Daily Mail: "Izzy's debut album 'Libera Me' shot to No.1 in three weeks toppling tenor, Jose Carreras from the classical charts."
Classic FM: "Virgin Venture has developed a clear strategy that distinguishes Izzy as a mould-breaking artist capable of overstepping musical boundaries."
HMV Choice: "Midway between Lesley Garrett and Kiri Te Kanawa, Izzy has a beautiful soprano voice. It is full, winsome, securely produced and capable of genuine light and shade. Izzy can sing. The point is worth emphasising, because there are plenty of artists exploring the crossover scene who cant."
Marie Claire: "Izzy is a classically trained soprano. She blends shades of opera with pop-diva style. She's Izzy: Hard to define - and even harder to turn off."
Isobel was still a student at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama when she was snapped up and signed by Decca Records to make her debut album ‘Libera Me’ recorded with The London Symphony Orchestra at Abbey Road Studios. She pioneered the classics in a fresh and innovative way, working with Craig Leon as her producer, who has worked with Pavarotti, Sting, Andreas Scholl, Joshua Bell and many others. ‘Libera Me’ made number one in both the UK and Japanese classical charts and led Isobel to be nominated for ‘Best Female Artist’ in the Classical Brit Awards.
After the success of ‘Libera Me’ Isobel signed to Virgin’s Venture label and immediately teamed up with Craig Leon to record her second album ‘Ascolta’ again at Abbey Road Studios. ‘Ascolta’ climbed to number one. Isobel became an International star with top 10 albums in Scandinavia and Portugal as well as repeating her No.1 classical position in the UK and the far East where she achieved her biggest following performing in live concerts, TV and radio. She was then invited to sing at the Rugby League Cup Final at Twickenham in 2001 to an audience of 78,000.
Her third album ‘New Dawn’ was recorded in September 2002, again reaching number one in the UK and other foreign territories.
One of the most fascinating aspects of Isobel’s work is her modernization and interpretation of classic English folk music. Her video of ‘My Love Is Like a Red Red Rose’ remains one of the most played videos on U.K. Classic FM TV radio to this day.
As a result of Isobel’s overall success, her music has now been embraced as a new force in the ‘healing music’ market for it’s spiritual and relaxing qualities.
At this stage of Isobel’s career, she worked with other known artists such as Cliff Richard, Lionel Richie, Charlotte Church, Hayley Westera, Russle Watson, Jemelia, Gareth Gates, Hear Say, Blue, Billie Piper to name a few, and after hearing ‘New Dawn‘ Bryan ferry invited Isobel as his support act for his Stately Homes Tour where she proved to be an immediate success.
The USA released a compilation of the second and third albums entitled ‘Izzy’ and Isobel was invited to perform at the Crystal Cathedral in Los Angeles for a network TV transmission with a 20 million anticipated audience. She sang several solo numbers and teamed up with U.S chart topping tenor Daniel Rodriguez. Their duet ‘The Prayer’ is also featured on his and her albums.
Isobel made her third appearance at the Royal Albert Hall in 2003 when she was a part of a special BBC television series ‘Songs of Praise’ hosted by Aled Jones. She also makes regular appearances in the ITV Christmas Eve Specials with other British classical artists.
At the beginning of 2004, Isobel performed at the opening ceremony of Expo in Nagoya/Japan. Based on her success, she returned the following year, where her voice and music complimented the theme which was based on arts, culture and world peace.
Over the course of the releases of her three albums Isobel’s work has been heard by additional millions of listeners as the synch music for many world wide released feature films and adverts. She also provided the theme music ‘Wish’ for the worldwide hit video game ‘Rygar’.
Isobel has a special love for teaching singing and music and has a number of very talented private students. In 2005, Isobel opened a ‘Rock Skool Academy’ in Spain for the younger generation and in 2006 her ‘Rock Skool’ joined Isobel in performing for the ‘Moraira Festival. Following this, Isobel has continued to direct and perform in a number of shows on the Costa Blanca including the highly successful ‘Simply Classical’ in 2007 and ‘Viva La Classica’ in 2008. These intimately staged musical events dedicated to Pavarotti, truly celebrated his life in Style and through a combination of setting and content created a magical atmosphere, which captivated the highly appreciative audience.
Also in 2007, Isobel embarked on new adventures touring in new foreign territories and exploring new audiences for her music. Her travels took her to South America, South Africa, Mexico, Hawaii, South East Asia, USA and the Mediterranean. Isobel concluded the year singing as a featured headline guest entertainer on the Maiden Voyage of Cunard’s Queen Victoria.
Isobel also loves to support the Royal Variety Club of Great Britain, which raises money for children with special needs and M.A.B.S based in Spain, which raises money for cancer patients.
In contrast to Isobel’s classical albums, a musical album was launched at the beginning of 2007 entitled ‘Izzy Sings Musicals’ and is now on sale.
Between 2008 and 2009 new horizons opened for Isobel, as well as continuing to tour the world, she once again collaborated with Craig Leon (www.craigleon.com) for the production of her fourth classical album to be released shortly.
Finally due to high demand and live concerts, in 2010 Isobel will be releasing a classical guitar / vocal album, accompanied by Robin Hill (www.robin-hill.co.uk) and will be on sale shortly.
