Beloved baritone’s widow raises school fund in his memory

Robert Poulton was tragically killed in a car crash after a performance run at Glyndebourne two years ago. He was a hugely popular performer on the British and European opera circuit. Now Philippa, his widow, is raising money, partly to help city kids to learn how to sing.

Do help her, if you can, with a donation.

Here’s what she writes:

My husband Robert Poulton was an operatic baritone who was tragically killed in a road accident in Sussex in October 2012. We were extremely happily married, and are the parents of two beautiful sons.

Rob was a wonderful father, and a very successful opera singer, but he was also so much more than that. If you were ever lucky enough to spend time in his company, you will know exactly what I mean; he had an innate ability to share his love for life, his charm and his integrity with everyone that he met. 

Whilst on stage he was able to engage with the emotions of his audience in a way that eludes many classical singers of this generation. He was not only able to reduce the most challenging of audiences to tears with the timbre of his mellifluous baritone, but he could also evoke intense laughter, with merely the lifting of an eyebrow, or the twinkling of an eye. When he sang he made you feel good; it’s as simple as that!

In launching Rob’s charity, my aim is to pass on his love of singing, and its ability to change lives for the better. I know that this is both greatly needed and entirely possible, in a world that can often be challenging.

At first we shall be focussing on 2 areas:

1. To send a specialised singing tutor into 2 schools based in Inner London. These schools have yet to be identified, and we will be concentrating on whole class sessions involving Key Stage 2 children.
2. To set up and fund a Community Hospice Choir in East Sussex.