Classical crossover duo returns to the Festival of Chichester

They will take the stage in the Assembly Room in North Street on Thursday, June 30 at 7.30pm (tickets £18 and £14 through the Festival of Chichester).

A classical crossover duo comprising Simon Long (tenor) and Karen Barnett (soprano), they offer more than 40 years of performing experience between them.

For Chichester, they have programmed a wealth of music from the world of contemporary classical, opera, musical theatre and film including La Traviata, Gianni Schicchi, Turandot, Les Miserables, West Side Story and Phantom of the Opera.

Karen said: “I was having singing lessons with Simon. I had been singing for years but I wanted to explore the more classical repertoire.

"I had also been suffering pretty badly with nerves and I just thought that if I didn’t have the tools to get through it, it would become a real sticking point. So I started seeing Simon and it just became a question of developing confidence.

“Simon and I had worked together before I started having lessons with him, and we just started to have a couple of sing songs together and then Covid hit.

"We had already performed together as a tester to see what would come of it at the end of 2019 just before Covid and then we continued with the lessons online through Covid, and we just started putting together a set list of songs that we would like to do. And then we just thought we would like to go forward with it.

"We did quite a few live performances towards the end of last year and we have just been building on that. I don't know if we would have done this without Covid.

“When everything was put on pause, particularly the arts, I personally was very sad that there were no gigs and it just made me realise how much I missed performing.

" I just really missed it so much. For me it's never been about the money. It has always been about performing and about the joy that it brings to people. It's about that connection.

"We did an Age Concern jubilee party and we started singing and there was this lady who started singing along with eyes closed and then she was in tears and I thought we really don't want to upset anybody but someone said that this music had sparked memories for her.

"And that's amazing, the quality that music has to reconnect you with certain things.

“So I'm quite excited about us as a duo now.

"For me it's about the music but it's also about other people’s comments and their reactions to it. It was lovely to be singing at the launch of the Festival of Chichester and people came up and said how wonderful it was and how much they enjoyed what we were doing. That's the connection that you want.”

Tickets from the Festival of Chichester.