Inverness singing academy hits the right note in its first year
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Opened by international recording star Tony Henry an Inverness singing school is celebrating its first birthday.
Opera singer Tony Henry, who has performed to hundreds of thousands of people around the world, is a familiar face as one of the voice coaches during the annual Ness Factor singing competition in aid of Highland Hospice.
At the beginning of 2019 the 58-year-old, who lives in Dingwall, opened the Tony Henry Music Academy in Canal Road, Inverness and sees an average of around 20 students a week.
He was genuinely excited about the venture before it opened and he was always hopeful it would succeed.
He said: “There is always a fear of failure. It has been exciting but tough. Like any business you start there is a lot of hard work but what surprised me was the number of hours I had to put in. I had to learn to pace myself.”
He said that over time the business had evolved but the number of students per week has remained fairly constant.
Mr Henry has also been developing the Highland Voices gospel choir and he said: “The choir is going from strength to strength, so my focus is there also. A lot who are in the choir also attend the academy.”
Last year the choir, which was formed in 2016, released its first single – Snowfall – with all funds raised going to Highland Hospice.
Mr Henry said: “All of the money will go to the hospice once I know how well it has done. The future plan for the academy is to go from strength to strength. It is going really, really well – I can’t complain at all. We are still very much in our infancy and whatever money comes in is reinvested in the unit.”
Originally from St Albans, Hertfordshire Mr Henry relocated from London to the Highlands three years ago.
He has performed worldwide since becoming an opera singer in 1995.
