INTERVIEW: JENNIFER DAVIS
Jennifer Davis The Irish soprano speaks to Helen Cocks about how she became a singer, the ROH's Jette Parker Programme, and how her voice is developing How did you start singing? I hear you come from a musical family! Yes, everyone in my family is musical, my Mam in particular as she is a singer and teacher and so I grew up hearing her giving singing lessons; singing was always in the house. My siblings and I were encouraged to sing and learn instruments as children and we went to music school at the weekends and were involved in musicals. I also joined a church choir when I was quite young and did my chorister awards, but I guess I always thought in a way that singing was
really Mam’s thing. I studied English literature at UCD in Dublin, and so I was in my 20s before I really took singing seriously. I completed my Masters at the DIT Conservatory of Music and Drama in Dublin and then went on to the National Opera Studio, London, in 2013. It took me a little while to find my way. And then the Royal Opera’s Jette Parker Young Artists Programme – a huge opportunity for anyone but one you seem particularly to have got a lot out of.
Oh for sure, the Jette Parker has changed my trajectory completely. Without it I may not have had quite the same training and exposure I have been lucky to enjoy. It has given me so many performing and learning opportunities. Towards the end of my time on the programme I got to jump in and sing Adina in Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore a few times [while covering the role for the Polish soprano Aleksandra Kurzak]. It was so exciting, getting to sing a lead role in that house. I had been on that stage a lot during
Winter 2018 The Green Room 27
