Laura Wright Inspired by Queen and Gran
Laura Wright has revealed that singing in front of her gran is just as daunting as singing in front of the Queen. Speaking exclusively to Classic FM, the 21-year-old soprano went on to say that despite her nerves, both the Queen and her gran inspire her to reach greater heights.
Recalling her recent performance at Westminster Abbey to sing the Commonwealth Jubilee Anthem for the Monarch, Laura explained how she managed to keep her nerves in check.
She says, “I remember thinking I was incredibly nervous and I also remember thinking that I was singing with the Reading Blue Coat Choir.
"I remember looking at their faces which made me even more nervous! They’re quite young and there were all these little faces looking at me going, ‘Oh my goodness! I don’t know what to do!’ so I felt even more nervous at that point but then I also thought, ‘We’re doing this together and I’m not standing there on my own’.
“I just tried to think about how lucky I was to perform in that kind of space in that acoustic and what it was for.”
She adds, “There were incredible performers there on the day and to have the Queen there and mention the song in her speech, I just felt completely honoured.”
Laura also told Classic FM how her grandmother also helped her record her new album, Glorious, a collection of popular songs from the British Isles.
Speaking of the recording sessions, Laura recalls, “It was really, really tough, actually, because I’m a very family-orientated person and I had quite a lot of my family there and I saved different pieces for different people.
“My gran was there and obviously I talked about her a lot during my first album, The Last Rose, and Danny Boy is on the new album which again was sort of associated with her so I said, ‘Why don’t you come along to the session?’
“She sat down and I suddenly felt this enormous amount of pressure to sing it really well and perform it.”
That pressure soon turned to encouragement.
“Actually, it really helped in the long run because it often feels hard in a recording to studio to actually feel like I’m performing,” she says.
“There was something about her being there that I performed it really naturally and I think that made it a little bit easier.”
Listen to the full interview below:
