After Elizabeth Muir-Lewis attended school in the Lake District and later Surrey she attended the Royal College of Music to study singing, winning a Caird Scholarship to Vienna to study opera and Lieder.
Her first singing engagement was with Glyndebourne Opera House where she began in the chorus, them graduated to major understudy roles, plus small parts.
During her long singing career Elizabeth sang in the USA including with the Washington Symphony, Boston Opera, Chicago Symphony and at Carnegie Hall.
In Europe she sang at several festivals including in Paris, Ghent, Wexford as well as the Three Choirs Festival. She was also recorded and broadcast in recital by the BBC.
Choral ambitions
Later she founded the Eastbourne Choral Society, taking them on three European Tours (Paris, Ghent and Montreux) and developed the choir to become a major choral society in Sussex and one of the first to dramatise an oratorio (Elijah and St Matthew Passion).
Elizabeth’s latest move has been to form the Sussex Song Makers, a group of all female singers.
It has appeared in the London Choral Festival three times, the Bexhill Music Festival twice and next year it will appear in the Brighton Fringe music festival in Sussex.
First book
She has also recently had her first book published (see left) called Bye-Bye Baby on the Treetops; although prior to that she had also enjoyed success with her short stories.
Her book is published by US firm AuthorHouse (ISBN 978-1-7283-8860-1) and is available in the UK via the Waterstones website for £11.95p. Click here to order it.
As well as her first novel, Elizabeth Muir-Lewis will soon have five short stories published by Publisher Austin Macauley (London).
"A collection of short stories which captivates the audience. Entertaining. Each story a unique piece. A dynamic and enthralling witty style."
Major charity
One of the main focuses of her life in recent years has been establishing and running The Richards Lewis/Jean Shanks trust in partnership with the Royal Academy of Music. It was set up in memory of Richard Lewis the great British tenor, who was her husband, with funding from Jean Shanks.
This is now, with the Kathleen Ferrier, the largest vocal prize in the country. Over twenty years it has helped talented young singers to continue their studies including Lucy Crow, David Butt-Philips, Alan Clayton, Mary Bevan and Sarah Tynan.
Her sister is photojournalist Grace Robertson, OBE and her their father TV presenter and journalist, Fyfe Robertson. Her son, Nigel, is a freelance journalist based in London.
Listen to Elizabeth Muir Lewis sing
