Way back in 2018, this was my second production with Opera Ballet Vlaanderen. I had to learn the whole thing quickly and thoroughly at home because I was joining the production late (they had already started working on it for months before I joined the company). But - we only performed it in one of our cities, Gent! This time, in 2023, we are performing only in Antwerp to equalise the balance. It was much easier for me this time as I already knew the show, music and staging - but it is certainly not an easy show by any means. This was one of my favourite operas I have ever had the privilege to be apart of.

Here is a photo with me posing with an image of me from the show that was printed on the side of the Opera House by the stage door! They blew up the photo to be larger than life size!

When you first learn to sing, the fundamental thing to focus on at first is… breathing. I don’t consider myself just a professional singer, I am a professional breather! And that is why my industry had so many problems during the Covid-19 pandemic (but that’s a story for another post). 


When a child is born, they instinctively know how to breathe fully into the whole of their lungs. A baby can cry safely and never lose it’s voice. It’s body widens and contracts with each breath the way that an accordion works, or the bellows by a fire, by consuming the air rapidly, silently and deeply, and then creating the perfect amount of resistance to control it’s steady release.
Yet somehow, as we grow into adults, we forget how to breathe with our full capacity. We practice shallow and restricted breathing. We stop yelling and crying like babies, and then we lose the ability to use our bodies in a similar manner. But worse, as we grow older, we learn bad habits such as restrictive tensions, or poor posture that inhibit our breath functionality.


Learning to sing as an adult is all about relearning how to use your body again in it’s most freeing way. Releasing those hunched shoulders that have become a permanent fixture due to the many, many hours you have been forced to sit at a desk. Our bodies need reprogramming! But with a good singing teacher, it is certainly achievable, and once you find it again, it feels so liberating.


If you are interested in having singing lessons with me to really find out about how we can apply good breathing technique for singing to you specifically, then please get in touch via my contact page. As a singing teacher, I love to focus on good singing technique. Together we can work on a myriad of singing exercises to promote an easier and more beautiful sound. I teach in person singing lessons in the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire (South Bucks), London area (close to an Elizabeth Line TFL station), or virtual online lessons straight to your computer or phone screen wherever you are in the world!