[B]BC Local Radio, BBC Asian Network and The British Plaque Trust announced today (Wednesday 14 June) 47 new Blue Plaques commemorating people or places that have influenced the musical landscape across the country.
BBC Radio Cumbria’s Blue Plaque will commemorate internationally acclaimed contralto, the late Kathleen Ferrier CBE. The blue plaque will go inside Aspatria Parish Church in Allerdale, which was the venue for Ferrier’s first professional performance in 1937.
The plaque will be unveiled by relatives of Kathleen Ferrier at a special ceremony later this year.
BBC Radio Cumbria’s managing editor Mark Elliott said: “Several of our listeners nominated Kathleen and the more we learned about her and her story, the more we realised that she was really the only person we could have chosen for the plaque. Not only a great singer but a lovely human being by all accounts.”
Born in Lancashire in 1912, Kathleen Ferrier achieved an international reputation as a performer and recording artist with a repertoire spanning folk music, popular ballads and classical works.
She came to public prominence after winning a singing competition at the Carlisle Festival in 1937 and went on to tour widely across the US and Europe, performing at major venues and working with prominent figures including Benjamin Britten and Sir Malcolm Sargent.
Ferrier sadly died of cancer at the height of her fame in 1953. The Kathleen Ferrier Scholarship Fund was established in her honour in 1956 and has since made annual awards to aspiring young professional singers including Bryn Terfel and Lesley Garrett.
Follow the unveilings live #LocalMusicLegends
