Where's My Freaking Dressing Room?!

Alex and Helen have quickly jumped on the podcast to respond to the recent announcement that the BBC will be disbanding the BBC Singers, and the BBC Concert Orchestra, Philharmonic Orchestra and Symp…

Just like that, we’ve come to the end of Season 3 of the podcast! From the live episode, to the Voice of Black Opera Mini Series, to episodes on boundaries, nepotism and perfectionism, it’s been a to…

This week Alex and Helen discuss the pros and cons of perfectionism.

For many artists the desire to create perfection can be overwhelming. Perfectionism can have many benefits including producing work…

This week we discuss the fear culture which pervades the opera industry and how we can take care of ourselves in these situations.

• Performance Anxiety

We are singers and performers because we love shar…

We all want to try and pretend nepotism doesn’t happen in the opera industry but, let’s face it, it does. So, how can you use nepotism to your own advantage?

• Make your own connections

If you’re in a ro…

This week Alex and Helen debate a big question which often plagues the arts: can we separate our work from politics?

In this episode they discuss the three following questions:

1. Can we put our opinions …

Finalist in the Voice of Black Opera Competition 2022, Chantelle Grant sits down with Helen and Alex to talk about the experience of performing in such a prestigious competition, how she feels perfor…

Finalist in the Voice of Black Opera 2022 Competition, Thando Mjandana, joins Helen and Alex to talk about how he handles nerves, looking forward to the competition final, future roles he’s excited b…

To kick-start our mini series on the Voice of Black Opera (VOBO) 2022 Competition we were delighted to be joined by the competition’s founder, Vincent Osborne. In this episode we discuss what Vincent…

Alex and Helen were delighted to welcome esteemed colleague and old friend Keval Shah onto the podcast to discuss the similarities and differences between singers and instrumentalists. Keval is an in…

This week Alex and Helen discuss five main points surrounding an age-old controversy: how being a singer is much harder than it looks.

• Encouraged to make it look effortless

Singers are constantly encou…

This week Alex and Helen each share two personal stories where they made a decision to stand up for themselves in the industry. These stories discuss issues of pay, issues of respect/disrespect and i…

With a brand new season comes a lot of new changes:

• We are really specialising now, talking to that core audience (of approximately 2 people?!) about the world of OPERA and what things are like backst…

Where’s My Freaking Dressing Room?! hosted their first ever live episode recording as part of Opera Prelude’s OperaWorks conference day. This episode focusses on mental health in the opera industry, …

Alex and Helen were delighted to sit down with new media artist, composer and pianist Larkhall to talk about his latest album: Say You’re With Me.

Written during the arrival of his second son when Lar…

In the final episode of our Mental Health Week Mini Series Alex and Helen talk about Distorted Self-Image and how they find ways to deal with this in their day to day lives.

Being over-critical

Alex an…

In Day 4 of our Mental Health Week Mini Series we’re joined by soprano Helen Lacey who tells us about her experience of moving to London after finishing her undergraduate degree at the Royal Northern…

On Day 3 of this Mental Health Week Mini Series Alex and Helen discuss depression and three ways they find depression exhibits itself in their lives.

Lack of Motivation

Alex and Helen recognise that as…

Today Helen and Alex are joined by Quintin Beer to discuss Inner Calm, in particular through the methods of Meditation, Nature and Therapy.

Quintin talks openly about not necessarily searching for cal…

For Day 1 of their Mental Health Week Mini Series Alex and Helen tackle the topic of Anxiety. As two anxious people, they discuss how anxiety exhibits itself most commonly in their lives and how they…