Love, Loss and Laughter - Free afternoon Recital

About

Wendy Long

Wendy Long studied violin and piano as a junior exhibitioner at the Royal Academy of Music, where she played second lead in the symphony orchestra and enjoyed singing in the senior choir, as well as winning second place in the Lila Collier Violin Prize.

After raising a family, she returned to her music studies to pursue her love of singing. She has performed principal roles in numerous musical theatre productions, including several Gilbert and Sullivan operettas – Patience, The Gondoliers, and Iolanthe – as well as contemporary musicals, including Sweeney Todd, Fiddler on the Roof, and many more.

She holds an ATCL instrumental and vocal teaching diploma, and now teaches a small number of singing students, alongside teaching English to international students. She is a member of Penrith Singers, and is working towards her DipLCM.

Bio – Sarah Lewis-Briggs

Sarah Lewis-Briggs studied Music with English at Nottingham University. She works full-time as a Chartered Surveyor, but has sung with Solway Singers since 2008, for whom she is a regular soloist. She also sings with other choirs including her own vocal ensemble, Amici. Sarah obtained her ARSM with Merit in 2021 and is currently working towards her LTCL.

Bio – Isabella Briggs

Isabella Briggs is currently studying at Junior RNCM, where she has performed in concerts as a soloist, member of a piano quintet and as a choir member. She studies piano as her first study under Polish teacher Marta Karbownicka, and has also taken lessons from great English pianists including Martin Roscoe and Kathryn Stott when attending the 2023 Chethams International Piano Summer School. She has also taken organ lessons with Carlisle Cathedral's Assistant Organist, Edward Taylor. She also undertakes professional accompaniment for soloists and choirs as both an organist and pianist.

Isabella is currently in her gap year, and has accepted a place at the University of Manchester to study music as an undergraduate beginning September 2025. Isabella's will have her first solo recital in the Fratry in May, again in July, with repertoire mainly taken from the programme of her LTCL recital, which she plans to take in the summer of this year.