Josephine's Composer

About the Book

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About the Author

Born in 1936 in Newcastle, I have had a lifelong interest in sung music, whether songs, musicals, choral music, or opera. I have read widely on the topic and have had articles published in Donizetti Society journals, as well as provided a paper (subsequently published) on Meyerbeer for the Music Research Department Symposium of Bayreuth University for the bicentenary of his birth. My professional background is in giving and training others in health care, and I possess an MA in adult education (Durham University). I live in Durham. I retired in 1997 as senior lecturer in community mental health care from Northumbria University. Over the years, I have had published professional articles on care systems translated for French, Italian, and German professional magazines. All this experience was useful when coming to look at Spontini’s life and the places and time he lived in. Other interests I have are railway history (I had a book published in 2005 by Tempus Publishing entitled Visionary Pragmatist: The Life and Times of Sir Vincent Litchfield Raven, 1858–1934, the last Chief Mechanical Engineer of the North Eastern Railway), as well as reading widely, social involvement with local community, the history of North East England and its architecture, making music, playing the keyboard, choral and solo singing, and gardening.