Sing Français

Join Ellie and her latest guest for the final episode of season 1! The girls work on Micaela's aria from Carmen, discussing character choices as well as closed Es and rolled Rs. In this episode we also learn about Hannah and Ellie's favourite opera scene at music college, which just happened to be in French! Find out about young singers experiences of learning new reperto

Join Ellie and Florence for episode 7 of Sing Français! As a self proclaimed french avoider, Flo takes on feedback regarding closed E and nazale vowels and takes strides towards fabulous French. In this episode the girls discuss the rollercoaster of learning languages at college and why it's so important for performance. We learn about Flo's journey towards a career in s

We delve into Tudor history with this performance of 'Reine je Serai Reine' from Saint-Saëns' opera, Henry VIII. Soprano Katie Blackwell introduces us to this fantastic piece with some lovely French pronunciation. The girls discuss nazale vowels, and the big debate on vowel modification inn the upper register! Enjoy a fun filled, energetic episode with this fantasti

For Sing Français episode 5 Ellie hosts tenor Rob Lydon to work on 'Bleuet' by Poulenc. They discuss the consonants R and T in French while exploring this gorgeous and tragic text. For the first time on the podcast we discuss liaisons and explain how to deal with them while singing verses while speaking the language. Learn about Rob's text driven method of preparing

Soprano guest Eleanor Rosser-Smyth introduces us to the first aria of the season, 'Je Veux Vivre' from Gounod's Roméo et Juliette. While working on this showstopper piece, the girls discuss the importance of bright vowels in French as well as everyone's favourite, nazales! Learn about Eleanor's journey from first picking up a new piece to performance, and

Mezzo soprano Helen introduces us to 'Paysage' and 'La Maison', both taken from Messiaen's cycle, 'Poèmes pour Mi'. Ellie learns about Helen's journey towards professional performance, and how she currently prepares her music, including word for word translations! They focus on closed E sound and our favourite French nazales.@singfrancais@he

Ellie and baritone Niall delve into 'Vaisseaux, nous vous aurons aimés' from Fauré's cycle, l'Horizon chimérique. They reflect on the song's historical context and it's resulting subtext alongside pronunciation work on French 'ooo' sounds. They also discuss paths to performance and how impressions made as a child can grow into a career.@ni

Ellie hosts her first guest, soprano Kerry Firth. They discuss the unique beauty and colours accessible within French music as well as the challenges. Learn about Kerry as a singer and how she prepares her music for performance, also enjoy her performance of l'Ile Inconnue by Berlioz.@singfrancais@_lifewithkerry@eleanorkempmezzo