How did you begin singing in public in the UK?

Once I graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Psychology (Hons) from the University of Malta, I realised that the love for the performing arts that I had had since my childhood was still burning fiercely, so I decided to study for a full-time Master's Degree in Musical Theatre at the Guildford School of Acting - where I had the best time of my life! Despite having also been accepted by the Royal Academy of Music in London, the GSA was actually the school I had always wanted to attend since I was about 12, so when I was offered a place on the two-and-a-half year Master's course there, I was over the moon.

 

What kind of work did you do after graduating?

After graduating I got myself an agent, taught at the Italia Conti drama school in Merrow (Guildford) at weekends, gave private lessons, worked in two different shops and attended auditions and rehearsals for shows during the week. I landed myself a better agent when I moved to London from my original base in Surrey, and I started getting parts in musicals at the Henley and Edinburgh Fringe Festivals and the London Palladium, and also played the part of Abdel Akle in the film The Devil's Double. But even though I was getting some good work, I was also disappointed at falling at the very final hurdle of several West End musical auditions. 

As I was seriously contemplating packing my bags and moving back to Malta I got to know that - after having gone through a gruelling series of auditions - I had been chosen to be the fourth member of a vocal group called 'All Angels'. This is a platinum-selling, classical-crossover female quartet that I had been following for a few years.

I spent the next couple of years touring with the group. Some of the highlights were performing as the featured artistes at the opening ceremony of the Champions League Final at Wembley Stadium in 2011 alongside Tinchy Stryder, performing for HRH the Earl of Wessex at Spencer House and performing at the Royal Albert Hall, the O2 Arena, the House of Commons, the Classic Brit Awards and many more. We were also invited to perform in Los Angeles, Crete and Spain, as well as on the BBC's The One Show and on Channel 4. 

Do you think the All Angels project could have developed further than it did?

Definitely. The group was very well-known on the classical-crossover scene and had also received accolades from people such as Sir Paul McCartney. However, there came a point when one of the other girls in the group wanted to focus on other things. There was no falling out, but when Charlotte Ritchie suddenly landed an amazing lead role in a big TV series her schedule became too busy and we were finding it difficult to continue. At around the same time I realised I wanted to move to Malta to be with my boyfriend Andrew, who is now my husband, and my family - especially after my best friend here tragically passed away. When I broke the news to the group they were very understanding and for a while I would still fly back to the UK to perform with them every now and again.

 

Are you now making a good living using your talents in Malta?

Yes, I feel that I am. I could even make a bit more money actually, but I feel that life is too short to stress about work all the time. I believe that the more you enjoy the work you do, the better your quality of life. I know it's a cliché but that's my advice to any artiste - and to my students.

I sing at many different functions, perform in musicals and give private singing lessons. Sometimes unexpected work comes out of the blue: for example, I have just recorded the vocals for an upcoming dance track and recently I also recorded classical vocals for another artiste's future release. Weddings, funerals and corporate events are plentiful in the summer months.

 

Do you have any observations to share about the situation for artistes such as yourself in this country?

I noticed more professionalism in the theatre and music scene had taken hold in Malta when I moved back from the UK. There is also a good amount of arts funding now - in fact the Arts Council funded my flights and course the fee for the Estill Voice course I did in the UK. I also see many of my students very keen to take up performing arts, song-writing or song production as a career - and we all know that it hasn't always been this way. 

On the other hand, I still think that we can work harder to be more professional in every aspect, from what we pay artistes to the scenery on a stage. I also often find myself struggling with being a musical theatre and classical-crossover artiste in Malta. I feel that opera and pop artistes are fairly sought-after but musical theatre and classical-crossover artists seem to be somewhat side-lined here, whereas they are very popular overseas. 

 

We've recently seen you in the main role in The Sound of Music and in an important role in Rock of Ages. Tell us a little about these best-selling shows.

They were both super fun. Playing Maria in The Sound of Music last October was a dream and a role that I thoroughly enjoyed playing. I felt that I was very well-suited to Maria's character and vocal style. With Rock of Ages, I got to explore a side of me that I had never truly got to do in Malta before, which is the rock 'n' roll side. I truly enjoyed letting my 'inner crazy rocker self' loose playing the spunky, hippy character of Regina over 16 performances, making it Malta's longest running musical, last summer.

 

You've recently released a single to radio. Tell us about it and your pop music career so far.

My new release Let You Go is not my first pop song but you could say it's the first one I've worked on seriously. I've been writing for as long as I can remember but never really did anything with my music. Then, a few years ago, I decided to start performing a couple of my songs in public and eventually performed two of my originals at Teatru Unplugged 16. I recorded rough versions of the songs, put them up on YouTube and got some good feedback. 

After launching my 'classical-crossover-meets-musical-theatre' album Forever Yours in 2015, I gained experience of how to release, publish, copyright and promote my own work. That album consisted of cover songs but for this release I've had to deal with copyrighting and promoting my own material, which felt strange. I always play a role - be it in a musical, a play or a TV show - but here I was acting as myself and it was an incredibly personal journey. So you can say that Let You Go is the first song, along with a music video, I have released professionally as a solo artist.

I wrote both the music and the lyrics for Let You Go. I tend to write about something I might be going through or - have gone through - and this song is about the dear family members and friends I've lost over the years and how difficult it was to let them go.

 

Do you have international hopes for the song, or are you happy with having your music played and celebrated only in Malta?

I have some overseas listeners too, especially due to All Angels, and their support is overwhelming. However, I don't intend to actually take the music overseas - at least not for the time being. If there comes a time where I'm asked to do so, perhaps I will, but for now I'm happy with things the way they are. It's the same with festivals such as the Eurovision Song Festival: I don't rule it out but it's not on my list at the moment.

 

What are your plans for the future?

I'm taking my career one step at a time. The last two years were pretty busy ones for me, so I'm enjoying a couple of rehearsal-free months - although I keep myself ready to perform at a moment's notice. I'm signed to the London-based Eclipse Artists Agency, so if they call me up for any concerts, I have to be prepared. However, I find that I can still fill up my time with gigs and recordings.

With regard to the song-writing and recording, I tend to let my inspiration lead the way. I'm working on a spiritual song called Human Too, I've recorded vocals for a folk/classical-crossover original track by Dutch composer Luuk Van Der Togt called Upon the Hill and have released a cover of For Good from the hit musical Wicked online with my good friend Nadia Vella. I'm planning to release some more originals as well as cover songs in the next few months, so I'll probably be focusing on that, mainly, as well as on my students and their exams.

 

Follow Rachel on Facebook at RachelFabrimusic, on Instagram at rachel.fabri and through her website: www.rachelfabri.com