Welsh soprano Jo Westaway is a MMus Vocal graduate of the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama (RWCMD), where she studied with Gail Pearson (singing teacher) and James Southall (coach).
Jo started singing with Louise Ryan in Cardiff where she entered various Eisteddfods as a teenager and won the South Glamorgan Young Singer award at the age of eighteen. Subsequently, she was invited to sing for the Cardiff Rotary Club at the Cardiff International Arena.
Following a move to London, Jo took private lessons with professional singers Julia Melinek. She recorded a demo CD that was heard by a Classic FM producer; that interest led to a filmed performance by the River Thames of Puccini’s ‘O Mio Babbino Caro’ which debuted on their Sky TV channel. As a result, Jo sang in a number of major advertising campaigns.
Relocating to Norfolk brought Jo the most exciting singing opportunities of her career to date. As well as being the soprano soloist in chamber ensemble T#e Accidentals, she embarked on an intense performance schedule, both at home and in Europe, with the all-female vocal group, Seraphim. She also made her solo oratorio debut in Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana and Michael Tippett’s Five Negro Spirituals (A Child of Our Time) at the Great Yarmouth Minster alongside Njabulo Madlala.
Jo has gone on to sing JS Bach’s Wachet Auf & Magnificat, Vivaldi’s Gloria, Felix Mendelssohn’s Elijah alongside international mezzo-soprano Diana Moore, Vaughan Williams‘ The First Nowell and the challenging solo part in a performance of Patrick Hawes’ Song of Songs, accompanied by Norwich Baroque.
Jo regularly enjoys recitals in the UK and France and has participated in masterclasses with Roger Vignoles, Roderick Williams, Joseph Middleton, Diana Moore, Mary King, Hilary Summers, Donald Maxwell, Elizabeth Atherton, David Doidge, Angela Bostock, Penny MacKay.
Jo is currently working on recording projects with talented composer Georgie Alice that will be released soon.
“The outstanding voice of the Welsh singer Jo Westaway stood out, for the technical prowess, and the ability of her singing to convey emotion”
Giovanni Greto, AgoraVox Italia, Venice, May 2015.
“The soloists were amazing…the soaring soprano of Jo Westaway rang around the Minster”
Tony Mallion, Great Yarmouth Mercury, June 2015
“The mood changed to deep sensuality and ecstatic rapture in the Song of Songs, with Jo Westaway taking the challenging soprano part”
Christopher Smith, Eastern Daily Press, July 2017
“Jo Westaway, soprano, was in excellent voice, her crystal clear diction and lovely presence enhancing the production”
Caroline Buddery, The Advertiser, October 2017
“The Seraphs, particularly Jo Westaway in Song of Songs, were superb”
Norwich Baroque, Bar Lines, October 2017