Chart-topping songwriter and former Cantamus girl comes home to perform 'popera'
Former Cantamus chorister Bex Hazard is returning home to perform alongside the Mansfield choir in concert.
She will be performing at Cantamus Presents pOpera Zirenz in Concert on Saturday, July 1, from 7pm – doors open at 6.30pm – at St Mark’s Church Mansfield
Bex – one-half of classical/trance crossover duo Zirenz, alongside Cat Llewelyn – started her music journey at the age of 10, composing her first choral piece for the school choir at Mansfield Woodhouse’s The Manor Academy for a carol competition.
She continued her song-writing, playing guitar and piano and went on to win an opportunity to record and perform at the BBC’s Pebble Mill studios in Birmingham.
She began her vocal training when she joined Mansfield’s award-winning Cantamus Girls Choir under the direction of Pamela Cook, and was a member from 1981-89.
She is a former winner of the John Ogden Scholarship, earning a place to study at the Royal Academy of Music in London.
Bex went on to become an established vocal coach, coaching singers who performed with international artists Corinne Bailey Rae and Craig David. She has also coached singers from the Miss Saigon School for the West End Musical and professional singers for Disney Studios and TV shows The X Factor and Britain’s Got Talent.
Alongside her vocal coaching, Bex formed Zirenz with Cat. They kicked off their career with an Honourable Mention award at the world-renowned John Lennon Song-writing competition in the USA in 2003 with their song, Underworld Nation.
Then over the last decade as trance DJ producers and vocalists, Zirenz have enjoyed chart success with their vocal trance singles and album releases – their 2021 track Edge of Space was included in the official A State Of Trance All Time top 1,000 list, compiled by leading DJ Armin van Buuren.
Now Bex and Cat are working on their ‘pOpera project’, as they combine their love of trance, pop and opera with re-imagined arrangements of well known opera arias, including Un Bel Di from Puccini’s Madame Butterfly, Pie Jesu and Ave Maria, alongside many other classics, making “pOpera for the people”.
Cantamus presents pOpera Zirenz in Concert will see Cantamus sing backing vocals for Zirenz and also perform a programme of well-known choral arrangements. Tickets, priced £15, are now available by texting 07545 592383.