'The Angel of Music' - Sarah Brightman - was born in Berkhamsted, a small market town outside London, in 1960. Dancing from early childhood to music of all types, which played constantly in her home, she attracted notice from the Royal Academy of Ballet. Singing was relegated to church choir, while dancing was her first passion. At age 11, she stunned recital audiences at her performing arts boarding school with her mature vocal range and purity of sound.
At age 12 Sarah went pro, performing two roles simultaneously upon the stages of London. At 16, she joined Pan's People, a dance troupe on the BBC hit parade show 'Top of the Pops', quickly gaining fans. Unfortunately, she had to drop out of school to accept the spot, which worried her parents. The next year she became lead dancer in 'Hot Gossip,' a new, modern, sexy dance troupe with a hot Broadway choreographer. Nobody in the dance world yet knew about Sarah's voice. At age 18, everything changed: she cut a demo tape, married a rock band manager, and recorded a song that hit #6, which accelerated her musical career. Angel was flying high.
A lead feline (Jemima) in the original London production of Cats, Sarah opened on Broadway too, which upset Actor's Equity, but Andrew Lloyd Webber was adamant that the show wouldn't go on without her. She eventually left Cats for a lead in the children's opera, 'Nightingale',but Webber won her back, creating songs specifically for her voice. He wrote 'Pie Jesu' and 'Requiem', which was dedicated to their growing working and personal relationship. The scandal of their separate divorces and subsequent marriage was quickly forgotten thanks to the Royal Family's troubles, and thanks also to the Webbers' magnificent collaboration in 'The Phantom of the Opera'.
Sarah Brightman seems to have been created for singing her husband's music, with her exquisite voice tone and three-octave range including effortless high D's and E naturals above high C. Her simultaneously sensual yet somehow innocent stage persona fit the roles he wrote. Their partnership, continued even after their 1990 divorce, brought Sarah worldwide adulation in all performance mediums. Success was hers on the stages of Broadway and London with new lead roles in shows such as 'Aspects of Love', on tour with 'The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber', and in recording Grammy-winning collaborations such as 1996's 'Time To Say Goodbye' with Andrea Bocelli and the London Symphony Orchestra. She conquered the world of TV, selling 1.5 million copies of the PBS video One Night in Eden, and performed in the most successful pledge program on PBS, 'Sarah Brightman Live at the Royal Albert Hall.'
'Like sunlight casting a spell' is a typical poetic comment that Sarah Brightman concerts elicit from critics. Sarah claims that she merely interprets beautiful music she loves. Ticket holders to her concerts know her 'loves' include genres widely divergent as grand opera, disco, Gregorian chants, show tunes, Portuguese fado, or Middle Eastern belly dance music from her 2003 cd Harem. This elegant, mysterious 'Angel of Music' intends to bestow blessings upon her adoring fans as long as music exists in the heavens.
