SOPRANO Rachel Crisp will sing carols and her favourite Christmas songs at Harveys of Halifax on Wednesday.

Shoppers are welcome to a complimentary glass of Buck’s Fizz in the Upstairs at Harveys cafe and restaurant for the free recital at 5pm.

Classically trained Rachel, 18, lives in Clifton, Brighouse, with her family. She is on a gap year, having completed A-levels at Chethams School of Music in Manchester.

Rachel is a member of the National Youth Choir of Great Britain and in the summer travelled with it on tour to the US west coast, performing at many locations including the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles.

Rachel has performed at many prestigious venues and events before, including Cartmel Priory, Fountains Abbey, the Royal Albert Hall with Chethams Chamber Choir, and the Lord Lieutenant of West Yorkshire’s garden party.

Recently she performed as guest soloist with York Philharmonic Male Voice Choir at Castle Howard for The Prince’s Trust.

CLIFTON singer Rachel Crisp has reached her £3,000 target to fund a three-week tour of Canada and the USA with the National Youth Choir of Great Britain.

Rachel, 18, has been amazed and overwhelmed with all the help, support and encouragement she has received over the last nine months.

She thanked everyone who had helped her, especially Brighouse Inner Wheel, Brighouse Rotary Club, the Bearder Charity, Towngate plc, the Clifton and Lightcliffe Band and St John’s Church Women’s Fellowship, Clifton.

She also thanked Capelli’s hair studio, Clifton, and Fawcett’s stationers in Brighouse for selling her CDs, St John’s Church, Clifton, for its help and support, the Brighouse Echo for all the publicity, and everyone who gave cash donations and bought her CD.

Rachel flies out to San Francisco with the choir on July 21. She will perform at concerts in Livermore, San Francisco, Salt Lake City in the Mormon Tabernacle, San Luis Obispo, Valencia, Los Angeles in the Disney Hall and will also record a CD with the American composer Eric Whitacre.

Rachel will perform at ‘The Proms In The Paddock’ in Clifton on Saturday.

She will be singing solo and with the Clifton and Lightcliffe Band. The evening will end with ‘Rule Britannia’, ‘Jerusalem’ and ‘Land Of Hope and Glory’ and a spectacular fireworks display.

The event is held in the garden of Mr and Mrs Ed Spivey at 146 New Street, Clifton, and raises funds for St John’s Church in the village. Members of the audience are invited to bring chairs and picnics.

ST JOHN’S Church at Clifton was packed when soprano Rachel Crisp was joined by her friends to present an evening of musical entertainment.

Rachel, 18, along with musicians from Chethams School of Music, Manchester, where she is a student, and from York University, presented ‘Rachel and Friends’ as her last event to raise money for her three-week concert trip in July to the USA with the National Youth Choir of Great Britain.

The evening was a tour de force of musical excellence at its very best. The audience sat around candlelit tables and was treated to an array of breathtaking solo, duet and ensemble singing ranging from the classics through to popular works.

Chethams contributors were Amandus Kamran, Jessica Thayer and Will Gosnold, all 17, with pianist Jason Hawkins, 18.

A special guest of Rachel’s was Andrew Featherstone, 13, of Clifton, who gave a wonderful rendition of ‘I Whistle A Happy Tune’ from ‘The King and I’, and then wowed the audience with a fantastic duet with Rachel of ‘You Raise Me Up’.

After the interval there was a piano masterclass by Jason Hawkins, who produced seven minutes of non-stop pure artistic, energetic fireworks with Chopin’s Polonaise in A flat resulting in a standing ovation.

This was followed by a performance by ‘Footnotes’, a vibrant, young York University based barber shop quartet who through their own arrangements, and without any backing, produced unbelievable sounds, harmonies and humour that left the audience in awe.

The best was saved to the last as all the musicians – all under the age of 22 – came together for the grand finale.

The MC for the evening was Graham Ward and the event raised over £700. As a thankyou and due to the success of the concert Rachel plans on repeating the event and donating all the proceeds to the church. She will next be performing at the annual Clifton Proms in the Park on June 20.

Among the audience at the church was Mr Derek Crabtree and his wife who travelled from Bradford for the concert.

“We enjoyed a superb concert and it was a true privilege to be there. It convinced us that with such young people around there is a bright future ahead.  Solo and group performances were outstanding and everyone involved was under 22″.

As the applause subsided at the end Rachel’s father said it was hoped to arrange another concert for church funds.

CLIFTON singer Rachel Crisp is hoping to hit the jackpot and one day sing in Las Vegas.

Rachel, of Blakelaw Drive, has been singing since the age of 10 and dreams of performing at Caesars Palace following in the footsteps of celebrities such as Celine Dion and Tom Jones.

“Caesars Palace in Las Vegas is the only place I have seen on TV and thought I would love to sing there,” said Rachel. “It would be amazing if I could get there in the future.”

The singer, who celebrates her 18th birthday on January 29, has sung at many high-profile venues – including Chester Cathedral – over the last few years and is preparing for a three-week tour of Canada and the USA this summer with the National Youth Choir of Great Britain.

Rachel, who went to St John’s C of E Primary School, Clifton, and Brighouse High School until she was accepted at Chetham’s School of Music in Manchester, has already raised more than half of the money needed to fund the trip.

She said: “I’m looking forward to it. It is just so expensive because we have to raise £3,000 but it will be good. We will start in Vancouver and finish in Los Angeles.

“I have more than half of my money already which I have raised through sponsors, people donating money and selling my CD.”
Rachel, whose musical style ranges from classical to pop, was given the chance to record her own CD after winning Sing! – an event held to find Calderdale’s next singing sensation at Square Chapel in Halifax – last July. The CD, dedicated to Eva Cassidy, is called the ‘The Voice’ and was recorded at Calder Recordings in Mytholmroyd and includes the song ‘Over The Rainbow’ which won her the competition. The CD is on sale at Fawcett’s Stationers in Commercial Street, Brighouse, for £5.

Rachel is also planning to hold a ‘Mamma Mia’ party at her home in Clifton, following the success of the film, for her friends and family to help raise the money.

Rachel is one of the youngest members of the National Youth Choir and has performed at Birmingham Symphony Hall and recorded a CD with them in Oxford and another while the choir were in Brighton.

The choir will next perform in Reading at Easter. The trip across the Atlantic sets off on July 22 after Rachel has completed her A-levels.

Following the tour Rachel will take a year out from her studies to concentrate on her singing.

“I have really enjoyed my time at Chetham’s, it has flown by,” said Rachel. “But I have decided to take a year out and stay at home. I’m planning on getting a job but I’m going to focus on my singing. Over the last few years it has been quite difficult for me to fit in concerts and weddings and I have had to decline a lot of them. Hopefully in my gap year I can start doing more.”

She will also be focusing on achieving Grade A standard on the piano which she has been playing since she was seven.

Her ambition is to play and sing at the same time. She said:

“I think it would be an achievement in itself because it takes a lot of work and it’s going to take time. I think my dad would like to see me do that as well.”

Rachel said she loves singing and over the past eight years she has taken part in numerous competitions and concerts including shows with the Brighouse and Rastrick Band, the Clifton and Lightcliffe Band and Steeton Male Voice Choir. She said:

“The concerts have helped me to get where I am today. Seven years ago I started entering all the singing competitions such as the Mrs Sunderland festival in Huddersfield and I used to get so nervous it was awful but I think the more you do, the easier it gets. I don’t get nervous with fear anymore, I get nervous with excitement. My parents, Gail and Glenn, have been a huge support and have spent quite a bit of money engraving all the trophies that I have won at competitions. But I don’t think I could do it without
them. If it wasn’t for them I wouldn’t be anywhere.”

She said it was thanks to these public appearances and appearing in the Brighouse Echo that people had supported her over the years and come to listen to her sing.

And although she is still unsure what the future holds after her gap year she hopes people will continue to support her.

“If it takes a while for my career to progress I might enter something like the ‘X-Factor’ to see how I do in the music business. And if I get knocked back then I will just take it on board and grow from it. My career is going to be full of knockbacks but I don’t just want success to be handed to me on a plate because I would feel like I didn’t earn it. I want to work for it so I know I got myself there by my own efforts.”