Irene Lancaster, our new librarian, has been playing the piano since the age of four. She was accepted as a student at the Royal Northern College of Music junior section at the age of 16. However, she decided to make a career in modern languages instead, whilst keeping up the piano as well. She has performed as a soloist at the Liverpool Philharmonic, and with others at the Whitworth Art Gallery.

Irene has just returned from two years in Haifa, Israel, where she accompanied the Haifa North Carmel Choir as a professional pianist and became a member of the Haifa Technion Choir, as second soprano. Last December, accompanied by the Haifa Symphony Orchestra, the Technion Choir performed the Borodin Polovtsian Dances from Prince Igor in Russian and the beautiful Ramirez Nativity Cycle in South American Spanish. A cassette of this concert has been produced.

Whilst living in Israel, Irene also taught music two days a week at the Church of Scotland International School in Jaffa, near Tel Aviv, where she concentrated on the history of the Beatles and the Liverpool sound.

Irene’s blog, Irene Lancaster’s Diary, won the Times 2007 Best Religion Blogs Award:

http://irenelancaster.typepad.com/my_weblog/2007/12/christmas-card.html