Issue 2: A chat with... Caroline

What is your earliest memory?

A very early memory is staying at my Grandparents’ house when I was around 2 years old, I crept downstairs before anyone was awake and went to the big old sideboard where the treats were kept. I ate a whole packet of mini Bounty bars, pushed the wrappers under an armchair and went back to bed. Grandma led a big enquiry the next day and it was years later when I owned up to the mystery of who ate the Bounty bars!

What was your first job?

A Saturday job in a bookshop when I was at school and then my first grown-up job was working on the Chanel counter in House of Fraser spraying lots of perfume and hoarding all those little samples.

Do you have a favourite opera/show?

I was in West Side Story at school and can probably still remember every line of every character, hearing any snippets now still transports me to the excited energy of that performance. It’s hard to choose an absolute favourite as it changes depending on what I am singing or learning, but The Marriage of Figaro, by Mozart, is my happy place, Jenufa, by Jancek, for total heart break and Der Rösenkavalier, by Strauss, for the tunes. Can I call this a Top 5… the ENO production of Akhnaten for a dreamy mesmerising experience.

What is your favourite song?
Summertime always feels uplifting and comforting.

Do you have any hobbies?

My week as a freelancer can be varied with performing, music teaching and producing/project management. I’m very lucky that I can be surrounded by creative people in interesting places and still call it work. I’ve dabbled with hat-making and on a rainy Sunday I can happily spend hours making things with ribbons and vintage buttons.

What can’t you live without?

My desert island luxury would be some expensive moisturiser.

What do you wish you had learned sooner?

How easy it is to make bread, starting piano when I was younger, and just to ‘seize the day’ when opportunities arise and not worry what other people think!