How to sing opera: You don’t have to be a linguist. Just join a choir and find a teacher

High passions, glorious arias, plus a spot of elaborately vocalised death ... Welcome to opera. Surprisingly, mezzo-soprano Sharon Carty says you don’t have to come from a long line of divas to take part. “My grandmother was a wonderful fiddle player, and my dad is a big country and western fan,” she says.

Early talent

... definitely helps, as does a love of music. The Kildare native’s career was shaped by her music teacher. “She had been an opera singer. I always remember her giving me a record of Janet Baker, now one of my vocal idols. As a 15-year-old, I thought it was wobbly and awful!”

So where do I start?

If you have little or no experience, Carty recommends starting with a local choir, to get used to reading, learning, practising and performing. Proving that you don’t have to dedicate yourself to the craft from birth, Carty initially became a PE teacher, but perhaps that helped. “Opera singing requires that you’re heard through a big orchestra,” she explains. “You don’t use a microphone, so you have to train hard, and not just vocally, as you need stamina. You don’t have to speak a litany of languages, but you do have to understand, and pronounce the words you’re singing.”

Sounds damn hard

To the uninitiated, classical opera can seem elitist, but it is actually a lot of fun, and its image is changing with the work of companies such as Irish National Opera. “It is the all-encompassing art form,” says Carty. “You can’t help but be drawn into a story that uses live theatre, a big orchestra, costumes and music. It’s the most incredible thing to step into someone else’s shoes for a couple of months, to play around and explore that.”

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Sold. What do I do next?

If your voice is good, and you’re enjoying it, you’ll want to get a teacher. “Singing teachers advertise through a music school or conservatory. Some teach privately and take on pupils via word of mouth,” says Carty, who recommends Sing Ireland to get information on groups and workshops in your area. The Royal Irish Academy of Music also have lessons, from short beginner courses to degree programmes. “Most third-level music institutions have students who take lessons in the evening or at the weekend,” adds Carty. “It’s worth contacting your local one for advice.”

Got you. Now I’m ready to go all the way ...

Light opera with local music groups is hugely enjoyable, but what if you discover you have what it takes to get to the top? The traditional route is via a degree in voice, plus a masters and, if you’re lucky, getting into an opera studio programme (hothouses for the talented). There are other ways. After leaving teaching, Carty went to Vienna to study, dipping into savings and getting a little parental help. Someone from Oper Frankfurt saw her and invited her to join their studio. “At the end of the day, if you can prove in an audition that you have what it takes, I don’t think it really matters what path you’ve taken to get to that point.”

But can I make a living?

Some singers supplement their income by teaching, giving masterclasses, and singing at weddings and funerals. “It can be very stressful not knowing what you’ll be doing a few months down the line if things are quiet,” says Carty, but at the same time, she adds, “it’s dress up as an adult, mixed with high art. What’s not to love?”