Gothenburg Opera & Vocal Studio

Professional mentoring,

Vocal + Stagecraft Coaching + Masterclasses 

It's clear that what we lack today are mentors for young artists in an industry that is increasingly politicised, controlled and manipulated against young artists. Why you may ask? Young artists leave a college or conservatoire after many years of training into a completely or largely unsupported industry with no more than a singing teacher to rely on. If you compare this to athletes who train for the Olympics and also represent the country, they will be offered motivational coaches, support coaches, physical coaches, and a whole team around them allowing them to develop to the best of their abilities in order to perfrom to their best. Most young artists represent their country in the same way in international auditions and competitions the same as an athlete does, and in the same way, they are vocal athletes. They train intensely and for many many years. However, obviously there is a difference between a singer who has trained for more than 6 years at a royal conservatory in comparison to one who has gone into a musical college for one year and comes out calling themselves an opera singer. It is a responsibility of the institutions employing young singers to maintain standards and uphold excellence and pride in the artform. In my opinion they are failing. For the same reason that it is called an art form, and not just "singing" or "music". Opera is an art form not just because it brings together many different different aspects of the creative arts but because it is also a display of the highest levels of vocal athletics and interpretation. To what extent politicians play a part in repressing the ability for artists to be creative and therefore think independently is debatable, but it is clear and transparent. How therefore does the young artist navigate the arts having left a college or conservatory into a fully freelance business with no knowledge of how to run a business, tax, or economic pitfalls; the shark pit of the agency world some of whom are genuine and want to help their young artists and others who play games in order to remove them from the workpool so that their other artists can advance more quickly. It is not uncommon for an artist to be manipulated not just because companies or agents know they are cheap and naive, but also because it is so easy to do. Artists, musicians, singers, are generally well educated, intelligent and broadminded people. Of course this is exactly what politicians and governments would like to avoid because it invites criticism especially if you're able to command respect from a large group of people. 20 years ago I had the fortunate position of studying with Dame Kiri Te Kanawa at the Georg Solti Academia in Italy. She told me then that in order to advance in her career she needed the support of around six major artists which included directors and conductors and she advised me that for my generation it might be more like 20. So where are we in 2024? We are the point where the industry is saturated with career teachers and underdeveloped vocal athletes. Hundreds of musicians being pumped out of colleges on a regular basis into an industry that cannot support them, so what do they do? Well one solution is of course teaching but then you have to question what they are teaching if they have never figured out how to do it themselves or been on a major stage in a lead role under immense pressure. Increasingly they are teachers in the industry teaching young singers with no knowledge of how to “build” a voice, how to develop a vocal athlete, or having been on stage themselves. They have never had to study, sweat and work on a roll under fierce criticism and a very small margin of error, and yet here we are in 2024 with conductors who think they can direct, directors who have no knowledge of the art form making assumptions that opera singers cannot act, have no knowledge of old school stagecraft and need to be fed everything on a plate because they're incapable of interpreting roles, and administrations who support hat view to keep control and prevent anyone from becoming a "diva". Well for some that may be the case but for others it definitely isn't especially if they spend years studying and interpreting everything from Shakespeare to Austen and musically working on hundreds of composers from Palestrina to Puccini, spending years studying the tips and tricks of stage make up, of stagecraft, stage fighting, how to find your lights, terminology, only to end up in an Opera House being run by administrators who have never been on a stage and never studied any of these sides of the art form and yet they are dictating how singers, or if singers, will ever have a career. There is a huge failure in the lack of support for singers who could be world class vocal athletes, lacking mentorship, and who struggle through the industry going to teacher after teacher or simply learning things that are not that relevant to their development, taking on roles that they should probably not be singing or doing too much too soon because the people guiding them do not know the difference between the role they're singing versus the fach of their voice, versus the size of the theatre and orchestra. It is clear that in 2024 graduates or even advanced singers don’t need a random vocal coach or singing teacher, but a mentor who has been in the industry, gained decades of experience, someone who can guide them through the industry, know the pitfalls of the roles they are studying and can advise them what to do next, but most of all how not to show weakness while navigating the ladder of the art form. Being able to develop at the right pace while being able to support themselves and recognising the people, institutions, or companies in the industry that might be trying to take advantage of them to their detriment, while maximising opportunities is vital. After 40 years at some of the highest levels of the professional music industry, in opera houses, cathedrals concert halls, television, radio, recording studios and arenas, the Gothenburg Opera Studio is able to mentor a young artist or even an experienced artist with advice and knowledge to help them advance within the field of opera, musical theatre or the music industry as a whole.