Born in London, Jane Webster’s first solo public performance was at the age of five…….…and she’s never looked back!

 

After studying at the Royal Academy of Music and being bestowed with the honour of a Fellowship (FRAM), she continued her studies in Switzerland with the distinguished soprano Elisabeth Schwarzkopf.  Jane subsequently lived and studied in Switzerland and Chicago, gaining scholarships from the Royal Society of Arts, the Worshipful Company of Musicians and the Ian Fleming Trust. She was a prize winner at the Kathleen Ferrier Competition, the John Lill Essex Young Musician of the Year, and the Woolwich International Singing Competition in Glasgow. She was chosen by the BBC to represent England for the prestigious BBC TV’s Cardiff Singer of the World Competition, and subsequently went on to make her solo principal operatic debut with the Royal Opera House Covent Garden and Scottish Opera. She has since sung over twenty-five principal roles with major Opera companies and Opera Festivals throughout the UK and Europe earning reviews such as “A sumptuous voice” from the London Independent and “Jane Webster sounds excellent!” from The Times. Jane also gave the world premiere performance of Judith Weir’s, King Harold’s Saga, at London’s Purcell Room for the Park Lane Group.

 

Her career to that date had been mainly in the field of opera, but she then made her London West End solo debut in The Phantom of the Opera, toured extensively world-wide with her solo cabaret shows, and was regularly seen and heard on BBC TV and Radio. “Jane Webster’s singing is terrific!” said The Stage. An extensive Solo Concert and Oratorio repertoire has taken her to all the prestigious UK and London concert venues such as The Festival Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Purcell Room, Wigmore Hall and the Barbican, St David’s Hall Cardiff, Leeds Castle, as well as the principal Cathedral Festivals in York, Bath, Chester and Liverpool and to several European Cities, as soloist with such Orchestras as the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonia Orchestra and the London Symphony Orchestra. Jane has recorded for BBC Radio and Television, RTE, various other recording companies and has recorded 4 solo vocal Albums. Jane has also been a guest Artiste at Leeds City Varieties in the ever-popular Variety Music Hall show "The Good Old Days".

 

As a sought after solo headline cruise ship Guest Artiste, Jane has presented her one woman shows "Bizet to Bernstein" and "Viva la Diva" for Cunard aboard the QE2 and also Seabourn Pride, Royal Caribbean, Holland America, Fred Olsen, Saga and NCL ships. She has appeared before Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, HRH The Duke of Edinburgh, HRH Prince Charles and the late Diana Princess of Wales, and has sung with many of the great conductors and orchestras such as Sir Simon Rattle and the late Sir Charles Groves, The London Philharmonic and London Symphony Orchestra.  Jane was a popular guest solo vocalist with the distinguished Royal Artillery Orchestra and Band, appearing with the Combined Bands of Her Majesty’s Armed Forces in the "Last Night of the Proms" at Kneller Hall in London performing before an audience of five and a half thousand people and also featuring on their CD Kneller Hall Live.

 

Jane joined the original cast of the highly successful production of "The Sound of Music" in London’s West End at The London Palladium and appeared there in almost 100 performances as The Mother Abbess. 2010 included "Carmen" at the O2 in London and  "Mrs Fezziwig" in the UK tour of "Scrooge" with Tommy Steele; 2011 as Waltraute in Wagner’s Die Walküre and Mrs Greer in the UK tour of Annie understudying Sue Pollard as "Miss Hannigan"; 2012 as "The Announcer" in Douglas Moore’s modern opera "Gallantry" at the Camden Festival and "Miss Jane" in the highly acclaimed Southwark Playhouse production of "Floyd Collins", for which she was nominated for the 2012 Off West End “Best Female Performance in a London Musical”. Jane also returned to Leeds City Varieties in 2012 as guest Artiste in "The Good Old Days", and created the role of "Anti Freeze" in the new opera/musical "Jack Frost" at St John’s Smith Square, London, in December 2012.

 

2013 saw an extensive UK Tour of "Gilbert & Sullivan Abridged" in which Jane created the role of "Lady Penelope Wilton Canberra", workshop showings of Ivor Novello’s "The Dancing Years" at the Millennium Centre in Cardiff, the role of "Mutti" in "The Crocodile" at the Riverside Studios in London, "Mrs Lawrence" in the musical "D.H.Lawrence" at the Bridewell Theatre in London in October 2013 and a return to the role of "Mrs Fezziwig" in the UK tour of “Scrooge” with Tommy Steele.

© Jane Webster 2015

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