8 Aug 2025
Meet soprano Chloë Morgan who has been singing with the Monteverdi Choir for almost 20 years.
Chloë Morgan singing at the Edinburgh International Festival, 2025 © Tommy Ga-Ken Wan / Edinburgh International Festival
What was your experience in the Monteverdi Apprentices Programme and how did it shape you as the musician you are today?
I would say my experience of the Programme was pretty unique. I was in my final year of university at music college and I hadn’t worked professionally yet. I was still unsure if I was a jazz or classical singer and someone put me forward for an audition for ‘some choir’ (I maintain that if I knew what I was doing there is no way I’d have been successful that day!). Suddenly, I was in a world I never imagined and thrown in at the deep end. It was amazing! I went from singing in jazz clubs in Greenwich to sold-out concert halls all over Europe, spending six weeks in Paris singing in an opera, something I’d never done before.
As an alto, I was surrounded and supported by my mentors and colleagues that helped me grow . It wasn’t all plain sailing however! Trying to graduate at the same time as touring didn’t really work out, but the apprenticeship taught me more in one year than five years at music college did and the friends I made then shaped me as well. I discovered opera that year and, through a friend in the choir, I worked at Wexford Festival Opera in Ireland which led to me doing a masters in opera and all these years later (despite the Covid hiatus) I now live and work as a soloist in Germany. The apprenticeship was a life-changing event that set me on a wonderful path and I can pretty much trace every (if not most) experience back to that first year of the apprenticeship, from the people I met to the opportunities it gave me.
What advice would you give to a young musician looking to build their career as a professional singer?
This is a tricky one. There are so many ‘good’ answers, but everything is so subjective.
In this industry there are check marks that you are told you have to hit by a certain age. I believe music institutions open doors, but only for a select few and if you feel music in any different way it can be hard to be heard. I was always told that I wasn’t going to make it as a soloist as I had done too much choir work, and indeed, by the time I felt ready to try I was already ‘too old’. But I wouldn’t change anything about the wobbly path to where I am now. Listen to advice and learn from the people you respect but fundamentally it’s your voice and most importantly, your body. Do what you want and what brings you joy. As performers, we sometimes forget that our main purpose is to perform for other people. Throw yourself into everything you see that inspires something in you.
Who was your musical idol growing up?
Such a tricky question! I sing because of the Rat Pack, Eva Cassidy and Ella Fitzgerald. But I also wore out my Billy Joel cassette and destroyed my Michael Jackson VHS (showing my age). I only discovered classical music in my 20s, so then I’d have to say Bach as well.
If you weren’t a musician, what would you do?
I would want to be an actor.
Is there a book, film, or TV show you’ve been obsessed with recently?
I get obsessed with historical novels once every few years and right now it’s a wonderful series about Greek mythology written by Stephen Fry. And ‘The Thursday Murder Club’ series by Richard Osman.
The Monteverdi Choir performing as the chorus in Carmen a the Opéra-Comique, Paris, 2009 © Pierre Grosbois
What sets apart the Monteverdi Choir from other ensembles you’ve been a part of?
The Monteverdi Choir will always be special to me, I’ve spent nearly 20 years (on and off) with the group. It’s so integral to my musical development and it will always be special to come back and sing with them. I was spoiled having it as my first classical music experience and realised quite how special good ensemble singing is after I left. I love opera but I really do miss this level of teamwork and trust with the Choir and the respect everyone has for each other as well as the dedication to the music.
Do you have a favourite project/memory from your time in the Monteverdi Choir?
I do have a few! As mentioned, when I was an apprentice singing in the chorus of Carmen at the Opéra-Comique in Paris was incredible. We also did a Brahms tour and I remember sobbing at the end of that! I was included (last minute, to the tour managers dismay) in the Nobel Prize Concert in Stockholm, which was great BUT Herbie Hancock was playing the night before and I managed to get a ticket for that! I will always remember the Verdi Requiem we did at Westminster Cathedral, which was dedicated to the memory of MCO’s late stage manager, Richard Fitzgerald.
