One of the problems that we face through the media attention that these artists receive is that there has been an awful lot of talk about opera and classical music being elite and being for an elitist group.

I'm very pro presenting the best music I can to the widest audience possible.

I do a lot of vocal hygiene.

And woven into the fabric of this harsh existence was music.

The musical heritage of Yorkshire is deep and wide.

What people really should be able to be confident in is that the standards of music- making that classically trained musicians present is elite, it is the best and all of us as artists should be committed to that.

It worries me that young singers think you can shortcut the training and go straight to fame and fortune, and programmes like Pop Idol have encouraged that.