Music Teachers UK

Ms Cheryl Forbes

Cheryl Forbes - Mezzo Soprano 
 
Born in Falkirk, Cheryl Forbes was awarded five coveted scholarships to the UK's top Music 
Conservatoires and notably set a precedent when she became the first musical recipient of a 
Cross Trust Scholarship. She studied initially at the prestigious Guildhall School of Music and 
Drama in London where she was the youngest singer ever to be accepted and achieved the 
highest entrance mark on audition. Whilst there she studied under the Head of Vocal Studies, 
the late Johanna Peters winning many prizes and scholarships. Latterly, Cheryl completed her studies at The RSAMD in Glasgow with Patricia McMahon and Peter Alexander Wilson where, amongst many other prizes, she was awarded The Leverhulme Trust Scholarship and The Sons of The Rock Scholarship. Cheryl continues to study in New York with world renowned vocal coach Frederic Carama and, most notably, with the greatest mezzo-soprano of the 20th Century, 
Marilyn Horne. 
Cheryl originally trained as a soprano and as a young student performed at the Barbican, St Pauls Cathedral, St Martin-in-the-Fields and The Royal Albert Hall, was selected to sing in a master class at the world- renowned Glyndebourne Opera House, and 
participated in a workshop with Michael Tilson Thomas and The London Symphony 
Orchestra. 
 
More recently, as a mezzo-soprano, Cheryl has appeared with The BBC Scottish Symphony 
Orchestra under Ilan Volkov singing Bartok's Three Village Scenes, which was recorded at The 
Tramway, Glasgow for BBC Radio 3's Hear and Now programme. She has worked with The Scottish Festival Orchestra, The Gordon Cree Concert Orchestra and is in great demand as a recitalist recently appearing in the prestigious Westbourne Music Series singing Wagner’s Wesendonk Lieder. She regularly appears with Scotlands top orchestras and sings at many prestigious venues throughout the country. 
Cheryl has worked with many of The UK's leading orchestras including The London Symphony 
Orchestra, The BBC Scottish Sypmhony Orchestra, The Scottish Festival Orchestra, The Gordon Cree Concert Orchestra and at age sixteen, understudied the role of 
Carmen with The Scottish Concert Orchestra. She has worked with conductors such as Ilan 
Volkov, Richard Hickox, Mark Shanahan, Gordon Cree and Peter Gellhorn - who subsequently went on to coach Cheryl on Operatic Repertoire and Lied. 
 
Cheryl appeared on STV and Radio Scotland every Christmas for The Variety Club of Great 
Britain for many years, working with the likes of Scottish greats, Peter Morrison, Anne Lorne Gillies and Moira Anderson and TV personalities, Gerard Kelly, Jack Milroy, Gwyneth Guthrie and Andy Cameron. 
 
In London, Cheryl also worked as an actress and voiceover artist and premiered the recording of Spike Milligan's "Childhood Poetry" which was 
set to music by international composer and Stephen Sondheim Mercury Music associate, Cathy 
Shostak. She also recorded a CD entitled 'Meadowlark' with leading West End musical 
director, Robert Scott. 
 
As Cheryl's reputation grows rapidly, she is in increasing demand for concerts and recitals and 
is embarking on a very exciting operatic career. 
 
Future engagements include a recital for The Westbourne Music Series and Rossini’s Petit Messe Solenelle in Perth.