Lesley Garrett 'honoured' to sing in Proms return

Opera singer and performer Lesley Garrett said she was "honoured" to be invited back to an outdoor concert series to restart a Proms event.
Garrett, 70, will perform at Proms in the Park, alongside Russell Watson, as part of the Bedford Summer Sessions on Sunday 6 July.
The event was last held in the town in 2023 and has returned after requests from members of the public, organisers said.
Garrett said it could be the last Proms she performs in, but "I will give it my all, which is still considerable".

"Singing isn't something I do for a living, it's what I am", she said.
"I do it because that's what I was born to do."
"It's an exciting time in my life. I no longer have to prove anything. I'm not looking to grow my career, but enjoy the legacy of being in the profession for 45 years, as I started in 1980."
After the Proms, her next role will be Heidi Schiller in Stephen Sondheim's Follies for the Northern Ireland Opera Company in September.
Then she will help plan a November concert for Bantam of the Opera, a choir she is involved with, before undergoing a hip replacement.

Garrett said music was in her soul, and she would "carry on until I can no longer perform".
"The big criteria is whether I'm still good enough - I still have singing lessons every week with Joy Mammen, my original singing teacher," she said.
"We will then decide together to hang up those chords. I would hate to start disappointing people. You never know if the next one is going to be the last."
Garrett last came to the town to sing in 2018 and said she could not wait to return to Bedford to perform in the Proms with her "old friend" Russell Watson.
"If it's my last Proms, I'm thrilled it's going to be with him," she continued.
"I'm honoured to be asked to restart the Bedford Proms, I will give it my all, which is still considerable."

Mark Harrison, promoter at Cuffe & Taylor, said the absence of the Proms from the Summer Sessions in 2024 "left many feeling disappointed".
"We have listened to the general public's wishes, and we are delighted that we have been able to bring it back for 2025," he said.
The last Proms was held in 2023, in a slightly different format as West End Proms.
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