MY CULTURAL LIFE

Chloe Agnew, singer

Chloe Agnew made her singing debut at the age of six on national TV. The daughter of entertainer Adele ‘Twink’ King and oboist David Agnew, she came to fame at the age of 14 as ‘the voice’ of Celtic Woman. She spent 81 weeks at No 1 in the USA world music charts with Celtic Woman and, following an outstanding career as one of the original members of the group, embarked on a solo career. Based in LA, she tours continually with various state orchestras, including the Boston Pops. Chloe Agnew’s Angels in the Cathedral; An Evening of Spiritual, Gospel, Inspirational and World Music Hits, also featuring the O’Neill Sisters and X Factor’s Melanie McCabe, takes place at St Patrick’s Cathedral on Sunday, December 29. stpatrickscathedral.ie/events/

Movie: Mrs Doubtfire

I’ve always been a big Robin Williams fan and it’s even more poignant than ever since his passing. This film still makes me laugh, it still makes me cry and it still tugs at the heartstrings with a storyline that at the core of it all comes down to the everyday story of kids who come from a broken home yet find love and laughs through the hardest of times. One that many of us can relate to.

Music: She Used To Be Mine

Sara Bareilles’s She Used To Be Mine isa song featured in the Broadway/West End musical Waitress, which she composed all the music for. When I first heard this song I cried my eyes out. It’s an incredibly powerful anthem for women all over the world who have found themselves at some stage of their life in a place they didn’t think they’d ever be — something I think many of us ladies, us wonderfully, strong yet complex, emotional creatures, can understand more than we’d care to admit.

Art: Starry Night by Van Gogh

I’ve been so lucky to be raised by two avid art lovers for parents so from a young age I’ve always made a point of visiting some of the finest art museums throughout the world on my travels. One of my favourite pieces has to be Starry

Night by Vincent Van Gogh. It captures the darkness of both the night sky and the depression he was battling at the time.

Book: Quiet

Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking by Susan Cain has to be one of the most interesting reads out there. From the first chapter I couldn’t put it down. It helped shed a little light on why people’s personalities, my own included, are the way they are.

TV: Blue Planet

David Attenborough has the ability to move with his storytelling, and it’s heartwrenching to see the negative effect our society has had on Mother Nature.