J’ai deux amours!
After graduating with a Masters in French Language and Literature at the University Paris 7 Denis Diderot, I furthered my studies as a classical soprano and graduated from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.
Through the RCS, I’ve benefited from the rich mentoring of Prof. Chris Underwood*, keeping a vital and direct link to the poets and composers of the late French 19th Century.
Through my musical training I’ve been fortunate to work with specialists of the French Mélodie Repertoire (Helen Abbott, Roy Howat in the UK). As a singer, I participated in masterclasses with Véronique Gens, Michel Piquemal, François Leroux and Michelle Command.
I’ve been teaching the French Language class for singers and the French Repertoire classes for the Vocal Department at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland since 2018. Since 2021, I give classes at the Royal Northern Conservatoire of Music in French Repertoire and Phonetic workshops to the Vocal students.
As French Coach for the Gibson Opera School at the RCS, I’ve worked with Sonja Nerdrum on the recent productions of “Les Mamelles de Tirésias” and “Le Dialogue des Carmélites”. I was the French Language coach on a recent acclaimed production of “L’étoile”, by Chabrier, and for Grange Park Opera’s Werther for the 2023 season.
I enjoy coaching singers, which combines my passion for the voice as well as for poetry and text. I also have experience working with actors needing to perfect a French accent for a role or voice-over.
As a personal voice coach, I work with singers by taking into account their unique individuality and responding to their specific needs. We work together to determine the best approach for making a French text their own.
*Chris Underwood had been a student of Betty Bannerman, who had followed Claire Croiza’s classes, and later on with Pierre Bernac, Camille Maurane and Hugues Cuenod.
On the make an order page, you can contact me if you need help with a French song, aria, or text. I’ll provide a pdf with the French text, the IPA transcription and a translation, as well as audio files : one displays the spoken text at a slow speed, another one discuss the translation and gives you better insight into the structure of the language and the meaning of some words, and the last one is a mini-coaching, where I go more into details of pronunciation, giving you keys and tools to achieve accuracy in phrasing and diction.
I am available for coaching online and face-to-face in Glasgow.
Just email me .
What People Are Saying
“[The singers] mastered the nuances of their French lines: the language coaches Héloïse Bernard and Sonja Nerdrum deserve special mention".
Opera, April 2019, Andrew Clark
“I have had the pleasure of working with Héloïse as an accompanist in her coaching sessions. They are addictive. She not only draws upon many other subjects but also provides a lens into bringing out the poetry and art of performance in a way that is genuine to each individual. This is to say Héloïse’s approach is holistic and ontological, which surely, the of art singing should be; be it opera, song or sacred? Héloïse is so thorough but not exhaustive and is always full of enthusiasm and energy. Every student seems to want to work hard for her and does not seem to feel pressurised or intimidated. 5 stars from me..”
— Kristine Donnan, accompanist
Opera, April 2023
“I have had the absolute pleasure of working with Héloïse for four years now in a professional environment. Her coaching is first class, and her unique approach of combining her knowledge of French language, literature and her sensitive understanding of vocal technique/performance creates a safe and productive space to develop skills in all these areas. Whether working on difficult passages from Dialogues des Carmélites or exploring French mélodie, I have benefited immensely from working with Héloïse and feel my understanding of the French language has transformed completely. (…). She is a joy to work with.
She prepared a personalised package for me of Ravel’s Cinq mélodies populaires grecques. It is truly a first class resource, filled with IPA transcriptions, word-for-word and poetic translations, pronunciation recordings and a specialised voice recording of tips and tricks to ensure that the singer does not fall into the typical “pits” of wrong pronunciation of vowels etc when tackling the piece of music. This package is like having a virtual coaching; you are sent all the essential pieces of information to make an extremely detailed start on a piece of music prior to any face to face coaching. I am delighted to be using this package to prepare for an upcoming recital at the Wigmore Hall. It has everything one needs to begin exploring a work in extreme detail. I would wholeheartedly recommend purchasing this resource; it is truly worth every penny”.
— Lauren Young, mezzo-soprano