Personality profile This Christmas, their 21st century rendition of Gaudete –


a medieval melody made famous in the 1970s by folk group Steeleye Span – was on the BBC Christmas playlist and made it into the charts, raising funds for the charity Help for Heroes in the process.


Fiona began playing


the piano at the age of eight – but singing was always her true passion. While still a pupil at Boughton Monchelsea Primary School, she was awarded a music scholarship to nearby Sutton Valence School. “When I went to


Sutton Valence I was quite shy and it was rather daunting to be


thrown into the spotlight when that was the last thing I really wanted. However, singing in the chapel choir was fantastic training for what I was to do in the future – on tour, singing in eight shows a week. I really appreciate all the opportunities I was given and am very grateful for those years, even if at times they were not easy.” Fiona was the first Kent Young Musician of the Year, aged


just 13, and went on to be declared the Royal School of Church Music’s Choirgirl of the Year. A year later, much to her surprise and delight, she was voted BBC Radio 2s’ Choirgirl of the Year. Her rendition of ‘Pie Jesu’, on the subsequent CD she


recorded with the BBC Choirboy of the Year, shot into Classic FM’s top 10, with the Daily Mail music critic saying it was ‘the best performance I have heard’. Fiona’s first major appearance following the win was at


the Royal Albert Hall, singing two Christmas solos. “Strangely, I get more terrified now! I


just went out there and sang!” Whilst in the Sixth Form at Maidstone’s


Invicta Grammar School, Fiona was invited to join the National Youth Choir of Great Britain as a soloist on their prestigious world tour. “At the time, I was worried about


studying for my A levels, but with hindsight, it was the best decision I could have made. You can’t put a price on life experience – it was a fantastic opportunity and you have to grasp such opportunities when they come along.” After leaving school, Fiona took a year


out and, at one point, was juggling four or five part-time jobs - “Waitressing, telesales, anything really to earn some money. Again, it was all good experience.” A year at City University and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London confirmed her belief she wanted to perform and she quit the world of academia after the first year and moved to Ireland to join the band Anuna, which had been formed by the original Riverdance singers. “It was totally mad,” admits Fiona, “but I always knew I


wanted to sing and I didn’t want to hang around learning the theory any longer. I didn’t want to get a degree then go and teach music. It was all about performing for me.”


Above: Fiona was BBC Choirgirl of the Year in the late 1990s. Right: Fiona, lead vocalist of ‘Legend’.


Mid Kent Living 7 Fiona parted company with Anuna in 2005 when she was


invited to become the lead singer in Riverdance, for its 10th anniversary tour, which took her around America, Europe and Asia, performing to packed audiences in concert halls, theatres – even Royal palaces. Thus began a lengthy working relationship with Michael Flatley who asked her to join his sequel - ‘Lord of the Dance’ – this time touring the UK, Scandinavia, Czech Republic and Germany, then 'Feet of Flames', touring South East Asia. “Flatley is quite a surprising character. He’s softly spoken


and very funny but really appreciates and loves his music,” she observes. During 12 years ‘on the road’, Fiona has sung for


everyone from the Royal Family of Abu Dhabi, at home in their palace, to the British Royal Family and the Archbishop of Canterbury. She has also sung alongside Sir Cliff Richard and Boy George – as well as at the Glastonbury and Edinburgh festivals. “Touring is amazing and I am so grateful for all the chances I have had, but I’m quite a home girl really and miss my family and friends when I am away. I am perfectly happy making a cup of tea and pottering around the house,” she says. With Celtic blood in her veins – father Dave’s roots are on


the island of Luing in Argyll – Fiona likes to add a contemporary slant to traditional tunes from all four corners of the British Isles. She sings and plays the piano on the ‘Fiona – the album’, which features her own original songs and new interpretations of well loved traditional music, written with Cathal Synnott, Musical Director of Riverdance. “I am so happy to be back living in Kent, I love it so much. Whenever I am away, I look to see what the weather is doing in Kent. How sad is that? To think that I miss the British weather!


“I also miss the people in Kent – they have an indefinable


character. Having travelled the world, there’s no place to beat Kent. It’s near to London and Europe but we have all this beautiful countryside around us.” As for the future, Fiona is hoping to work with


internationally-renowned Irish composer Ronan Hardiman, who wrote Lord of the Dance, and continue her passion for singing the songs that she so loves.


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