A highly talented musician, Charlotte Jackson has built an impressive portfolio of work as a soprano soloist, choral director and teacher. Charlotte began her singing career as a member of the world renowned girls’ choir, Cantamus, under the tutelage of Pamela Cook. Subsequently she studied voice at the Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester, England, with Caroline Crawshaw, and at the Guildhall School of Music, London, with Arthur Reckless.
Soprano, Oratorio Soloist, Wedding Singer and Recitalist
As a soprano Charlotte’s first love is oratorio and song and for many years she has sung for a wide range of Choral and Music Societies. Charlotte has pursued her love of song, especially English Song, by giving recitals across the UK, and as far afield as North America and Nigeria, for the Musical Society of Nigeria. Performing with the London Festival Orchestra under Ross Pople has been a highlight of her career as a soloist. Charlotte has also been delighted to premiere new music, most recently performing ‘St Herbert’s Island’ by Adrian Self at Cartmel Priory.
Charlotte became a Crear Scholar in 2010, being one of only seven participants in a week’s intensive Masterclass with international accompanist and teacher Malcolm Martineau.
Continuing voice lessons are with Caroline Crawshaw and Pat McMahon, and Charlotte benefits from French Song coaching with Christopher Underwood. She has also studied recently with soprano Lorna Anderson, opera singer Janis Kelly, conductor Simon Over, French vocal specialist Robin Bowman and internationally acclaimed lieder specialist Malcolm Martineau.
Charlotte is in demand as a soprano for oratorio and recitals, as a guest soloist for concerts, and as a singer at weddings and special occasions. Recent and future solo engagements include:
- Preston Minster: Rossini Petite Messe Solennelle, with Preston Cecilian Choral Society
- Wigton Parish Church: Howard Goodall Eternal Light – A Requiem, with Wigton Choral Society
- Kendal Parish Church: Handel Messiah, with Kendal South Choral Society
- St Michael and All Saints Church, Brougham Place, Edinburgh: recital with Ingrid Sawers, including English Song and German Lieder
- Carlisle Cathedral: recital with Ingrid Sawers, including English Song and German Lieder
- DG One Dumfries: guest soloist with Dumfries Male Voice Choir
- Ambleside Parish Church: Haydn Nelson Mass & Mozart Missa Solemnis
- Swaledale Festival: Mozart Mass in C Minor, with the Swale Singers
Singing Teacher and Masterclass Tutor
In the course of her teaching career, Charlotte has had the pleasure of teaching many young people for local, national and international institutions such as Lancaster University, St Martin’s College, Lancaster, the National Youth Choirs of Great Britain and the Musical Society of Nigeria, for which Charlotte gave a singing masterclass.
Charlotte operates a thriving teaching practice from her home in the English Borders. She teaches at independent schools including Austin Friars St Monica’s School, which serves Cumbria and South West Scotland. Three vocal students are presently studying at some of our best conservatoires including the Royal Northern College of Music and Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance.
Choir Director, Choral Conductor, Consultant
Her desire to share her passion for singing inspired her to establish Amabile Girls’ Choir in 1996. One choir of Charlotte’s own singing students developed into four choirs – Amabile Choirs – of which Charlotte was the Artistic Director. Singers ranged from girls aged only four years old to women, with members having group voice lessons from the age of eight, and individual lessons with Amabile staff from the age of thirteen. Charlotte directed the girls aged 13 to 18 in Amabile Girls’ Choir, which enjoyed national and international success.
The pinnacle of this success occurred in November 2006, when Amabile Girls’ Choir won the BBC Radio 3 Youth Choir of the Year, with 134 out of 135 marks. At the Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod 2002, Amabile won the Senior Children’s Choir class, with a total of 194 marks out of 200, and in April 2006 the choir took part in a European Musical Festival for Youngsters in Neerpelt, Belgium, where it was awarded a first prize. In March 2005, Amabile’s outstanding contribution to the civic life of Kendal, its home town in the English Lake District, was formally recognised when it received the Alfred Wainwright Memorial Award.
Charlotte has had the privilege of working with some of Britain’s finest vocal and choral experts including Paul Farrington, Pamela Cook, Bob Chilcott, Christopher Bell, Mike Brewer, and David Lawrence. Her work with the choir has also given her the opportunity to conduct on the stages of some of the country’s finest concert venues: Royal Festival Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, The Sage Gateshead, Bridgewater Hall Manchester and Cardiff Millennium Centre. International conducting includes the stage of the National Theatre of Northern Greece and in the National Cathedral, Washington DC. Charlotte also enjoyed the opportunity to be the musical director for a Songs of Praise programme for the BBC.
After a sabbatical from Amabile, Charlotte was invited by Christopher Bell to direct the inaugural National Youth Choir of Scotland (NYCoS) National Girls Choir Training Group. In September 2010 Charlotte became Musical Director of one of the National Youth Choirs of Scotland Area Choirs, NYCoS Dumfries Choir, and has worked for an intensive weekend with the NYCoS Training Choir.
Charlotte runs a freelance practice as a choral consultant, giving choral workshops throughout the UK and in North America. She also works as an adjudicator, having twice judged the final of the Keldwyth Award, the premier award for advanced young musicians in the county of Cumbria.
Continuing Professional Development, Music Appreciation and Concert-going
Constantly striving for excellence and interested in new approaches, Charlotte enjoys observing others direct, teach and sing. She has recently spent time observing opera scenes in rehearsal, classes in performance, auditioning, French Song and Lieder at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama. She also loves concert-going and has lately been able to see Renée Fleming in concert with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Recent concerts and masterclasses she has enjoyed include Britten The Turn of the Screw by English National Opera, Joan Rogers’ masterclass and recital, and Mahler Rückert Lieder sung by Jane Irwin with the Northern Sinfonia.
Charlotte’s graduate study was in Music Therapy, and she was awarded an additional internship at Norristown State Hospital, Pennsylvania. Membership of professional organisations includes the Association of British Choral Directors, the Association of Teachers of Singing and the Incorporated Society of Musicians.