A soprano who takes music to the inmates of Pentonville prison. A story of operatic potential. "Music in the Ville bring us light"

Emma grew up in Birmingham. An Opera Singer for 40 years she made her solo professional debut as a soprano in 1998 with the Royal Opera House as a Flower maiden in Parsifal with Placido Domingo.

She has sung many operatic roles and oratorios and performed extensively in chamber music. She appeared on Radio 3, won an international singing competition, and made a CD of Handel arias with London Mozart Players.

In 2017, to do “something completely different”, she volunteered as a prison visitor at Pentonville prison. Within a year, Music in the Ville was born.

HMP Pentonville, a Victorian prison built for 600 men, now holds over 1,200. Most spend 22 hours a day in cramped cells with little education or purposeful activity.

Many have mental‑health conditions, autism or ADHD. Life inside is noisy, tense and isolating; staff work under relentless pressure. Hope is scarce.

Music in the Ville changes that, with weekly live music reaching men who spend up to 22 hours a day in their cells with little access to purposeful activity.

When the music begins, the atmosphere shifts. “Music in the Ville brings us light. We feel better, different — like normal people.”

Emma will talk about the project, showing film and sharing voices and opinions of the men who take part.

This event takes place at Bournville Quaker Meeting House, 65 Linden Rd, Birmingham B30 1JT

Train - Bournville Station (10 minutes walk)

Buses - 11 and 27 at Bournville Village Green

Onstreet car parking is close by

Description supplied by the event organiser.