Who or what have been the most important influences on your musical life and career?I was something of a surprise to a thoroughly non-musical family so my first singing heroes came from the world of TV and musical theatre; Michael Crawford, Michael Ball and particularly Harry Secombe. It wasn’t until I found myself at university – a second-rate pianist being nudged towards the vocal department – that I began to take my own voice seriously. I was taken in hand by an excellent teacher and found inspiration from the absolutely wonderful recordings of Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau.
What have been the greatest challenges of your career so far?At 32 my career is barely begun but the biggest influence across all the branches of my career is my membership of the BBC Singers. I’ve been a part of the ensemble for 8 years and I most certainly would not be the musician I am today without that experience. When I joined the group I was in no way prepared for what would be expected of me day in day out. The great beauty of the group though, is that it is the vessel in which is contained a near-century of experience and expertise and I found myself surrounded by older colleagues who have taught me by their own example just about everything I know today. As a singer, as a conductor and as a composer I have been shaped by the BBC Singers.
As a non-singer turned cutting-edge contemporary choral musician I suppose getting over the horror of sight-singing was a big hurdle. These days I think I’m probably as able a sight-singer as most.
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