Last week, Michael Gibson sat down with David Gowland, Artistic Director of the Jette Parker Young Artists Programme at the Royal Opera House to discuss the art of song.

Read on to hear about the collaboration between pianist and singer, and the expression and poetry of the art form.

Michael Gibson:

My first question is, what are your feelings on the importance of song for a young developing singer? (Click the THE ART OF SONG headline to read on…)

January. Eugh!

That’s enough wallowing in self-pity for an entire year.  Instead, I’m hitting the ground running (no Truss-like slip ups for me). Or to be more accurate, I’m hitting the ground planking and squatting. Ok yes, I admit it, I did slightly overindulge at Christmas.

My plan is to complete a dual ‘Plank/Squat Challenge’ for January and, at the same time, raise funds for a cause somewhat branded on my heart – St Paul’s Opera.

When you’re studying singing, and when you start working professionally, it sometimes feels as if you’ll be a “promising young singer” forever. You feel like a child waiting to be invited to sit at the grownups table. Then one day, before you realise it, you start getting asked to give advice to “young singers” or to coach them and give masterclasses. You look in the mirror and feel like nothing’s changed, but somewhere along the line you’ve become one of the grownups.

We just couldn’t leave out hearing from our two pianists for the Gala tomorrow, so we listened in on a conversation between Genevieve Ellis, Deputy Chorus Master for the Royal Opera, and Panaretos Kyriatzidis, voice coach at Trinity Laban and Morley colleges and, of course, Musical Director for St Paul’s Opera. Between them they’ve been discussing their routes into the world of opera, what they love about their jobs, and a few thoughts about how that impacts personally.

David Shipley and I haven’t met before so it it’s fortuitous that our shared state of post-workout glow provides something of an ice-breaker. He confesses to having been on a run now that he’s back in his North London home having just returned from Glasgow and Edinburgh with Scottish Opera singing Nick Bottom in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. David tells me he lives within spitting distance of the Emirates Stadium, so I have to ask whether he’s an Arsenal fan (having been a Gooner my whole life) – more ice-breaking, here: “Well I can’t confess to being fanatic about the team, but I guess I’m more of a general sports fan. However, actually it’s F1 that really excites me, and I’m already pumped up for the start of the season,” admits David. OK, introductions made; let’s get stuck into some opera talk now!

Lauren Fagan and I haven’t met before, but I feel I know her, even just a little bit, having seen her sing Violetta on more than one occasion at Opera Holland Park. The performance that most hit home was the 2021 production. It’s true the say that the atmosphere was somewhat rarefied, given OHP had bent so far over backwards as to make the audience feel as if they had been personally invited to an intimate soirée performance of La Traviata thanks to the individual, socially distanced auditorium.

I wanted to ask Stephanie Wake-Edwards, one of the rising stars in our forthcoming fundraising Gala (March 24th), a few questions but I must admit I was a little nervous about pinning her down, knowing a little of her hectic schedule. But it’s true what they say, if you want something done, ask a busy person. Having sent Steph a few taster questions by email, she pinged one back to let me know she was due a break (from rehearsals at the Royal Opera House) at 5pm that day when we could do a Facetime chat.

In the run up to the David Butt Philip & Friends Gala on March 24th, SPO co-founder, Tricia Ninian, reflects on how David became such an inspiration to the Clapham based opera company.

So here we are, St Paul’s Opera has its first Patron. And at the outset of a key stage of our development, as we morph into an independent charity. You are so welcome, David Butt Philip.

In the process of getting to this stage, David and I have had a few conversations, as you’d imagine. And because of these conversations, I’ve discovered he’s somewhat of a foodie, which is personally very pleasing.

It’s an indisputable fact that the older the house, the greater the need for maintenance. It’s the same with the body.

And that’s why the seeds of this interview were, in fact, sown a few years back when I eventually got around to re-energising the lifeblood for my body that is Pilates. The name ‘Agur’ had become familiar as the go-to Pilates teacher in Clapham but little did I know at that stage how our paths would cross both professionally and through personal passions.

Sue Roberts shares her experiences of contributing to St Paul’s Opera productions as a member of the chorus…

We celebrate the success of our Figaro cast members that participated in the 2019 Britten-Pears Young Artist Programme…

Our new vicar describes the origins of his passion for opera…

Judith Strong charts the growth of the opera festival and heralds Clapham’s own contribution to the art form – St Paul’s Opera…

It’s always interesting to hear why a sponsor chooses to support the arts. CEO of ComparethePlatform, Bella Caridade-Ferreira, tells us why St Paul’s Opera is a good fit…