Issue 5: A chat with... Rob

What is your fondest memory?
My grandparents used to live in Scarborough in North Yorkshire, and visiting them as a 5 year old boy caused huge excitement. Scarborough was like a magical wonderland! Every morning, as toddlers, my sister and I used to run in to my grandparents bedroom and jump in to their beds and they would tell us tales and stories from their past, most of them were probably made up but my sister and I absolutely loved them and we would howl with laughter. I should also add that I recently got married and that felt pretty good too!

How did you first get into music?
I grew up in a musical family. My mum had been at the Royal College of Music, my parents met in the local operatic orchestra, which I think is quite sweet, and when I was 2 years old my mum and dad opened a music shop in Stamford, my home town, and we lived above the shop, so music was literally everywhere. My bedroom became a stockroom for the shop – guitars, cellos, music stands, you name it, were staked up against my bed. I now look back with real nostalgia on those times as music shops are a dying breed. My mum was also the pianist for the local Gilbert & Sullivan Society and from a very early age I used to sit in on the rehearsals. I think that’s where I caught the performing bug which has never stopped.

What else do you get up to outside of being a Session Leader at ENO Breathe?
As a freelance musician you end up doing lots of different jobs, which suits me as I love the variety. I still love to perform and most of my performing work revolves around working in the community which I am particularly drawn to. I recently worked with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment on a new children’s opera that connected primary school children, students with additional needs, an adult community choir with soloists and the orchestra and it was utterly magical. As a workshop leader I am an Ambassador for Britten Pears Arts, an Associate Artist with Streetwise Opera (a charity that works with people who have experienced homelessness) and I have links to other opera companies and orchestras such as Garsington, Grange Festival, the Mozartists. The work keeps me on my toes and enables me to work with and learn from wonderful colleagues.

If you could meet and have dinner with anybody in the world, who would it be?
I think it has to be Julie Andrews!! I know that’s a bit lowbrow! She had a huge influence on me as a little lad. The Sound of Music was the first film I saw in a cinema with my mum and I was transfixed. I was desperate to play Kurt! To this day her voice still mesmerises me. It is so clear and honest. I would love to meet her.

Do you have a favourite musician?
Besides Julie, it’s a difficult question to answer as it changes from day to day and changes with my mood. A group of musicians I turn to a lot is L’arpeggiata – I love early music and they funk it up like nothing else. I’m often found dancing around the kitchen to their recordings. I also love listening to Jessye Norman. I saw her live a couple of times. She was so poised and made the most exquisite and heartwarming sound. Her Strauss Four Last Songs is a definite desert island disc for me. That’s my feeling today but it may be different tomorrow!

And finally… We’ve heard that you have quite a collection of pets. Would you be happy to introduce them to the ENO Breathe Community?
You’re right and it’s an ever increasing collection. I’m generally found in wellies, kneedeep in mud, covered in dog hair and smelling like a goat! We have:

• 5 dogs, Lionel, Lenny, Myrtle, Horace and Brenda. All are pretty badly behaved but they do love a good cuddle.
• A peacock, called Percy
• 20 goats (whose names I can’t keep up with)
• Bees
• Chickens
• A tortoise called Riley (currently hibernating in the fridge)

Scroll along the image gallery below to see some of Rob’s animals: