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Libby Purves

Amy Lehman

Kiri Te Kanawa

Alex Shearer

Richard Dunwoody

Paula McGinley

Midweek: Amy Lehman, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Alex Shearer, Richard Dunwoody MBE

Amy Lehman, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Alex Shearer, Richard Dunwoody MBE

05/03/2014

BBC Radio 4 - Midweek, Amy Lehman, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Alex Shearer, Richard Dunwoody MBE

Libby Purves meets legendary soprano Dame Kiri Te Kanawa.

Libby Purves meets soprano Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, jockey-turned-photographer Richard Dunwoody, writer Alex Shearer and Dr Amy Lehman, founder of a floating hospital in Africa.

Libby Purves meets Dr Amy Lehman, founder of The Lake Tanganyika Floating Health Clinic; legendary soprano Dame Kiri Te Kanawa; writer Alex Shearer and champion jockey turned photographer Richard Dunwoody.

Dr Amy Lehman is founder and president of The Lake Tanganyika Floating Health Clinic, an NGO which provides medical services to the 12m people who live around the lake. Bordered by four countries - Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Zambia and Burundi - Lake Tanganyika is one of the most remote places in the world. Amy, who sports a vast tattoo of Lake Tanganyika across her back, recently featured in Newsweek magazine's list of 150 Women Who Shake The World.

Legendary soprano Dame Kiri Te Kanawa returns to the Royal Opera House as La Duchesse de Crackentorp in Donizetti's La Fille Du Regiment. Born in New Zealand, Dame Kiri studied there and at the National Opera Studio in London, making her debut with The Royal Opera as Countess Almaviva in 1971. She went on to perform internationally as one of the leading lyric sopranos of her generation. In 2004 she launched The Kiri Te Kanawa Foundation to support New Zealand and international singers. La Fille Du Regiment is at the Royal Opera House, London.

Alex Shearer is a writer who has written for the stage, radio, TV and film. A children's author, his new book, This is the Life, is his first adult novel. The book is a fictionalised account of his brother's final illness and is based on Alex's experiences as his brother's carer. This Is The Life is published by Blue Door.

Richard Dunwoody is a former National Hunt jockey who is now a professional photographer. During his career he rode some 1,700 winners including the legendary Desert Orchid. He was Champion Jockey three times and won the Grand National twice until a neck injury forced him to retire prematurely in 1999. He is the official photographer for the annual Mongol Derby, an equestrian endurance race of 1000 km across the Mongolian steppe.

Producer: Paula McGinley.

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