What is your idea of perfect happiness?
Being in the fits of laughter with a close friend.
Which historical figure do you most identify with?
Moses Hogan.
Which living person do you most admire?
My friend and client Liam Cullinane. I admire his strength and ability to achieve the ‘impossible’.
Which is the trait you most deplore in yourself?
I am remarkably unorganised and messy.
What is your greatest extravagance?
My 1974 MGB convertible, currently in a mechanics garage…AGAIN.
What is your favourite journey?
The last bit of the flight into Tucson.
On what occasion do you lie?
When asked for spare change and I say “Sorry, I don’t have any.”
Which living person do you most despise?
I don’t despise anyone.
What or who is the greatest love of your life?
The pursuit of learning.
When and where were you happiest?
A weekend I spent with my older brother after 14 years apart.
Which talent would you most like to have?
I’d LOVE to be able to do really complex maths, that or ANY athletic ability.
What is your current state of mind?
Contemplative and positive.
What do you consider your greatest achievement?
Moving to Ireland on my own.
If you were to die and come back as a person or a thing, what do you think it would be?
I’d love to be Italian.
What is your most treasured possession?
Some of the artwork by my parents/my MG.
What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?
Loosing the ability to communicate with others.
What is your favourite occupation?
Working with a singer in the moment where everything comes together.
What is the quality you most like in a man?
The ability to fix things (literally – No toolbelt? No friendship. )
What is the quality you most like in a woman?
Humour – I love funny people.
Who are your favourite writers?
Shostakovich, Tim Rice, Danny Elfmann, Clara Schumann, Aaron Copeland, Orlande de Lassus.
What is your motto?
“Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else” - Judy Garland
Lyric soprano and voice teacher Michel Durham-Brandt runs Durham Voice Studio and is the director of the Galway Gospel Choir. She will perform at the Spirit of Voice Festival Launch on Thursday November 6 at 8.30pm in The Western Hotel.
