I grew up in Brentwood and Chelmsford, Essex, where I played the cello in Essex Youth Orchestras and sang in the Chelmsford Cathedral Consort for many years. I was drawn to languages and music, so I studied French and Russian at Cambridge. As part of my degree, I spent a very humbling year playing the cello at the St Petersburg Conservatoire. It was during those ten months that I became fascinated by opera. When I returned, I undertook work experience at the Royal Opera House, where I found myself translating for a Russian set designer. My first ‘gig’ in the world of opera was as Assistant Director and translator to Martin Duncan on his production of Prokofiev’s Betrothal in a Monastery in Toulouse and Paris. I worked as a Trainee Assistant Director/Interpreter at the Royal Opera House before returning to Cambridge, where I completed an MPhil in Russian Studies and tried my hand at opera directing.
I began my career at Welsh National Opera as the Nicholas John Dramaturg. During those three years in Cardiff, I immersed myself in the world of opera, giving pre-performance talks to audiences across Wales and England, translating surtitles and editing programmes for all productions. It was at WNO that I met Ralph Koltai, the set designer whose life story would then inspire a play which was workshopped at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, directed by Polly Graham. After a year working at the Royal College of Music as Chamber Music Manager, I became interested in writing and creating new opera, so studied for an MA in Opera-Making at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. I built up my freelance career, developing a portfolio of work which included creative projects like Six Songs of Melmoth, a song-cycle with music by Cheryl Frances-Hoad, commissioned by the Oxford Lieder Festival. During lockdown I wrote the text for ‘Nature is Returning’, a song with music by Joshua Borin, commissioned by Helen Charlston. Both of these works have enjoyed subsequent performances in music festivals and chamber venues across the UK.
Elsewhere, my writing has been performed by the Garsington Opera’s Alvarez Young Artists (Magic Flute and Don Giovanni dialogue), and the Royal Opera House’s Opera Dots workshop series. Excerpts from my play about Ralph Koltai, the late set designer and Kindertransportee, have been performed at the Linbury Theatre, Royal Opera House, the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, and The Other Room, Cardiff.
As a producer, writer, editor, podcast host, surtitler, and opera expert, I have worked for: the Royal Opera House, Longborough Opera, Garsington Opera, Welsh National Opera, Glyndebourne Opera, Opera North and others.
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