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The most obvious answer to this is that English is my (only fluent) language, my mother-tongue and most of the recital work throughout my career has been based in Great Britain or other English-speaking countries. There’s nothing quite like singing art song to an audience who understand the text in real time (and I very much enjoy singing German Lieder to German-speaking audiences and French mélodie to French audiences). In the end, it’s all about telling stories and stories work at their best without the compromise of the audience having to read translations or simply not understanding every word, every nuance of meaning.

On top of that, as an occasional composer of song myself, I have observe and try to learn from the very best how to set the English language – Purcell, Britten, Finzi, Ireland and so on – and this has informed not only how I write my own songs but how I sing other composers’ music. In fact, I have been learning ever since my childhood as a singer how to explore and understand poetry through music.

Having been personally requested by previous participants of the Young Artist Programme, we are thrilled to present you as a Masterclass leader. What makes these types of platforms so valuable for developing, early-career duos?

I like to remind both students and audience during open, public workshops that there is no better place to practise the art of performance than on stage in front of people. Musicians learn a great deal during their individual lessons and coachings, that’s for sure, but what is it all for if not to perform to an audience? And there is no other way to replicate an audience than by inviting people to come and listen. I love a workshop atmosphere because students can present the repertoire they have learned more than once, they can stop and start, they can discuss all manner of details or ask questions both of me as teacher/experienced colleague and also of the audience, the people to whom they will ultimately be performing in their future careers.

You perform across a range of genres on the concert stage and in recital, but what are some of the challenges and dynamics unique to the genre of song that you find rewarding?

I think it is fair to say that Classical Music is something of a niche art form. We’re all of us engaged in widening its reach but still, for many people in general terms, it is still considered niche. Within that, singing is a niche within itself (you only need to look at classical music streaming stations to see how the algorithms that choose content tend to avoid singers and singing). Within that niche-within-a-niche, Art Song is an even smaller niche; for most people, Classical Singing means opera arias. So by the time we find ourselves considering Western Classical Art Song, we are talking about a niche so specific that it’s a wonder anyone wants to know about it at all!

I spend time outlining where art song sits in the general scheme of things because those who enjoy presenting it to the public do so for a reason; the material is so rewarding. The expression of the human condition through song is kind of fundamental to our existence. So, speaking personally, I find the appeal of this particular genre (about which I spend such much time evangelising) is in its breadth of subject matter, of emotion, of lived experience and of fantasy and imagination. I don’t think that’s being naïvely hyperbolic; I think that is why art song matters now as much as it ever did.

It's worth admitting that the (financial) rewards are not great, when compared with a career in opera. The amount of time required to prepare a full recital programme is not repaid at the bank. A duo partnership needs to have a great deal of confidence in their instincts in order to take the stage and forge a career in this field. They won’t have a conductor or opera director to help shape them from the outside. It is a long road and the support from promoters tends to come only once one has made a success of it already. Fortunately there are several places where younger artists can go to learn and practise their trade, receive encouragement and attract the attention of the public and future promoters. Events such as this by SongEasel are crucial in nurturing the future for song enthusiasts.

Which song (or collection of songs) in your programme, The Land of Lost Content, do you enjoy singing the most, and why?

That’s an unfair question; it’s like asking me to choose between my children! I enjoy singing the repertoire in my programmes equally although for different reasons; if there were material I didn’t enjoy so much, then it shouldn’t really belong in the recital.

I enjoy singing the Butterworth Shropshire Lad songs because I have sung them so many times, they feel like old friends. I can rely on them; people enjoy hearing them no matter how many times I sing them. On the other hand, I will be singing Grant McLachlan’s songs for the first time so they have the opposite appeal, the appeal of the new. I enjoy Harry Burleigh’s songs because I was delighted to discover such persuasive music from a composer of colour of whom I knew nothing until fairly recently. His input helps me to redress an imbalance in my own programming and does so with style. Likewise, I enjoy including music by female composers for the same reason, introducing into my repertoire songs that ought to be absolute standard classics, such as Rebecca Clarke’s The Sealman. And I enjoy contrasting Butterworth’s setting of AE Housman with that by Arthur Somervell’s, perhaps less well-known but, as the first composer to set Housman, hugely important.

I hope there will be something for everybody in this programme.