldiers listed on the monument. Later in the week, I sang at 05:20 in the morning to mark one hundred years to the minute of the start of the battle.

My work with the Royal British Legion, both in the UK and continental Europe, included ceremonies in Normandy to mark D-Day and the Somme to commemorate the First World War, concerts in the UK, and singing for the annual Prom in the Park of the Dutch branch.

Through my work, I have met some exceptional people. For example, Corporal John Sleep, a Second World War paratrooper, who fought in Africa, Italy, and then landed on Sword Beach in Normandy and marched across France and Belgium to the Netherlands. He described the war as “utterly stupid.” I met him in Normandy and he invited me to sing for his tour group who take an annual pilgrimage to the Netherlands. The concert was for the release of a short film about John’s experience in the war: you can watch it here.

Another inspiring story comes from the Churchill family. Commando Patrick Churchill fought in the Second World War. His wife, Karin, is German. She lost her mother during the bombing in Dresden. After the war, she wrote to Mother Theresa to ask if she might work with her in Calcutta. Mother Theresa replied, suggesting she first improved her English. Karin moved to Oxford, where she met Patrick and fell in love. Their story is one of forgiveness and reconciliation: of love triumphing over war.

On a more personal note, 2017 has had one major setback. Last March I was hit by a car when cycling and I tore several ligaments in my shoulder, which then froze. I understand it will take two to three years before a surgeon can ascertain if it is necessary to operate. Whilst this does not hinder my singing directly, it makes traveling, carrying anything heavy, and most stage work quite tricky. I have therefore been focusing more on ceremonial concert work.

I’m very much looking forward to 2018: I have performances planned in Holland, France, Belgium, England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Next week, I’m singing in Bach’s Weihnacht-Ortatorio, and the following week I’m recording a new composition by Roland Bouman: a setting of Vera Brittain’s “Perhaps.” Then we’re off traveling in Iceland – it would be wonderful to see the Northern Lights!

Thank you for reading, and a Happy New Year!

2017-12-31T20:23:07+02:00December 31st, 2017|

ALS Research Charity

ALS, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, is the most common form of motor neurone disease, in which neurons controlling voluntary muscles die out, leaving a patient weakened, paralyzed, and ultimately unable to speak, swallow, and even breathe. Its causes are largely unknown.

I don’t normally mention private concerts on this blog, but I found this an exception. Recently pianist Isolde Troost and I gave a house concert of Christmas repertoire. In spite of heavy snow, almost all those invited made it to the concert: all but one, a man called Jan. Jan was diagnosed with ALS earlier this year and he did not want to risk slipping in the ice and snow.

Isolde and I decided to send the proceeds of the concert to the Dutch ALS research charity. On Boxing Day, I visited Jan and his wife at home and gave a mini concert, unaccompanied.

If you are interesting in supporting research into ALS, here are the websites of Dutch, British, and American ALS charities.

2017-12-30T10:14:47+02:00December 27th, 2017|

Joris’ Kerstboom – Joris’s Christmas Tree

Photo: Michiel Harmsen

“Joris’ Kerstboom” is a Dutch television programme on KRO NCRV in which members of the public are invited to write a message in a bauble and hang it on a Christmas tree. This year, Joris Linssen visited Leiden. A huge tree was placed on the Hooglandse Kerkplein, and for two weeks people wrote messages and enjoyed the Christmas Market. Emma sang during the festivities together with organist Anton Doornhein.

2017-12-30T10:11:11+02:00December 23rd, 2017|
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