Esther Farinde (born 19 February 1984) is a British gospel singer and songwriter. She is also known as a Vocal Workshop Facilitator, who mentors young aspiring singers through her involvement with church choirs, as well as through projects such as RM19, run under the auspices of

The Royal Opera The Royal Opera is a British opera company based in central London, resident at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden. Along with English National Opera, it is one of the two principal opera companies in London. Founded in 1946 as the Covent G ...

House. Esther has also been involved in the delivery of music-based projects as a member of the Barbican Learning and Development team.

Biography

Esther is the 7th of 10 children born to parents originally from Efon-Alaiye, in

Ekiti State Ekiti () is a state in southwestern Nigeria, bordered to the North by Kwara State for 61 km, to the Northeast by Kogi State for 92 km, to the South and Southeast by Ondo State, and to the West by Osun State for 84 km. Named for the Ekiti ...

, in western

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

. Esther grew up in England, where she attended Ecclesbourne School,

Islington Green School City of London Academy Islington (COLAI, formerly Islington Green School) is an 11–18 mixed, secondary school and sixth form with academy status in Islington, Greater London, England. It was established in 1966 and adopted its present name a ...

, and

City and Islington College City and Islington College (CANDI) is a further education college in the London Borough of Islington, England, established in 1993. The college has four major centres throughout the borough, including a dedicated sixth form centre. It is part of ...

, (as did fellow artist

Paloma Faith Paloma Faith Blomfield (born 21 July 1981) is an English singer, songwriter, and actress. After signing with Epic Records in 2008, Faith released her debut album, '' Do You Want the Truth or Something Beautiful?'' (2009), which produced the UK ...

). Between 2003 and 2006, Esther attended The

University of Northampton The University of Northampton is a public university based in Northampton, Northamptonshire, England. It was formed in 1999 by the amalgamation of a number of training colleges, and gained full university status as the University of Northampto ...

from which she graduated with a BA in Music and Media. Esther began singing at the age of 4 in her parents' church; both her parents are pastors of the

Christ Apostolic Church Christ Apostolic Church (CAC) is the first Pentecostal church present in Nigeria. It arose in the first half of the 20th century, in the then-British Empire. It was founded in Ijebu-ode named Precious Stone Society in 1918 but was formally esta ...

(CAC). For the past 18 years she has led choirs based in the church. Esther Farinde was voted winner of the 2014 season of the Time2shine Gospel Talent search in the UK. The final was televised live from the

Hackney Empire Hackney Empire is a theatre on Mare Street, in Hackney in the London Borough of Hackney. Originally designed by Frank Matcham it was built in 1901 as a music hall, and expanded in 2001. Described by ''The Guardian'' as "the most beautiful theat ...

on 25 October 2014. In 2018 she released her debut single 'Song Cry' after being taken on by the Time2Shine management team.

References

External links

/ Time2Shine Official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Farinde, Esther 1984 births Living people British gospel singers Nigerian emigrants to the United Kingdom Alumni of the University of Northampton Alumni of City and Islington College 21st-century British singers