Aidan is lifting spirits with his shielding songs
A PROFESSIONAL opera singer from Hipperholme has offered his time - and his voice – to support a small disability charity.
Aidan Edwards and his partner Juliet Montgomery have teamed up with Skiggle to perform a range of songs for the charity’s fundraising campaign “Songs for Shielding”.
With an additional 1.7 million people in the UK having been advised to shield until at least the end of March, the campaign aims to bring people closer to isolated loved ones.
Trained baritone Aidan, who grew up in Hipperholme and attended Rastrick High School, joined with soprano Juliet to spread a little joy.
The couple will record personalised video messages and songs that can be sent to family and friends in return for a small donation to the charity, which comes to the aid of people within the disability community.
Both graduates from the Royal Northern College of Music, Aidan and Juliet have performed on stages all over the world.
Productions came to an abrupt halt last March and Aidan said: “We miss the live performances, there’s no replacement for them.
“But if we can use this time at home to introduce as many people as possible to music and song, then that’s wonderful for us and ‘Songs for Shielding’ is a such a positive, feel-good campaign.
“So far, it’s given us a chance to explore things we wouldn’t normally get to do – like singing Disney tunes and quirky numbers like ‘I want a hippopotamus for Christmas!’. That was a particular highlight and very different from the day job!”
Like many others in the industry with live performances off the agenda, Aidan and Juliet – who now live in Manchester - have turned to new ways of working. Even their private music tuition has moved online.
The “Songs for Shielding” songbook features everything from classical tunes to Disney favourites and current chart hits. The duo’s version of the upbeat “Walking on Sunshine” has even been shared on social media by Katrina from the original Katrina And The Waves fame.
To find out more about “Songs for Shielding” and arrange a personalised performance, visit www.justgiving.com/ campaign/singwhileyoushield.
To watch Aidan and Juliet’s version of Walking on Sunshine, visit www.youtube.com.
‘It’s given us a chance to explore things we wouldn’t normally get to do’ Aidan Edwards
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