Who or what inspired you to take up singing and pursue a career in music?
My father was an actor and singer so that was a big influence on my choice, but I think he always wanted me to be a visual artist rather than a performer. He was of course happy when I showed interest in singing, but he never pushed me down the path. I always loved singing and performing and did so at a good level but wasn’t sure it would work as a career, so I went to university get a science degree. I sang in the choir at Christchurch, Oxford, and as good as that was, I was still not decided. Towards the end of my degree I took part in a singing course, the AIMS course, and it reawoke something in me; made me believe I could make it as a solo singer rather than just singing in choirs, and that if making a career out of singing was actually possible it was what I wanted to do. Therefore, after university I applied to the Royal Academy of Music and was successful, and from that point on I’ve been lucky enough to keep going.
Who or what have been the most important influences on your musical life and career?
My father. My teachers at school, Jonathan and Sarah Holmes and Simon Gregory. My teachers David Lowe and Ryland Davies. Wonderful coaches Jonathan Papp and Audrey Hyland. John Copley directed my first full opera at the RAM and I learned so, so much from him. Richard Stokes and his infectious love of Lieder. Ludmilla Andrews and her Russian song.
What have been the greatest challenges of your career so far?
Well, obviously number one is right now – Covid-19 is a terrible thing for the music world, and an awful time for everyone involved in the arts. Otherwise, I have many stories of difficult auditions – one where my flight was delayed for 12 hours and I had to sleep in the airport and got to the venue 30 minutes before my slot, or being dumped in a hot room with 12 other singers and nowhere to warm up or get a drink for 3 hours before the auditions started. It’s part of the job though – being able to perform as well as you can despite the circumstances is important, even if it can be very frustrating!
Which performance/recordings are you most proud of?
I’m very proud to have my first CD being released. There are a few performances that spring to mind:
Stepping forward as a cover to sing Orpheus in Gluck’s Orphée when I was in Stuttgart Germany the year after college. A huge, huge role, not enough time to learn the staging, incredibly challenging but also incredibly fun.
Singing in the Wigmore song competition final as a 25 year old with Jocelyn, scared out of my mind but really loving the experience, managing to produce a good performance despite the adrenaline.
I love creating roles for the first time and doing that with Paul Curran with the Bartered Bride last year was really wonderful – working out how you feel about a character and what aspects of life to draw into them is incredibly rewarding.
Do you have a favourite concert venue to perform in and why/what is your most memorable concert experience?
I love performing in all sorts of venues – some of my best memories are performing at the Wigmore Hall, as well as the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam and the Kölner Philharmonie. My two most memorable venues however were in the Sam Wanamaker theatre with Trevor Pinnock – an intimate and beautiful space in the round made of beautiful wood and lit with beeswax candles. A stunning space. The other memorable venue was in northern France, where I evangelised the Johannes Passion in a repurposed auction house from the auctioneer’s position above the rest of the singers & orchestra. Tremendously dramatic, and felt somehow completely right for the music.
Who are your favourite musicians?
Too many to list – I find that the vast majority of the people I work with are both lovely and fantastic performers and it would feel wrong to single anyone out. In terms of recordings, my lieder shelves are full of Fritz Wunderlich and Fischer-Dieskau recordings. In terms of operatic tenors, it’s usually Gedda, Pavarotti, Ford, Vickers, Corelli and Florez. In terms of non-classical music, its probably Thom Yorke, Miles Davies, Joanna Newsom and Janelle Monáe.
What do you consider to be the most important ideas and concepts to impart to aspiring musicians?
I’d tell any young musician to be as adventurous as possible – work with as many different people and different instrumentalists as you can, try songs in as many styles and languages as you can, try everything because it will let you work out what you enjoy and where your strengths lie. As for the realities of being a professional, I don’t think I realised when at college how difficult it would be to live on the road. There is a certain disconnect that comes from living out of a suitcase half the year and it is vital to keep as grounded and connected as you can.
Where would you like to be in 10 years’ time?
Performing around the world, doing roles and concert programmes I want to in good venues with good people. I would say more, but given the realities of the moment, that feels like enough.
What is your most treasured possession?
One of my treasured possessions is a hard bound copy of the Messiah that I must have used 40 times. I was given it as a birthday gift about 10 years ago by my mother, and I’ve taken it with me around the world. It probably needs to be rebound by now – the red from the leather comes off a bit on my hands if they sweat and the gold leaf has become scuffed – but I’ve used it so much in so many different places that seeing it always makes me happy. I hope to use it again very soon.
‘Flax and Fire’ is the debut album of tenor Stuart Jackson and pianist Jocelyn Freeman, featuring works by Britten, Wolf, Liszt and Robert Schumann and released on the Orchid Classics label on 17 July.
The English tenor Stuart Jackson was a choral scholar at Christ Church Oxford, studying Biological Sciences, before completing his training at the Royal Academy of Music in 2013. In 2011, aged 25 and the youngest finalist, he won second prize at the Wigmore Hall International Song Competition performing with pianist Jocelyn Freeman, and the pair also won second prize at the International Hugo Wolf Lied competition. He has appeared as a recitalist at Wigmore Hall, Kings Place, St John’s Smith Square, London and at Oxford’s Holywell Room amongst many others. Stuart joined Stuttgart Opera Studio for the 2013/14 season. He is currently a Classical Opera Associate Artist with whom he has recorded the title role in Mozart’s Il Sogno di Scipione and Soliman in Zaide. He has performed all over the world in opera, including with the Royal Opera House, at English National Opera, Glyndebourne, Garsington, the Komische Oper Berlin, Stuttgart Opera, Opéra national du Rhin, Opera Australia, Opéra national de Lorraine and Aix en Provence. Some of his favourite performed roles include Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni, Jupiter in Semele and High Priest in Saul.
He also performs frequently on the concert platform, performing Bach, Handel, Beethoven and much else all over Europe and the UK, including the Wigmore Hall and Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw.
The Cross-Eyed Pianist 