ELIZABETH MACDONALD

Elizabeth was born and brought up in Worcestershire and was educated at St James School in Malvern. She trained as an actress at the Birmingham Theatre School and her professional acting debut was playing the part of Dick Whittington in a touring production. She had various small television parts including playing a betting office clerk in Coronation Street!
During this time Elizabeth was studying classical singing privately with Marjorie Thomas in London but also wrote and recorded her own pop music under the name Belita! She recorded many hours of backing vocals including a song with Grant Baynham entitled “Save the Y fronts”! She also sang in a rock/blues band “Ice Cold in Alecs”, gigging around the West Midlands.

In 1993, Elizabeth embarked on a post-graduate vocal course at the London College of Music studying with Pamela Bowden and following this, gained a place on the post-graduate opera course at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music in Glasgow studying with Patricia MacMahon. Elizabeth graduated in 1995 with a Masters degree in opera performance.

Elizabeth has performed in this country and abroad in a variety of operas including Mozart’s “Impresario”, Menotti’s “The Telephone” and in July 2000 she toured the Czech Republic and Germany singing at the Stone Bell in Prague and performing at the Dresden Festival.

Recent performances have included concerts / Oratorio for Bromsgrove Choral Society, Cirencester Choral Society, Kidderminster Choral Society, Brierley Hill Choral Society, Bromyard Choral Society, and Worcester Festival Choral Society. Elizabeth has appeared as guest soloist for many male voice choirs including Bridgnorth, Cotswold, Ponterdullais, Kidderminster, and Worcester.

Concerts in 2007 included The Shugborough Hall Summer Outdoor proms with the City Concert Orchestra, conducted by Adrian Jackson, The Malvern Proms Outdoor Concert with the English Symphony Orchestra at the Three Counties Showground, conducted by Stephen Roberts, The Safari Symphony at The West Midlands Safari Park.

Performances for 2008:
10th May Dido and Aeneas for Brierley Hill Choral Society.
31st May Guest soloist with massed male voice choirs in Telford
2nd August Shugborough Hall Proms Spectacular with the City Concert Orchestra (www.promsconcerts.co.uk)
30th August Malvern Outdoor Opera Proms with the English Symphony Orchestra at the Three Counties Showground (www.eso.co.uk)

For more information and other performance dates please log on to Elizabeth’s website: www.elizabethmacdonald.co.uk