Cambridge University Graduate and Former Choral Scholar teaches singing, composition, piano, and music theory!

Find out more about Gregory

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

  I had one very musical primary school teacher: she would teach us songs about the topics we were studying in order to help us remember certain details, and to keep it entertaining! Her encouragement was a big part of why I went on to become a singer.

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

  Yes! Any musical theatre by Sondheim is great for that - there's always something new to notice with each listen.

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

  In terms of teaching music theory and composition (which certainly doesn't hurt to know as a singer!), I think the most useful difficult task is writing good fugal music and counterpoint. Building up to this, I'd arrange a series of tasks with very strict limitations, which procedurally soften as students gradually lean in to the skill.

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

  My biased answer would be the voice: it's probably the easiest to learn (because almost everybody can sing something to begin with), but very tricky to master, because at a high level you have to balance technical training with physical conditioning, which is easily thrown off by a bad night of sleep, a little bit of dehydration, or a simple cold!

• What are your keys to success?

  It's good to start your day off with some fresh air, if you can! A quick morning walk or jog is a great way to kickstart the rest of your day feeling good and like you've already accomplished something worthwhile. I also like to make "to-do" lists of simple day-to-day activities, just so that I can get into a productive headspace by crossing them off as I go.

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

  Tim Minchin, because he seems like a really interesting person all over, and I'd like to get to know him. Patrick Page, because his voice is what you'd get if chocolate were a sound, which is always welcome! Finally, I'd have to say Hildur Guðnadóttir, because I think her work in film scoring is taking the genre in some really fascinating directions.

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

  In the summer of 2019, I travelled to Vienna with a Choir I was a part of at the time. I remember (being quite new to choral singing at the time) struggling with one part of the Bass line from Mozart's Ave verum corpus during rehearsals, until our Director suggested a helpful cue of "locking in" a note from an earlier part of the piece. Every time we would perform the song from then on, he would glance over to the Basses at the right moment and make a "locking" gesture with one hand against the side of his head, while conducting with the other. I find that this attentive and patient approach to teaching music is exactly what's needed, as music is one of those uniquely personal artforms.

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

  As a vocal coach, I feel that my job extends beyond the 1-2 hours per week I book in to see each of my students: I try to be available wherever possible to source and provide (or even create) backing tracks and sheet music for students to use. I also like to create "warm-up" videos which students are welcome to keep, containing exercises with accompaniment which are designed to help with practice outside of scheduled lesson time - these are usually tailored to the individual needs of students, because everyone's voice is different!