Delay aside, the Cathedral is a marvellous place to sing in, especially accompanied by the wonderful pipe organ in all its glory. I was able to use my operatic experience to fill the space, sending my voice down the nave and up to the ceiling in Howard Goodall's 'The Lord is my shepherd' and Andrew Lloyd-Webber's 'Pie Jesu'. It certainly helped the family:
"The fact that I cried whilst you sang Andrew Lloyd Webber's Requiem was more to do with the emotion of mine at the time. … You are very lucky that you can help people come to terms with a lost one. I have listened to the recording just now and I cried again! Thank you for making the service so beautiful for my brother. I am sure he was listening"
"Thank you very much for singing at the above service. You have a lovely voice, and you sang beautifully. Your singing uplifted the service in a spiritual way, which made it special for us. My mother would have loved to hear you, as she had a great appreciation of music and beauty."
"I would like to say a very huge thank you for your wonderful performance at my mother's funeral yesterday. Everyone told me they wanted to give you a standing ovation but obviously this was not appropriate. You sang beautifully and brought us happiness to a very sad occasion. I know my mother was listening especially so when you sang 'I'll Walk with God'."
A family asked me to sing by the grave at Slough Cemetery. They chose the modern praise song 'You raise me up' which was lovely and the family were pleased as it helped them through a difficult time. I think the Funeral Director summed up my singing best:
"That was lovely, well done, you filled the whole cemetery!”