One of the most exciting and versatile singers of her generation, Cheryl Forbes was born in Falkirk and, at age seventeen, was accepted to all five of the UK’s music conservatoires, ultimately choosing to study at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama in London with Johanna Peters. She subsequently completed her studies at the RSAMD under Patricia MacMahon, and from 2008 she was one of only a handful of singers to study privately with Marilyn Horne and Metropolitan Opera coach, Frederic Carama in New York.

 

Cheryl has worked with many of the biggest names in TV, Radio & Theatre since the tender age of 8, appearing on shows such as Harry Secombe’s Highway and in venues like The London Palladium. She sings with many of the UK’s leading orchestras and recently performed with the BBCSSO on BBC 3’s Hear and Now.

 

Past and forthcoming engagements include Songlines at The Edinburgh International Festival, The Sloan’s Opera (Manageress/Wife) for NOISE Opera; Gianni Schicchi (Zita), Madama Butterfly (Suzuki) and Eugene Onegin (Larina) for Opera Bohemia; The Gondoliers (Inez) and covers of Le Nozze di Figaro (Marcellina), Flight (The Older Woman), Nixon in China (Third Secretary, The Gondoliers (Duchess), Utopia Limited (Lady Sophy) and Candide (The Old Lady) for Scottish Opera; Bartok’s Village Scenes for BBC Radio 3; Classics Unwrapped for BBC Radio Scotland; John Rutter’s Feel the Spirit, conducted by Rutter himself; Ravel’s Sheherazade with the Glasgow Sinfonia, Wagner’s Wesendonck Lieder with the Edinburgh Symphony Orchestra, the inaugural Songtellers concert of the St. Andrews Voices festival, Brahms’ Alto Rhapsody with The Edinburgh Singers, as well as a constant stream of concerts, oratorio, recitals, opera galas and intimate cabarets across the UK and abroad, alongside television and radio broadcasts and appearances, the most recent of which being her surprise musical appearance on BBC 1’s A View from the Terrace, closing the Euros Cup Final episode, and the BBC4 broadcast of D’Oyly Carte and Scottish Opera’s joint production of The Gondoliers, which remains available to view until 2027.

 

She is also a much sought-after adjudicator.

 

Cheryl’s home town honoured her in 1992 with the Falkirk Scroll of Honour and again in 2016 with Falkirk Personality of the Year.