Laura Wright

In the company of sopranos such as Camilla Kerslake, Sara Kempe and Mary-Jess, all contending for the position long held by Katherine Jenkins, former All Angels member Laura Wright introduced a fresh dimension to classical crossover by merging traditional folk material with rich orchestral arrangements. Born in 1990 in Framsden, Suffolk, she first gained recognition at fifteen when she claimed the title of BBC Radio 2 Chorister of the Year at Westminster Abbey. A recommendation from composer Howard Goodall the following year led to her selection, after more than 120 auditions, as one of the four voices in the newly formed ensemble All Angels. She featured on the group’s self-titled 2006 debut as well as the subsequent releases Into Paradise in 2007 and Fly Away in 2009, appeared twice before the Queen, and delivered the National Anthem at both Twickenham and Wembley Stadium prior to departing for opera studies at the Royal College of Music in London. Her solo career began after she performed Frank Sinatra’s “My Way” during a tribute to the late England football manager Bobby Robson; Decca Records then offered her a recording contract. While completing her coursework she also entered various sports competitions and worked part-time as a waitress, all while preparing her first solo project. A volume of traditional folk songs inherited from her grandmother supplied the inspiration for The Last Rose, an album that presented classical settings of material ranging from the seventeenth-century Scottish ballad “The Water Is Wide” to the 1920s musical setting of W.B. Yeats’s poem “Down by the Salley Gardens.” The record was produced by the same team—Anna Barry, John Rutter and Paul Mealor—responsible for the official Royal Wedding album and featured the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra; upon its 2011 release it reached the top of the classical charts and number 24 on the official U.K. album chart. That same year Wright supported Les Misérables tenor Alfie Boe and Any Dream Will Do winner Lee Mead on their respective U.K. tours.