LIVERPOOL ECHO

Sally Johnson is one of five members of singing group The Gala
Ensemble, which has signed the lucrative contract with SonyBMG.

The talented quintet are now set to release their first record – a
tribute to legendary comic opera composers Gilbert & Sullivan – next
month.

They join stars including AC/DC, Beyoncé, Bruce Springsteen and Leona
Lewis on SonyBMG's roster.

Whiston-born Sally, whose family come from Prescot, said: "We have all
sung with each other before, but The Gala Ensemble is a very recent
thing. We got together in August and it has been like a whirlwind.

"The £1.25m is how much money Sony is putting into the project."

The five professional teachers, who also hail from Leeds,
Stoke-on-Trent, Bournemouth and Lichfield, will release The Best Of
Gilbert & Sullivan on November 24.

SongBMG said the singers' previous experience in opera and theatre
productions made them the perfect choice to front the label's
high-profile promotion of the works of Gilbert & Sullivan, the first
time it has been attempted in 25 years.

Richard Hinkley, of SonyBMG, said: "The quality of singing required
for Gilbert & Sullivan repertoire meant we needed performers with
great technical ability, versatility and personality. Teaching singing
requires all of these skills, so it was to teachers we turned."

Sally, 30, who studied at the Royal Northern in Manchester and has
taught singing for 12 years, said: "The idea with this is to bring
light opera to people, although Gilbert & Sullivan has never really
gone away. It has a huge following all over the world."

The Gala Ensemble will perform on ITV's The Alan Titchmarsh Show on
November 4

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inging-teacher-celebrates-1-25m-record-deal-100252-22142704/