Singing in a choir introduces thousands of people to wonderful music and provides friendship, structure and the pleasure of making music together. Many singers spend a lifetime enjoying exactly that. There is something deeply satisfying about being part of a larger sound, contributing your own voice to something that no one person could create alone.

But what if you find yourself wanting a little more?

Not more commitment. Not necessarily more performing. Just a deeper involvement, a discovery from within the music itself - and the workings of and connection with your own voice.

I think this is one of the reasons singing workshops, summer schools, and study weekends continue to hold such appeal. They create opportunities to step a little closer to the repertoire we love. To spend time with music in a different way. To listen. To observe. To have a go.

I have sat in enough workshop rooms to know that some of the most memorable moments happen when a singer decides to take that step. ...

There’s something irreplaceable about staying actively involved as a singer, even after years of experience. Whether it’s through workshops, choirs, study weekends or online sessions, singers grow most when they keep using their voices in real situations, with real people and real music. That ongoing engagement is at the heart of everything I do creatively through The Voice School, and it’s also the theme of my recent reflection, A Singer Among Singers, which you can read in full on my Substack, A Classical Singer's Path.

Why ongoing involvement matters

Many adult classical singers reach a stage where they already understand a great deal about vocal technique, but real progress often begins again when they step back into musical environments that challenge and inspire them. Singing is physical, emotional and communal; it isn’t something that can be fully grasped in isolation. Through The Voice School, I’ve created spaces where singers can explore that connection — balancing techni...

I originally devised the series of Voice-works Study Weekends to kickstart the academic year of 2024. We began with Eight English Greats. Since then, we’ve explored The Origins of Opera, Oratorio and Song, and spent time with Eight French Greats.

My intention has always been to build a more detailed map of vocal repertoire possibilities — and to show how helpful a clear theme can be. It gives focus, a framework, and invites curiosity. And now, as I look ahead to a new year, it feels the perfect moment to turn my attention across the Atlantic, to the New World, and to delve into Eight American Greats.

America’s vocal tradition is younger than ours. That is part of the appeal. There’s less inherited weight and more room for a mix of influences. Classical technique sits alongside the theatre. Jazz rubs shoulders with art song. Operatic writing is there too, but it often carries a different kind of storytelling. I find that fascinating. It changes how you sing, how you phrase, how you li...

Voice-Works Summer Study Weekend 2025
10th–11th May
Location: Chandler's Ford, Hampshire, UK

Setting the scene

The late 19th and early 20th centuries saw an extraordinary flowering of French vocal music, with composers navigating the shifting landscapes of Romanticism, Impressionism, and Modernism. Many of these figures crossed paths, influencing one another’s work, drawing inspiration from shared literary sources, and sometimes even studying under the same teachers. Their English contemporaries—Stanford, Elgar, Vaughan Williams, and others—were similarly engaged in defining a national identity in song, yet the French approach remained distinct in its sensuality, clarity of line, and connection to poetry.

During the study weekend, we will explore the music of 8 great French composers, carefully selected for their impact on both mélodie and opera. Fauré, Debussy, and Ravel each shaped the evolution of French art song, while contemporaries like Massenet and Poulenc moved effortlessly be...