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Sarah Connolly's memories of the Britten Theatre and studying at the College

RCM alumna Sarah Connolly CBE is one of the foremost British mezzo-sopranos, whose career highlights include performances at The Met, La Scala and at the Last Night of the Proms.

The Britten Theatre opened in 1986 with three spectacular gala concerts. What are your memories from these performances?
I have such wonderful memories from that time! Sir David Willcocks [the then Director of the RCM] generated such excitement around the new building. He was so passionate about creating a new opera house in association with Benjamin Britten and believed it was crucial to the modernisation of the College, particularly the Vocal faculty.

I gather there were a number of events to raise funds for the building of the Theatre. Were you involved in any of these?
Yes, one of my most vivid memories is of the ‘Musithon’. It lasted for 14 hours and culminated in an extraordinary performance of The Twelve Days of Christmas with Sir David Willcocks conducting. The Chamber Choir, in which I sang, performed Eight Maids A Milking and they invited in a number of guest performers too, for example I remember Julian Lloyd Webber playing Saint-Saëns’ The Swan accompanied by seven dancers from the Royal Ballet (one of whom was wearing flippers!). They also found ten genuine Lords, and they even gave a little hop at the end!

I also particularly remember the conducting part – anyone could come along and conduct the College orchestra. There was a lot of laughter at how fast you could take the William Tell Overture! It was an extremely funny and brilliant way to raise money.

Did you have a chance to perform in the Britten Theatre after it was opened?
Yes, I had the chance to sing in a performance of Il Trittico, the year after the theatre was opened. I wasn’t actually a member of the Opera School but was asked to play the part of the Mother Abbess. It was such an eye opener for me – I remember suddenly thinking that I felt very comfortable on the stage, and thought maybe I should do more of this.

You studied piano jointly with singing. What made you decide to follow your voice?
I was a joint piano and vocal student, but never thought I would become an opera singer. It was Sir David Willcocks’s enthusiasm for my voice that really encouraged me to pursue it as a career. He was the one who said: “You have a voice, you should sing.” My teacher Margaret Kingsley was also very encouraging and helped me build up my confidence. I remember she used to say that my musical intelligence was way ahead of my technique, which I guess is often the case with students. It wasn’t until a few years after leaving College that my voice really came into its own.

For students studying at the College today, what difference do you think having the Britten Theatre makes to their training?
It makes such a difference, but the teaching and support is equally important. There’s no point having a posh theatre if there’s nobody there to teach you how to be natural on stage. But having such a professional theatre really does help you prepare for life after College – it helps you understand what’s expected, how to deal with the lights and the whole theatre set up. So when the time comes and you are asked to sing a small role at the ENO, the Opera House or Glyndebourne, you are used to being blinded by the lights and stepping out in front of an audience.

Do you have any particularly fond memories of the college?
Anything to do with Sir David Willcocks was always fun! I have very good memories of him conducting a performance of Mahler’s 8th Symphony at the Royal Albert Hall with The Bach Choir and the RCM Symphony Orchestra.

I also had a wonderful piano teacher in Patricia Carroll. She really encouraged me to play from memory and was key in building up my confidence. I’m actually immensely proud of my achievements on the piano and felt a very accomplished pianist by the end of my time at College. It’s still a very useful skill today and I often learn opera scores by playing them through on the piano.

I’ve heard you once considered being a jazz singer?
I’ve always loved singing jazz and thought about it quite seriously in the 1990s but it was the music of Scheherazade that kept me from leaving the classical world – I just wanted to sing it so badly and didn’t want to loose the elasticity in my voice. So here I am!