Pianist Francesca Lauri and mezzo-soprano Ellen Pearson both took part in this year’s Britten Pears Young Artist Programme and here they share their experiences from the French Song and Mélodie course.

“We are Francesca Lauri and Ellen Pearson and we felt very privileged to participate in the Britten Pears Young Artist French Song & Mélodies Course alongside many talented colleagues and coached by esteemed tutors Véronique Gens, Susan Manoff and Audrey Hyland.

We grew up listening to and watching the performances of Véronique and Susan, so we found the opportunity to meet and learn from our icons unbelievably exciting. They lived up to our every possible expectation! Not only were they kind, insightful and encouraging, but they also shared many candid thoughts on their experiences of the industry including life as touring artists as well as self-confidence and how to tackle nerves.

Our week began with introductions to all our talented colleagues on the course and a chance to watch all the duos perform together (some for the very first time!). The wonderful variety of French Song performed on that first day excited us about spending time amongst people who share the same passion for French music.

Then, Veronique and Susan’s coaching began! Very luckily, all the coachings were open for everyone to observe so that we could learn from and be inspired constantly by other people’s sessions as well as our own.

We enjoyed coachings with both Véronique and Susan together as well as separate sessions with them. In these sessions, we were encouraged to bring a variety of repertoire, including lesser performed composers such as Chaminade and Boulanger. Véronique and Susan then explored details such as language, subtext, history, expression, colour and much more.

As a duo, we gained more confidence and authenticity in our performance of the French Song repertoire. Véronique and Susan’s coaching allowed us to develop more detailed, nuanced and idiomatic French pronunciation, encouraged us to experiment with the various expressive colours of each French Melodie and gave us vocal and expressive skills that we can and will implement in other vocal styles.

As well as journeying through the magic of this repertoire, the pianists had a chance to gain knowledge in the art of vocal coaching with Audrey Hyland. These sessions involved learning a variety of skills such as conducting and sightreading recitatives and arias, coaching singers from the piano as well as the podium, and using our knowledge of languages and vocal repertoire to give the singers our helpful insights. These classes were incredibly inspiring because Audrey’s expertise, kindness and encouragement gave us the confidence to believe in our opinions and to follow our instincts as musicians and as collaborators.

Later in the week, we had the wonderful opportunity to visit the Red House, where Benjamin Britten and Peter Pears lived together. Not only was the Red House stunningly beautiful and well-preserved, but it also enriched our understanding of Britten as a composer and Pears as a performer. It was a feast for the eyes – the walls were generously covered in colourful paintings, illustrations and so much more! From their TV to the recorders they played for their amateur Music Club, every item in the house held so much meaning and the descriptions of Britten and Pears’ life by our tour guide brought the house to life. We felt very inspired and excited by seeing the creative space in which this powerful duo flourished.

After two intense days in which every duo had the opportunity to perform in a public masterclass with both Véronique Gens and Susan Manoff, the time had come for us to perform in our end of course showcase! Such a wonderful, varied selection of French Melodie was presented by us and all of our talented colleagues. It was an emotional and gratifying experience to see the huge impact of all the hard work put in by the Young Artists throughout the week.

Our time spent at Snape Maltings was an unforgettable experience that we will take with us throughout our journey and careers as a duo. Our passion for Melodie has only deepened and flourished since the course, and we feel grateful to have been given the opportunity to explore this art form and experiment in such a safe environment with musicians who have dedicated their lives to song. We could not have asked for more from this experience and are thankful to the whole team at Britten Pears for their support in our musical paths.”

Find out more about Francesca Lauri and Ellen Pearson or explore the Britten Pears Young Artist Programme.