Grantham-born Jack Lee to join Vienna State Opera from Royal Academy of Music just eight years after starting singing lessons
A Grantham-born man who only began singing lessons at the age of 16 has won a place with one of the world’s leading opera houses.
Jack Lee, 24, will join the Vienna State Opera in September when he starts a two-year stint with their Young Artist Programme.
The rising baritone star was invited over after performing in the final of the Kathleen Ferrier Awards, a prestigious competition for young British opera singers.
“”Because of covid the final was live streamed and the guys over in Vienna saw it,” Jack explained.
“They found my e-mail address and asked me to come over and sing for them. It was just surreal.
“I flew over for a couple of days and did a bit of singing for them and they were very interested.”
He added: “It’s one of the top three opera houses in the world so it’s a very exciting opportunity.
“Vienna is a hub for classical music. When we got off the place in Vienna and walked out into baggage collection, the first billboard we saw read ‘Vienna State Opera is Waiting For You’.”
Jack attended Oakham School from 2010 to 2015 where he joined the choir. He was born and raised in Grantham.
But he had no idea of his vocal potential until music teacher Richard Coxon, himself an opera singer, spotted some raw talent and suggested singing lessons.
“I sang in choirs, but I was just there making far too much noise - I was a reasonably loud child,” he said.
“I was given a choice between struggling on playing the piano or start doing some singing lessons and it took off from there. There wasn’t much hope for me on the piano.”
Jack auditioned for the Royal Academy of Music and took his place in 2016 after a gap year spent helping out at his school as an assistant in the music department.
“Starting at the academy was a bit of a shock,” he admitted.
“My singing teacher gave me a bit of a talking-to in my first term about work effort and what he expected - it was a big change from singing in the choir once a week.”
His vocal and acting skills have been polished through time on London stages, including the lead role in the British Youth Opera’s production of Hansel and Gretel last summer.
“I’ve been very lucky to have been on stage for five of my six years at the academy, learning on the job,” Jack explained.
“When I was 17 or 18 I was a pretty dreadful actor!”
Jack is currently busy in the final throes of a masters degree in London before his move to the Austrian capital where he will be coached by top singers.
But he found time to return to Oakham School last weekend and give something back - performng with the Oakham Choral Society in the chapel where he started singing.
“Richard and the director of music Peter Davis were both very supportive,” he said.
“They were interested in my pursuing it further which I probably wouldn’t have done without their pushing or support.”
