Talking with singers: Rachel Willis-Sørensen

Interview

"I used to think that you can be exactly yourself, but what I have learned is that not everyone deserves to see you that way. Your family and close friends and some trusted colleagues can see you how you are, but it is ok to present more a guarded version of yourself until you find who is trustworthy."

Check out: New Opera West

Interview

"The strength of any given piece is usually revealed fairly early in the process. Even a first run-through can indicate whether something is going to work or not."

Talking with singers: Erin Wall

Interview

"It's fairly extreme in its demands, and Massenet saved some of the hardest writing for the very end - the duet which closes the opera builds to two high Ds! It requires the singer to finesse a pianissimo one minute, and then have a huge fortissimo outburst over full orchestra the next!"

"A grandiose spectacle" in Another Brick in the Wall: The Opera

Interview

"The show itself is a grandiose spectacle indicative of traditional opera productions, but more importantly the score written by Julien Bilodeau is incredibly rich, beautiful, impressive and clever."

Talking with composers: Victoria Bond

Interview

"I am quite certain that most people have no idea of what goes into composing. It is generally not accurately portrayed in film, and so much of it is not at all exciting to watch. However, discovering a new idea, a turn of phrase, an unexpected harmony – these are the precious moments a composer lives for!"

Talking with singers: Douglas Williams

Interview

"At the moment I'm thinking of a project where I can bring singing and nature together. Probably a video. Probably somewhere in Nevada. Maybe text by Robinson Jeffers. Maybe music by me."

Operatic journeys: MassOpera presents Freedom Ride

Interview

"I hope that the audience members will see themselves in the characters on stage, that they will be moved and inspired by the stories those characters tell, and will come away reflecting on how those stories relate to our world today."

Talking with singers: Michelle Bradley

Interview

"The hard part is when I lock myself in a room and go over the score, figure out who the character is, make sure I get every pianissimo and forte, and accent and legato. When I come here, it's already engrained in me. I can just go where the director tells me to go."

Talking with conductors: Enrique Mazzola

Interview

"Luisa is a character totally surrounded by men who, in that time, control her life. But her father speaks up for her. This makes me think, 'Bravo, Giuseppe! You are speaking about important things for your time.'"

Talking with singers: Rowan Pierce

Interview

"To sing professionally brings with it a responsibility to create a parallel world for people to get lost in when every day life needs something else, or to provide people with an outlet for their emotions, sometimes even when they don't realise they need one!"