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Music Makers: with Steve Phillips, Producer, Manager and Tenor
Music Makers: with Amy J Payne, Mezzo-soprano, Actor and Director
Music Makers: with Robert Howarth, Conductor
Music Makers: with John Savournin, Bass-Baritone, Director, Producer
News & Views
Music Makers: with Steve Phillips, Producer, Manager and Tenor
Audition Oracle – Tue 22 Sep 2026 @ 5:00
Music we love and live with
Image Credit: Pablo Strong Photography
We are delighted to welcome Steve Phillips, a producer and artist manager with a wide-ranging career behind the scenes of the opera world. Bringing together an understanding of performance with extensive experience in producing, artist development and management, Steve has built his career around supporting singers and creating the conditions in which artists and projects can thrive. A tenor himself, he brings a performer’s perspective to his work, alongside a keen understanding of the practical and creative realities of the profession.
Aria you hum round the house / sing in the shower
It depends on what I've been listening to (usually not a tenor aria!). Most recently it was “Dopo notte” (Handel, Ariodante) at a Grasmere Song fundraising concert (spoiler alert, the excellent countertenor is singing the role at the Royal College of Music this year).
First aria you remember studying
“Where'er you walk” (Handel, Semele) - I sang it at my oldest friend's wedding, which was a real privilege as he isn't into classical music.
Music you most like to listen to when working
I mostly listen to symphonic works so that words don't get in the way…It's also outside of my comfort zone and I find the unfamiliar interesting.
Last piece of music you deliberately chose to listen to
Madonna's Confessions II - my husband Warren is a fan of everything popular music and this was the soundtrack to Grasmere Song 2026!
Music you feel most emotionally connected to
Mahler’s Symphony No.2 in C Minor (particularly an unforgettable experience a few years ago when the timps led the climax into “The Resurrection Chorus” at the Proms - the sound literally reverberated through everyone. In terms of recordings, it has to be Claudio Abbado's final Mahler Symphonies with the Lucerne Festival. The silence he holds after number 9 is something else!
Aria you wish you could sing
I don't sing professionally but enjoy singing with a church choir in Dulwich when I can. I wish I had the facility to sing tenor roles like Prince Ramiro (Rossini, La Cenerentola), not full lyric roles which most people seem to aspire to, but the thrilling repertoire that moves and excites. Sadly one of my exam reports from the RSAMD said: “Unfortunately Steve's grace notes were not very graceful”...and that's without any significant coloratura!
Explore more of Steve Phillips’ work https://www.stevephillipsmanagement.co.uk/ and https://grasmeresong.co.uk/
Music Makers: with Amy J Payne, Mezzo-soprano, Actor and Director
Audition Oracle – Tue 8 Sep 2026 @ 10:43
Music we love and live with
We are delighted to welcome Amy J Payne, a mezzo-soprano, actor and director known for her vivid characterisation, comic instinct and wonderfully distinctive stage presence. Equally at home in opera, operetta, musical theatre and pantomime, Amy has built a career around bringing characters to life with wit, warmth and theatrical flair, alongside an increasing body of work as a director and creative collaborator. This November, she makes her English National Opera debut as Petrovna in the UK premiere of Elena Langer’s To Die For.
Aria you hum round the house / sing in the shower
Usually (and quite unhelpfully!) someone else’s music from any show I happen to be rehearsing or performing at the time!
First aria you remember studying
“Voi che sapete” (Le nozze di Figaro) - show me a mezzo who didn’t!
Aria you rely on professionally
“As I was saying….Scorned! Abused!….” (Baba the Turk, The Rake's Progress) - useful to have in the audition bag in almost any context.
Last piece of music you deliberately chose to listen to
“Alles Schwindel” (Spoliansky) - plus other Weimar-era cabaret for a potential project next year...
Aria you feel most emotionally connected to
Not opera but I hope I can have it: “The Miller’s Son” (A Little Night Music, Sondheim) - what a gift of a song.
Aria you wish you could sing / would love to learn next
“Da Chas Nastal” (The Maid of Orleans) - I love Tchaikovsky and it’s an aria I often come back to working on for fun. So the neighbours have heard it (probably too much!) but no one else!