About nine years ago Andrew Winch died from a brain tumour. 

 Winch said the family sang worship songs and prayed in the hospital with Andrew. 

Several people did not understand why they were singing,  Winch recalled. 

“They said ‘your son is dying.’

“Prayer is the only hope we had left for a miracle,”   Winch said. 

Within several years her father died from old age and her sister from ovarian cancer, and singing became even more important to her.

“It helped me deal with the stress. 

“When I’m sad I sing, when I’m stressed I sing –  it helps the mood.” 

La Boheme will be  Winch’s first major performance, as she has not  performed fully in public previously. 

“No, not really, only at church –  it’s been a while since I performed anything.” 

Her voice is deep  and can reach some baritone notes. 

“Well let’s just say I could sing, but I couldn’t sing with the ladies. 

“Their voice was too high –  I was more confident of singing with the men,” she  said. 

 Winch missed the La Boheme auditions but heard from another performer that the production was still seeking singers.

She eagerly signed on for the production.