Can you run us through how your relationship with Opera Holland Park began?
I was in my second year of undergraduate at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, which is now the RCS. At the time, we had lots of visiting directors into the conservatoire, and one of those directors was Martin Lloyd-Evans (who has directed for Opera Holland Park since 2002). He was amazing and I instantly got on well with him, but was really just inspired by how personable he was.
I was obsessed with trying to start a career in opera, so I wrote to everyone on behalf of my best friend Doug and me. We got an offer from Holland Park to come and audition for the chorus. This would have been in 2006. And very out of the blue, my mother passed away very suddenly and I couldn’t make it to the audition. I was 22.
Doug went in, sang his bit and apologised for me. He told Opera Holland Park what had happened, and that I’d like to be considered in the future for an audition. Martin Lloyd-Evans was on the panel and said to James, ‘I’ve worked with this guy’ and vouched for me. James offered me a shot without hearing me; he puts so much focus on trusting his colleagues, and so he trusted Martin enough. But it was that opportunity that kick-started everything for me. In addition to it being a career starter, I think it also really helped me personally.
So you started out as a singer? What got you into conducting?
I knew I wanted to conduct. It started with my time in the National Youth Choir that I was in from age 12. I was totally inspired by the conductors there and then became inspired by all conductors. They’re very good at nurturing young leaders, just like OHP are. Then ENO took a punt on me and asked me to do Chorus Master for a season there, which was amazing.
And it was around that time that I knocked on James’s door again and said, ‘Listen, I’m no longer singing. I’m doing the other stuff – do you need me? Is there anything I can do?’. James is very keen to honour loyalty and just make things happen. I came in as music staff for La traviata (which is returning for the Opera Holland Park 2025 Season), and then was asked if I would consider being Chorus Master. So I came back, and haven’t stopped.
It feels like every time I come to Opera Holland Park, it feels like I’m home – that’s the cheesiest thing ever, but it really does. OHP gave me the first professional experience I ever had.
How would you describe your conducting style?
I feel at home at the two extremes. I love early vocal music and early opera. And I also love brand-new things and 20th century compositions, whether they be choral or operatic. So I think that has informed my style.
I remember the first big orchestra I conducted was BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, and I was so nervous. The leader took me aside in the break and said, ‘Listen, we don’t care about anything else other than your upbeat’. And that has stayed with me.
So I try to be as clear as possible and make sure that I’m being part of it. I’ve worked with a lot of conductors who come in, don’t even speak to the chorus or orchestra and just go through the motions. And that’s just so depressing to be part of, so I really do try to be a team player. I try and breathe with people. I’m sure James would describe me as energetic!
You have shown commitment to new work, and have conducted a plethora of highly acclaimed world premieres, such as Oliver Searle’s Pride, Poverty and Pianos for BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra. What do you find are the differences in approaching new work and more classic works of earlier periods?
I get so excited when I know that it’s brand new. So it’s a different kind of pressure, but however hard it is, I find that very exciting. I think with new opera, and certainly if your composer is in the room with you, it’s about really embracing the collaboration. Whereas with established works, I think it’s about respect, but also not fearing your own interpretation. We’ve done some really interesting things with Opera Holland Park; if you’ve got a very collaborative conductor, which at Opera Holland Park we normally always do, you have the opportunity to say, ‘Shall we do this differently?’.
What, do you find, is the difference between choral conducting and being a chorus master in opera?
That’s a great question. Choral conducting is, firstly, a team game between you and the chorus. There’s loads of different plates to spin. You can be very prescriptive, but also you can really push them.
With chorus mastering, I love the cog that I am. I love the fact that it’s not about autonomy or a power trip. I was an opera singer in the chorus, in lots of choruses, and so I have a real sense of compassion and understanding. It requires loads of patience, and strength sometimes – be it strength with a director saying look, this just isn’t going to work because they’re upstage for too long, or they’re out of breath. I think it’s about constantly focusing on teamwork.
You will be conducting Verdi’s Quattro pezzi sacri on the 27th February with the OHP Chorus. What interests you about these pieces?
What interests me about them is that firstly, they’re very rarely performed. Typical James, going for the unusual and the enticing. I’ve seen the reaction online that people are really excited and are travelling to it, which is great. I think City of London Sinfonia will really come into their own.
It’s going to be new ground, but really, you know, it’s Verdi, so it’s like getting into a Rolls Royce! Then in the first half, these lovely spatterings of arias…I’m really looking forward to doing something so unusual. I think the venue is very good for it, I’m excited to really focus on drawing out the best from the orchestra. I think it’s going to be really special.
Verdi reportedly loved the Te Deum best of the four works; do you have a favourite, and why?
I do. Te Deum as well. I think it packs it. No, wait – maybe the Stabat Mater! I think the start of the Stabat Mater is really, really powerful and very dramatic. I think I like it in particular because it shows off something that he does so well for choruses, which is just write wonderfully within the confines of their own voices. He understands tessitura and positioning wonderfully.
But doesn’t that show his own kind of success, because these were composed right at the end of his life, that actually these four pieces were standalone. I’d love to see some operas coming out with choruses now, new operas with choruses that were so strong on their own that they could be performed individually. That doesn’t happen anymore, you know, the old ones are the good ones.
Is there an opera that you haven’t yet worked on that you would like to?
I never did Faust in its entirety. I’d like to do it just because the writing’s amazing and it feels very different to his others. It’s such a hallmark. And vocally, again, it’s really, really strong. I would like to do Jonathan Dove’s Flight. And I’d love to do some more French stuff. Some Pelléas et Mélisande would be amazing.
What are you looking forward to in the 2025 Season?
Oh my goodness, are you kidding?! I’m looking forward to being even the smallest part, I would honestly be working front of house if I wasn’t chorus mastering The Flying Dutchman. It was the first thing I ever did at the ROH, it’s such a huge departure for Holland Park. The cast is epic, and the organisation has been next level because it’s such a juggernaut logistically, let alone musically. We’re doing what OHP does best, which is putting our stamp on it and proving that it can be done.
What do you find is distinctive about the OHP Chorus?
That’s quite easy: their work ethic. It’s faultless.
And the sound that they create and uphold gets better and better every year. When we have our music calls, their core sound is so remarkable, bearing in mind they don’t sing together all year round. They understand that it is possible to be an opera singer and still retain ensemble cohesion. It’s really, really exciting for me that they take that bit seriously. It’s a terrific sound every time I hear them.
What is a piece of advice, musical or otherwise, that has stayed with you?
A bit of musical advice that stayed with me is that when you are really, really up against it, when you’re stressed and exhausted and taking things too seriously, to remember that it is just live performance and no one’s going to die. That really keeps me grounded, you know? And I think that you can be in the most intense environment at the really high profile, pressurised experience and then just realise that actually you’re doing what you love.
Verdi’s Quattro pezzi sacri will be performed on 27 February 2025 at Holy Trinity, Sloane Street. Tickets are on sale here.
Interview by Holly Bancroft.
