Jagged Tooth Productions present An Evening with Rachael Russell. The intimate concert will take place at 8pm on Friday 28th October at the Liverpool Philharmonic Hall’s Music Room.

Rachael will be joined by a line-up of special guest performers and musicians to make it an even more memorable evening when they raise the roof of the Music Room. The evening will be compered by entertainer Tony Ravel.

Lyric soprano Rachael is known for her beautiful voice and effortless style, which has taken her across Europe and the world to perform her one-woman theatre shows on the international stage. The classical-crossover singer performs a spectrum of operatic arias, popular songs, French chanson, musical theatre and jazz.

Rachael, originally from Bootle and studied at St. Mary’s College in Crosby, began her musical career as a teenager. After winning a number of singing competitions she took the title of Liverpool Voice of the Year, which led her to becoming a member of the National Youth Music Theatre. She then went on to study at London’s Royal College of Music and the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester.

Two major highlights in Rachael’s illustrious career so far are when she was appointed as Liverpool’s Official Singer in Residence in conjunction with the 2008 European Capital of Culture and in 2012 when she was invited to perform at the House of Lords as part of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations. Rachael has performed for the Royal Family on a number of occasions.

Rachael’s largest audience was the unusual setting of the Ems River in Lower Saxony, Germany. The 128,000 tonne Disney Dream cruise ship was being delivered from the Meyer Werft Shipyard and Rachael was invited to sing the classic Andrea Bocelli song, Time To Say Goodbye – she performed to 50,000 spectators who had gathered to witness the special event.

Rachael commented: “I’ve been very fortunate to perform all over the world – but nothing really compares to returning to perform in your home city where it all began.

I’m thrilled to be back in Liverpool to perform my very own concert and collaborating with some of Merseyside’s best musicians and emerging new talent at the city’s latest live music venue – it’s a dream come true.”

The evening will feature popular classics, musical favourites and well-known hits which will showcase Rachael’s vocal versatility and powerful stage presence, and she will be accompanied by the Barney Taylor Orchestra.

Keen to promote and encourage new talent, Rachael has invited two of Merseyside’s finest young vocalists to join her on the evening as guest artistes, mezzo soprano Stephanie Guidera from Crosby and Bootle born jazz singer George Gallagher.

Twenty-five-year-old Stephanie Guidera was awarded the title of Merseyside Young Female Singer of the Year. She then went on to study at London’s Guildhall School of Music and Drama, where she was awarded an apprenticeship with the world famous conductor Sir John Elliot Gardiner.

George Gallagher was named Merseyside Young Singer of the Year in 2008. Last year, the 23-year-old won the B.B.C. One television series Frank Sinatra: Our Way, and was later invited to perform at Frank Sinatra’s Centenary Concert at London’s Hammersmith Apollo.

Wirral-based conductor and arranger, L.I.P.A. graduate Barney Taylor is the show’s musical director and the orchestra will feature the Leos Strings quartet, guitarist John Bailey, and percussionist Oliver Taylor.

Leos Strings is a successful North West based string quartet. Founded at the Royal Northern College of Music, the group is led by cellist Rachel Shakespeare. Guitarist John Bailey, a guitar lecturer at Liverpool University, recently completed a sell-out U.K. tour with world famous tenor Russell Watson. Completing the musical line-up is percussionist, drummer Oliver Taylor from Heswall.

The concert is supporting The League of Welldoers. Liverpool’s oldest independent charity, The League of Welldoers was founded in Vauxhall in 1893, where it is still based today. Initially set up to provide meals for starving children, the charity continues to reach out to people of all ages across Merseyside, providing opportunities to maintain and improve their quality of life.

. Tickets for the night are priced at £15 (plus admin fee), purchase in person at the Liverpool Philharmonic Box Office, by telephone on 0151 709 3789 or online at www.liverpoolphil.com