Portia - Central Lewisham - Singing

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• When did you first develop a passion for music and your favourite instrument?

  When I was as young as I can remember. Singing has always felt like a natural and enjoyable activity, although it wasn't until my early twenties that I realised I could decide to pursue singing and call myself a 'singer'. To me it's clear that each and every one of us is born a singer (there's really no such thing as being tone deaf), but that culturally we've been taught that some can and some can't - which is a falsehood - and my fundamental passion as a vocal coach is in helping people vocalise their opposition to this belief!

• Is there a particular type music or artist that you listen to on a loop without it driving you crazy?

  A tricky question, as the answer changes with the seasons of life. I can cetainly listen to the sounds of nature on loop without it driving me crazy.

• Explain to us the most difficult or riveting course you could personally give to a student of music.

  In the dialogue between primal emotional expression and musical and physiological technique, we create the perfect conditions for performance. The most difficult thing is perhaps achieving the self-directed rigour required to develop this deep, balanced relationship with one's own voice. If the student is curious and committed, they can achieve any exploratory goal. And we must keep learning to listen, and also to move beyond habitual judgments.

• What do you think is the most complicated instrument to master and why?

  Electric guitar behind the back like Jimmy Hendrix, because you need such good shoulder flexibility.

• What are your keys to success?

  I think I've possibly answered this in question 3, but to put it another way: a stubborn belief in the validity of pursuing singing as a human birthright (and indeed a personally and socially healing act) will lead to much success.

• Name three musicians you dream of meeting in your favourite bar in the early hours of the morning. Explain why.

  I would love to meet in the bar - or indeed the forest, or beside the river, or in a delicious restaurant - Joanna Newsom, to talk about her wondrous epic story-telling ways coupled with her intricate harp and voice arrangements; Stevie Wonder to talk about his juicy journeys around harmony and modulation; and Patti Smith to discuss her noble punk-rock poetic performance abilities. It would also be nice to chat with Emma Kirkby about technique and repertoire. I could mention any number of musicans really, but these will do for today.

• Provide a valuable anecdote related to music or your days at music school.

  An experience from my early music training which has stayed with me and fuelled my own developments as a performer and a listener took place half-way through the final performance of a Jazz module. I was in the middle of singing 'All of Me', scared as usual, and suddenly the fear fell from my shoulders like a cloak and was replaced with the sense that my only responsibilty was to be true to the sound being created. To honour the molody, the harmony, the timbre, the atmosphere. To sculpt a sonic experience with as much artistry as I could muster. This is a sensory memory that I re-invoke always in performance and it does not let me down.

• What are the little touches that make you a Superprof in music?

  Is it really for me to say? I care deeply about helping people to uncover their true voices. As I have said, singing is a birthright and the more of us that own our own voices, the better. Ultimate goal: entire world a'singing. I am a passionate about my own performance and composition, and my journey as an artist is only enhanced by my work with my students. They teach me as much as I teach them. Lessons always close with a feeling of invigoration and peace, which I hope suggests that between us we are creating superb moments along the vocal journey.