Leana Roper

Leanna Roper who performed as ‘A Blessed Spirit’ in the recent Lydian production of Orpheus and Euridice, is a relatively new Lydian, having joined along with her mother, Laura, just over a year ago. She has been singing all of her life and she sings regularly with her church choir at Our Lady of Lourdes, Maraval, where she is a soloist.

With the Lydians, Leanna immediately stepped into the limelight in the Monteverdi Vespers in September as a second soprano soloist. This was quickly followed by a lead part in the Christmas concert Parang segment and an operatic solo in the Ladies’ Concert in June.

All this activity of performance and rehearsal did not distract Leanna from her ‘real life’ – that of a final-year A-Level student at St Joseph’s Convent, Port of Spain. As she says ‘It was quite difficult adjusting at first with the late school nights and so forth, but I realized that I could easily make a little more room for something that I enjoy so much. I simply like the idea of being able to improve my voice under the tutelage of experienced musicians.’

Leanna plans to continue singing with the Lydians and take a year off after school. She hopes to continue her studies as an undergraduate at UWI St Augustine, reading Business Studies and ultimately owning and running her own business, while raising a family – and of course - singing her way through it all.