Sitting with her dog beside Jack's Lake at the height of the Covid pandemic, New Barnet opera singer Ilona Domnich had a flash of inspiration. Could a wooded glade at the water's edge in Monken Hadley Common become an auditorium for an outdoor concert.

With the cancellation of indoor events, Ilona had no appearances booked in her diary and many of the musicians she knew were also without work. They were all desperate to start performing once again.

Within a matter of months her idea had become a reality and in August 2021 she held the first concert in what is now an annual season of Music by Jack’s Lake.

The second of this summer’s concerts, Schubertiade by the Lake, is at 5.30pm on Sunday 10 September.

Ilona, an internationally acclaimed soprano, who often takes the title role in classical operas such as La boheme and La traviata, will be accompanied by BBC Concert Orchestra pianist, Charles Mutter; Judit Kelemen (viola); and David Sztankov (horn) in a special arrangement of music by Franz Schubert.

Admission to the concert is free; there is street parking nearby around the entrance to Monken Hadley Common in Northfield Road; and stewards will be on hand to help and guide people to the venue beside the lake.

Donations made after the concert help defray artists’ expenses and other costs and will also go towards building up a fund for charitable causes. (See below for further details).

When Ilona first started asking around about the possibility of staging an outdoor concert besides Jack’s Lake she was surprised and delighted by the encouragement she received.

Support was immediately forthcoming from the Monken Hadley Common Trust and the tenants of the lake, Hadley Angling and Preservation Society.

“I met their representatives beside the lake to show them precisely where the musicians and audience would be. To try to convince them I started singing, and I have to admit they were taken aback on hearing a soprano in full voice, but it obviously did the trick.”

Ilona, who moved to Park Road, New Barnet, six years ago, is a regular dog walker around the lake and it was while sitting on her favourite bench that she realised the setting would be ideal for a musical performance.

“The oak trees around the bench form a natural auditorium. The tree trunks are like the pillars of a temple and the canopy formed by the branches above helps to create just the right acoustics.

“Anglers told me that sounds around the lake seem to be naturally amplified. When anglers acknowledge one another, their voices carry across the water, and they are right. It is a magical location to hear music.

“The start time for the concert is also very special. At 5.30pm the sun is just starting to set on the other side of the lake and the lighting and colours are beautiful, forming a fabulous backdrop for the musicians.”

After the sudden cancellation of last September’s concert because of a terrible weather forecast, Ilona has arranged for the concert to be switched to St Paul’s Church, Camlet Way, Hadley Wood, in the event of rain.

Ilona also has the support of the World Heart Beat Music Academy where she teaches singing and which helps with tasks such as amplification for the concert.

The Academy’s aim is to introduce classical music and jazz to communities in south London and her long-term aim is to raise sufficient money to pay for a scholarship.

“What I would like to do is find a sponsor who could help finance the concert and then we could use donations from the audience to assist charitable causes, such as the Monken Hadley Common Trust, and establish a scholarship for a young musician unable to pay for tuition.

“Sponsorship would provide the guarantee I need to invite world class musicians and give our local community a taste of that magical combination of nature and music at an open-air concert.”

Ilona’s journey to New Barnet – where her son is a pupil at JCoSS, the Jewish Community Secondary School – is also of note.

She was born in St Petersburg in Russia (her father is Ukranian) and they moved to Israel when she was 13. Aged 21, she came to London on a scholarship at the Royal College of Music where she trained as an opera singer.

She has performed with various orchestras including English National Opera, BBC Concert Orchestra, and Scottish National Symphony Orchestra.

Her next professional appearance is a Wigmore Hall recital on 30 September.