Welcome to my website, and thank you for visiting.
I’ve often received feedback from audience members that the information about singers can be a little – how to put this – impersonal (I think they mean boring). So rather than a formal biography (which you can find here http://www.grovesartists.com/artist/ed-lyon/) listing where, what and for whom I have sung, I thought I’d just introduce myself in a more holistic way!
I’m from West Yorkshire, though the accent mostly fell by the wayside after school in London. I studied at St John’s College Cambridge, and have a joint M.A (Cantab) in English and Art History. I discovered a real passion for architecture while studying and was fortunate to have Christopher Robinson as the director of the choir, as well as some extraordinarily talented peers, both at John’s and Cambridge as a whole.
I went on to the Royal Academy of Music for my Dip. R.A.M (and am proud also to be A.R A.M) and then to the National Opera Studio, which is an excellent but underrated institution. My first big break was with William Christie and Les Arts Florissants in a production of Handel’s Hercules at the Brooklyn Academy of Music and the Barbican in London.
Early music has continued to be a very important part of my career, even as I moved into Classical, Romantic and 20th Century repertoire. Renaissance and early baroque music is still my go to on iTunes. In performance, I’m most interested in works which speak to the deep emotions – I’ve never been drawn to the show-piece or circus trick elements of singing but to those moments of genuine meaning. I’ve been incredibly fortunate to work with amazing directors from theatre backgrounds like Ivo Van Hove, Jonathan Kent and soon Katie Mitchell, choreographers including Trisha Brown, Sidi-Larbi Cherkaoui and Shobanah Jeyasingh as well as specialist opera directors. Finding variety has never been an issue.
I am deeply concerned by the burgeoning mental health crisis, both in general and more specifically in the classical music industry. In response to this, I became a qualified therapist in Cognitive Behavioural Hypnotherapy and am training towards further therapy and coaching qualifications. My specialism is helping people within our industry deal with the unique challenges it presents, both in preparation for a career and in response to problems encountered. You can find more about this in the Therapy and Coaching Section.
Thank you again for visiting and keep enjoying and supporting classical music however you can.