Rebecca Leggett

‘After taking part in Knight Crew I joined one of the GYO groups about a year after.’

‘There are far too many! However, one of the most memorable will have to be walking onto the stage for the very first time. It suddenly hits you that if you want the people at the very back of the auditorium to understand what the hell you’re doing onstage then you’ve got to project and perform on a whole new level. Also, the warm-up games were always a highlight.’

‘Since leaving GYO in 2014, I started studying at Trinity Laban Conservatoire in London and became a choral scholar at the Old Royal Naval College Chapel. During that time I was understudying Flora in Britten’s The Turn of the Screw for Glyndebourne Tour and that summer I went to Italy and performed the role for Opera di Firenze. At Trinity I won the Elisabeth Schumann Lieder Competition with pianist Ashley Beauchamp, who is often a repetiteur for GYO, and was also a finalist at the Junior Kathleen Ferrier Award. This year I’m looking forward to my time in Genesis Sixteen with Harry Christopher and working on my vocal technique and performance with my teacher Alison Wells.’

‘I gained a real grasp of good rehearsal etiquette and productivity which has always stayed with me; I try to bring it to every rehearsal whether it’s a full-scale opera or a one to one lesson. I also learnt about the enormous sense of community and inclusion that opera brings to a group of people. You all get the feeling that you are part of something wonderfully epic together.’

‘World class.’

‘You won’t regret it. You really have nothing to lose because if even just a tiny part of you loves performing then an education project will build upon that and enhance your abilities. You meet a lot of new faces and make friends with people who you might not usually mingle with in day to day life; that’s half the fun of the experience.’

Information collected 06/09/16