Opera was very important to me when I was a child, my parents were fans and would play recordings of Sutherland and Pavarotti often. I was just swept away by the tunes and visceral singing, which I would join in with, at pitch as loudly as I could.

As a young teenager I went to see a number of Scottish Opera productions in my home town of Newcastle, two of which made a huge impression on me, Candide by Bernstein- a barely comprehensible story, full of larger than life characters with music that fizzed like a firework, and Turandot by Puccini- reimagined to be set in a dictatorship somewhere in South America, it was gripping and made me cry. I was sold, I wanted to be an opera singer, and I was fortunate to be able to follow that path with support from my family and my music teacher at the comprehensive secondary school I attended.

Through my training and my career, opera has always had the same impact on me, moving me to be more engaged emotionally than any other artform. It physically takes hold of you and connects you to the story.

As a professional singer I took part in a number of productions that had an educational element, whether it was a performance for a certain group, or doing a workshop with a group of young people before they went to see a show. I was always struck by how positively they would engage with the music and stories, and also how familiar some of the music felt to them.

I wanted to create an opportunity for children to engage with opera in all of the positive ways I felt were possible, knowing that they would surely feel the way I did as a result.

With the support of my colleagues and board at Jackdaws, I created OperaPLUS. It covered all of the elements I felt were the most vital for maximum engagement, enjoyment and lasting impact.

First and most important, the children and young people had to take part in the opera, “sing at pitch and loudly” (well, actually at a suitable, adapted pitch and never louder than lovely, but you get the gist), it had to be a story told by them. A story that was adapted and made relevant but with the sound world, textural richness and complexity of the genre preserved, so that they could recognise what opera was when they experienced it again in the future. For that reason also they had to sing with professional, trained singers, and because being close to that visceral sound would knock their socks off!

They would need support to learn some music and discover more about the story and opera in advance, and it had to happen with schools so that everyone could be included and no preconceived ideas of what opera was could create a barrier to participation. The schools would need support and resources and why not make it a community event with more than one school taking part and a performance to that community at the end, so they could see their children being amazing and experience incredible opera sung by astonishing professionals themselves.

There was also the not small matter as far as I was concerned of giving training and support to opera singers. As things were then there was no real training or support given before being thrust into educational situations and, having experienced that myself, I wanted to create a space for singers to have this training and a supported experience. I also wanted them to feel what I felt when I saw the look of delight on young faces when they hear an operatically produced voice up close for the first time.

And finally it had to be the highest quality of performance, musicianship, artistry and singing that we could deliver. For this I needed a music director with shared values who was also able to strive for the greatest music we could make and I was very fortunate that Audrey Hyland came on board as MD.

So OperaPLUS was born, one performance of Magic Flute at a wonderful community venue in Frome, with young artists who undertook it as a chance to sing a role and gain training/experience in the education field. Three Frome schools, including the local SEND school, bravely agreed to be my pilot groups and they were all fabulous.

The project has developed so much over the last 15 years, with multiple workshops, a minimum of 4 performances and around 10 schools taking part every year with their role ever increasing. We have been all over Somerset, from Minehead to Chard and Bridgwater to Glastonbury, we have, as one funder described it, got “the exmoor factor”. The company has become ever more professional and now provides a good amount of work for our artists each year and it is supported by a wide range of funders from the arts council and music hubs to local parish councils in the areas we are working in.

In 2016 I was delighted when the project won “Best Classical Music Education Initiative” sponsored by Classic FM at the music teacher awards, a very special evening for all of us at Jackdaws. But the biggest highlight for me is and will always be in the cast workshops when the children hear the different voices for the first time, their jaws drop open and their eyes light up, just as mine used to. Sometimes their hands also fly up and cover their ears, but that’s ok, it can be shocking to begin with. However in my 20 years of introducing young people to opera I have yet to meet a young person who doesn’t like it. That, and the comments from the audience which are nearly always along the lines of – that was not what I thought it was going to be, are what drive me on to make sure that we continue to reach those who might otherwise never get to experience the emotional rollercoaster that is opera.