Performing
In my 30+ years as professional singer I've sang on too many projects to mention here, but I've put a little taster below of some of my favourites!
Scroll down to read my full bio (if you're really keen!).
Sleep Hollow
This was the first movie soundtrack I ever sang on - a fabulous experience, with brilliant music by Danny Elfman.
Cinderella
.jpg)
This is a more recent movie soundtrack I sang on (thank you Annie Skates and Capital Voices). A really fun project to work on, some great vocal arrangements to sight sing, and a fantastic MD.
Avengers: Endgame
I am the Solo Big Band Vocalist on this amazing movie soundtrack, recorded in the iconic Abbey Road, Studio 2, with composer, Alan Silvestri watching over me - a fab experience!
Avengers: Endgame (after the session)
This is a photo of Alan Silvestri and myself, taken at the end of my session for 'Avengers:Endgame'. Alan is an absolute gentleman and an amazing composer.
The Festival Of Remembrance at The Royal Albert Hall
I was a guest soloist with The Massed Bands of The Royal Air Force for this amazing concert, performing at The Royal Albert Hall in front of Her Majesty, The Queen, and broadcast live to an audience of over 60 million people! (That's me on the screen!)
Backstage before Game Of Thrones
This is a fun photo taken before we went on stage to perform the first in a series of concerts of the music from the hit TV series 'Game Of Thrones' (thank you Annie Skates and Capital Voices).
The concert was conducted by the composer, Ramin Djawadi and included onscreen visuals from the series, as well as a bit of dressing up! I'll let you into a little secret - the costumes from the series were very hot to wear, and rather scratchy!!
Feelin' Groovy - Voxtet
Check out this fabulous version of Simon and Garfunkel's 'Feelin' Groovy' performed by London-based vocal group, Voxtet.
I love being a member of this vocal group, the arrangements are fantastic to sing and the musicianship of each member is amazing.
I'm at the bottom left of the 'Bus' (2nd Alto)!
(Click on the bottom right hand corner to turn the volume up)
Emer McParland
Emer's talent and versatility as a vocalist has led her to be involved in an amazing range of music projects both in the UK and abroad.
Her first love in music is performing with Big Bands, and she is a regular soloist with the BBC Big Band. Her appearances as a guest soloist with the BBC Big Band include a hugely successful tour of Mexico alongside the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra, as well as numerous concerts around the UK and abroad, including Cadogan Hall, London, the Festival Cuivrée in Limoux, France,as part of the 'Twilight Delights' series of concerts in Canary Wharf, at Lichfield Cathedral as a guest soloist of the Lichfield Festival, and an appearance as a guest soloist at the world famous Aldeburgh Festival in the UK.
Emer has appeared to sell out audiences at the world-renowned London jazz venue, Ronnie Scott’s with various jazz line-ups including the Ronnie Scott’s All Star Big Band, and has performed as a guest soloist with the RTÉ Radio Big Band (Ireland), The National Youth Jazz Orchestra (UK), and the big bands of The Royal Air Force Squadronaires and Her Majesty’s Royal Marines.
Her solo work with orchestras includes guest appearances with the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra, the BBC Concert Orchestra, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the Hallé Orchestra (Manchester), and the RTÉ Orchestra (Ireland) in programmes as diverse as Big Band Classics, Music From The Movies, Hits of the West End, Latin Fiesta, and Divas!
Emer's extensive live work as a guest soloist also includes several appearances at the Royal Albert Hall as a special guest soloist for the annual Festival Of Remembrance in front of Her Majesty, The Queen, a concert that is broadcast live around the world to an audience of over 60 million people.
Her versatility has led her to be involved in several exciting vocal projects, including the groundbreaking T-Mobile 'Welcome Back' advert back in 2010, where all the 'music' that is heard on this track is recorded with just voices. Emer was a member of the core group of vocalists on this project who provided all the instrumental sounds for the soundtrack, including creating vocal sounds for guitars, bass, drums, violins and flutes, as well as layering a huge amount of backing vocals to create the overall finished track.
Emer's skills as a sight singer means her voice can be heard on numerous movie soundtracks such as Sleepy Hollow, Tomb Raider, Martin Scorsese’s Gangs of New York, The Mummy Returns, Tomb Raider and several soundtracks in the Harry Potter series of movies , as well as providing solo vocals for Modigliani and The Red Planet. She has also provided vocals (as a member of Capital Voices) for the upcoming live action versions of Disney's Aladdin and Cinderella, and is the featured Big Band solo vocalist on the 'Avengers Endgame' movie soundtrack.
Emer has also taken part in live performances of movies such as Independence Day (David Arnold), Harry Potter and The Philosopher's Stone (John Williams), Alice In Wonderland (Danny Elfman), and a concert performance of music from the TV series, Game of Thrones, conducted but the composer himself, Ramin Djawadi. Following on from the live performance of Alice In Wonderland, Emer was invited, (as a member of the Maida Vale Singers), to take part in a UK tour of the film music of Danny Elfman in which Danny Elfman performed. She has also taken part in several live concert performances of music from the iconic video game, Zelda.
Her love of jazz (and her ability to read and sing some very scrunchy chords!) has resulted in her involvement in the London-based 8 part vocal group Voxtet. This group was formed by the hugely talented pianist/arranger, Clive Dunstall, with an album and single recorded by them.
Her recording credits in the world of pop include Peter Gabriel, Bjork, Jarvis Cocker, Mika, Spiritualized and Tom Fletcher (McFly), and as a live backing vocalist her credits include Kylie Minogue, Gary Barlow (Take That), Dame Shirley Bassey and Andrea Bocelli, with her West End experience including booth vocals for Starlight Express.