She will be the next big thing in opera,' according to Kerry Underwood, senior partner at Hertfordshire firm Underwoods, which sponsors 26-year-old Dorset-born soprano Lucy Mervik.


Lucy began singing at the age of 12, 'while all the other kids were learning guitar or piano'. She has since graduated from the Trinity College of Music; sung in the BBC Proms at the Royal Albert Hall; and played Marzelline in Beethoven's Fidelio, Yum Yum in Gilbert & Sullivan's The Mikado and Despina in Mozart's Cosi fan tutte - among other roles.



Most recently, she played Elmire in the singspiel Erwin und Elmire, written by Duchess Anna Amalia of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel and based on the 1773 libretto of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Two performances were held in Duchess Amalia's German birthplace, Weimar, with the final show in Balham, London, on 20 June.



'Elmire is a feisty 16-year-old, the love interest of Erwin,' she says. 'She rejects him to begin with and he goes into isolation - but there is a happy ending.' Lengthy passages of German dialogue proved a 'big challenge' for a non-speaker performing in front of a German audience - but thankfully, pronunciation lessons were provided.



Next, Lucy will fly to Perth, Australia for an audition with the West Australian Opera. 'They run a young artist programme, which trains young singers in-house in supporting roles until - hopefully - they reach the level of soloist.' Lucy is on the lookout for further sponsorship and can be contacted via lucymervik.com. Any other lawyers want to help her hit the high notes?