New Zealand Opera School singer Jack Doyle to study at Royal College of Music

By Lin Ferguson

New Zealand Opera School student Jack Doyle is relishing his switch from baritone to counter tenor. But at last year’s opera school, his new voice suddenly rang out and astonished his tutors. No more baritone, they insisted.

“That was when my secret voice became my real voice, and it’s been amazing.”

So much so that last year he applied to audition as a counter tenor at the Royal College of Music in London. In September, he was accepted and granted a scholarship to study at the school this year. As well as organising fundraising concerts to help with expenses, he is working as a salesman in an upmarket clothing shop in Ponsonby.

Singing opera runs in the family, he said. “Both my parents were opera singers.” This year he will perform as a soloist for Bach Musica in Bach’s Easter Oratorio, as well as alto solo roles in Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater and Vivaldi’s Gloria for other groups.

His voice transformation has been a remarkable change in his life, he said. “It’s exciting, I’m loving every minute of it.” Last year, as a baritone, he won the Dame Malvina Major award for most promising artist at the New Zealand Aria competition.

Being in London later this year also means he can foster his great love of Handel and baroque music. “There is so much there, I can’t wait.”

“The opera school has been amazing, it has been a great love of mine forever.”