About Me

Welcome! I'm an American singer, model, scholar, actress, diversity advocate and producer based in Yorkshire, UK. I sing with the famous "Vivaldi's Women" choir (also known as SPAV, or Schola Pietatis Antonio Vivaldi as seen on the BBC) as a Bass, and pioneer the use of lower female voices in opera, often taking lead Baritone roles in Baroque operas. As a model, I've appeared on catwalks, in magazines & catalogues, and on the radio across the UK. From 2010-11 I worked as a diversity advocate with Models of Diversity, fighting for equal rights in the fashion industry as head Personal Assistant to the Co-Founder of the campaign.

I am a Founding member of Trinacria Productions, collaborating across the arts; our debut production was a set of Medieval Christmas mystery plays at the British Museum under HIDden Theatre, a historical theatre company based in York also co-founded by me. Since September 2009, I can be seen in a documentary about the music of Venice, on Sky Arts TV, with Vivaldi's Women.

While in Buffalo, NY (USA), I was an Adjunct Professor of Music and Religion at Canisius College. Prior to that, I was a Teaching Fellow in the Harvard Music department, winning a university-wide teaching award of excellence for a jazz course. I've also been a Teaching Assistant, Research Assistant and Tutor at Oberlin, Eastman and York.

Currently I work as a research, copy, teaching, personal and editorial assistant, as well as a translator, web designer, freelance editor, writing tutor and journal peer reviewer, and I used to on the Council of the Royal Musical Association. I'm the US Representative on the Board of SPAV, and also sit on the Council of York Cantores Chamber Choir.

In Buffalo, I appeared in the documentary La Terra Promessa, was featured in an artist's profile on the TV show Artscope, and had a photograph on exhibit at CEPA Gallery. In 2001, I appeared as a contestant on the TV game show Jeopardy!, and in college had my own radio show as DJ Hildegard, of two shows exploring pre- and post-tonal music (Oberlin WOBC).

In my free time, I love to read, cook, and snuggle at home with my little family. I'm a language and linguistics nut, so I'm usually teaching myself a new language. I've studied Italian, Spanish, German, French, Old/ Middle English, Sicilian and Latin with a little Greek, Portuguese and Sanskrit thrown in for fun. And I've performed in Anglo-Saxon, Hebrew, Friûlan, Swedish, Norwegian, Icelandic, Finnish, Estonian, Russian, old Church Slavonic, Provençal, and Catalan.

MY PHILOSOPHY: I believe that performance should, first and foremost, come out of research, and vice versa. I believe that there's no such thing as purity or authenticity in art. I prefer an early music style that's playful and open-minded. I believe that the best artists are well-rounded human beings, with passions and interests in other areas of life; art should be fun, and if you can't laugh at yourself, you're in the wrong field. I believe that the best musicians are engaged with the everyday world, and should lend their talents to social causes. I believe that artists should speak truth to power. I believe that art allows us to say things that cannot be expressed through normal conversation. I believe that performing is a constant ego bash, but so worth it in the end. And I believe that real artists eat, sleep and breathe what they do, because they have no other choice!