Guy Elliott, tenor

Who or what inspired you to pursue a career in music and who or what have been the most important influences on your musical life and career?

I don’t come from a musical family, so I first found music at school. I have always loved singing and was lucky enough to have some brilliant music teachers right through from infant school to sixth form college. Outside of school, I sang in choirs and ensembles which I loved and had lots of experiences which I still draw on in my career today. It is a travesty that there have been so many cuts to school music making in recent years. Without early experiences of music in school, I don’t know if I’d ever have found my people or a career that suited me.

I was never cut out to be a professional violinist, but I studied the violin throughout school and my teacher Charlotte Edwards had a huge impact on me as a young musician. We’re still in touch now and I’m so grateful to her for her gentle guidance, her support and for the huge amount of fun I had learning with her throughout my childhood.

What have been the greatest challenges of your career so far?

No career in the arts exists without challenges. I think one major challenge for lots of musicians, especially following the pandemic, is a financial one. Performance fees for classical singers have largely stagnated in the UK, and with the rise in living costs the buying power of many people’s salaries has gone down. I feel fortunate that I am able to sing full time for a living, but there are lots of hidden costs to it and a lot of demands on your time that are unpaid.

I think anyone who is managing to navigate the industry in the current climate alongside the pressures of everyday life is nothing short of a hero.

Which performances/recordings are you most proud of?

Pride is an interesting concept to explore in music, as for me it asks the question ‘why do we do what we do?’ There are many performances that I remember with a sense of pride for different reasons, but there are two that stand out.

I sang in a double bill of Bernstein’s Trouble in Tahiti and A Quiet Place at the Linbury Theatre at the Royal Opera House last year. It was the first time that the Royal Opera has staged a production of works by Bernstein, which felt cool to be a part of. I sang in the jazz trio in Trouble in Tahiti with two friends who I studied with, Kirsty Mclean and Peter Edge. The show was challenging in lots of ways and I was proud of the contribution that we made to it, alongside an absolutely stellar cast.

If I had to pick one show, however, that I’m the most proud of, I’d go back to my first professional opera contract. It was a tour of an opera called Waxwings with English Touring Opera. The show was written for children and adults with special educational needs and we visited schools across the UK and also performed it at a residency at the Philharmonie in Luxembourg. This was the best start to working in the industry that I could have hoped for and demonstrated so clearly to me that music can, and should, be a force for good in the world.

Which particular works/composers do you think you perform best?

As a singer, you have to have an awareness of the the music that your voice suits best. I’m a light lyric tenor and can turn my hand to lots of different styles, but I have a passion for early music and music of the 20th and 21st centuries. One aspect of being a singer that I love is the variety that you can have at work. I’ve performed music from Monteverdi to Mozart, Stravinsky to Stockhausen, and lots in between. I wouldn’t have it any other way.

How do you make your repertoire choices from season to season?

I’d love to have a very artsy, high-brow answer to this question but I’m reminded of the old adage ‘beggars can’t be choosers.’ I wouldn’t say that classical singers are beggars exactly, but you have to take the work that is offered to you. I feel lucky that most of the opportunities I am offered are things that I find interesting and artistically fulfilling, but it isn’t always the case. When I get the chance to programme repertoire myself for a recital or something similar, I’m guided by my heart rather than my head. I ask myself what I really want to sing at that moment in time and programme around that.

Do you have a favourite venue to perform in and why?

It has to be the Wigmore Hall, I think it is a jewel in the crown of the music scene in London, and it feels like a very special place to perform. THAT ACOUSTIC.

What do you do off stage that provides inspiration on stage?

I’m an email volunteer for Switchboard, the UK’s national LGBTQIA+ support line. It is an immensely rewarding thing to do even though it can be challenging at times. Volunteering by email keeps me connected to a sense of community and is a real grounding force in my life, especially if I am working away from home.

What is your most memorable concert experience?

This is a silly one. A few years ago I was performing in the premiere of a new opera ‘Paysage Dans L’Oubli’ by Olivier Dhénin Hữu and Benjamin Attahir in Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam). Towards the end of Act One, I had a duet with my lovely colleague Anne-Marine Suire. On opening night, we had a few bars of the duet left to go as we heard the curtain coming in at speed from either side of the stage. With no time to move, we ended up stuck in the middle of the curtain as we finished the number. Everyone thought it was part of the staging and it made for a fun production photo.

As a musician, what is your definition of success?

Success is such a personal thing. For me, I think a successful musician is a happy musician, whether they are a professional working at the highest level in the world or an enthusiastic amateur. If I am able to enjoy my life, show up for my family and friends, and keep investing in music as a force for good in whatever capacity, then I’ll feel successful.

What do you feel needs to be done to grow classical music’s audiences?

The most obvious answer to this is more music in schools. There is a huge disparity between different schools’ music provision, and a lot of music education relies on teachers going above and beyond to provide opportunities for their students. We never really had classical music on at home, yet I fell in love with it at school, and I feel lucky to have had that opportunity.

At the other end of the spectrum, we need to continue funding and supporting music making at the highest professional level in the UK. In sports the word ‘elite’ has positive connotations, to be an ‘elite athlete’ is something to be aspired to. In the arts, especially in classical music, I think the word is viewed much more negatively and is tied to ideas of elitism and exclusivity. A lot of public funding is rightly being diverted to grassroots music making, but this can sometimes come at the expense of our top level cultural institutions. Without these, prospective new audience members will be robbed of the chance to experience classical
music at it’s best.

Classical music in the UK will face an existential threat if funding continues to decrease in step with declining audience numbers. I think there is still time to stabilise this impending death spiral, but our cultural sector is in desperate need of strong leadership and long-term strategic planning.

What’s the one thing in the music industry we’re not talking about which you think we should be?

I think that fees are still a taboo subject. As an industry, we could benefit from greater transparency and accountability from companies about what people are paid, especially when funding is so scarce. Most musicians are self employed and fees are largely negotiated between companies and agents behind closed doors. I heard of a production in the last few years at company in the UK where the female leads were paid significantly less than their male counterparts for similar sized roles. It should not be possible for this sort of thing to happen in the UK today, but without transparency it is impossible to hold companies to account for their decisions.

What advice would you give to young or aspiring musicians?

Find what works for you. There are as many different types of career as there are musicians and it’s important to stay true to who you are and what you want from your music making. Work out what your definition of success is and engage with music on your own terms. Despite what you might be told at conservatoire, there are no right or wrong answers, and there is no such thing as failure.

What is your most treasured possession?

He’s not really a possession (…if anything he owns me!) but I have to say my cat Scout. He’s a rescue tabby who we’ve had since he was a kitten, and he brings me more joy than almost anything else in my life. I worried how a pet would fit in with mine and my partner’s careers because we both work away from home a lot, but it’s been easier than I anticipated. Scout has a small fan club who are always happy to look after him if we both happen to be away.

Guy Elliott performs in Benjamin Britten’s Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings, Op. 31 at this year’s Hertfordshire Festival of Music. Find out more

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