Sophia’s voice broke
At 12, Sophia Grech was told she had no musical talent. But now the opera star, from Portsmouth, can brush off what her old music teacher once said since she’s performed at the English Music Festival, Canada’s Great Romantics Festival and Malta National Festival – to name a few.
Sophia, 50, says: ‘For me, singing is amazing. It’s a way I can truly express myself.’
And expression is something Sophia often struggled with when she was a young girl.
‘I was not academically bright. I couldn’t read the time until I was 12,’ she explains.
‘I would sit in class and not understand what the teachers were saying. I really struggled to read and write.
‘I didn’t know I had something wrong. No one knew what autism even was back then – it wasn’t a recognised condition.
At 45, Sophia was eventually diagnosed with autism. It made sense to her, having grown up feeling and being repeatedly told she was different.
But she has not let it stop the mezzo-soprano from achieving her dream of singing in the spotlight. And this year, she has broken such academic barriers and written a book called I Wish I Could Sing, teaching people to sing in simple steps.
She explains: ‘People would always say to me they wish they could sing. The Maltese president said it to me at dinner.
‘But singing is not that difficult – you can always improve.
‘I’m not saying everyone should apply for the X-Factor and have a career in music, but there are basic things everyone can do to sing better.
‘If you smile while you’re singing and open your jaw, as well as singing louder, you will definitely sing better.’
Sophia’s musical career now is a world away from where she started, but she is grateful for every experience.
‘I grew up in Cosham and went to Court Lane Junior School. They offered violin lessons but the teacher there at the time told me I didn’t have any musical talent,’ she says.
‘But I had this really secret passion for music. I would sing all the time at home and would play the piano. I found I had this great voice.
‘My upbringing and home life was really lovely. Both my parents and sisters were so supportive.
‘It was a saviour really because I was so unhappy at school.’
When Sophia was 13, she and her family moved to Weymouth and she was dreading starting a new school.
She explains: ‘My dad put me in a private school and they offered singing lessons.
‘I sang to the music teacher and he said he couldn’t teach my voice because it was so advanced. He rang the Royal College of Music in London for an audition.
‘I went to London and the head of singing listened to me. I finished and she said: “young lady, would you like to be an opera singer?”
‘I had nothing else going for me, was on track to fail my exams so I thought why not.
‘She took me on and I wenttoLondonregularly to have lessons with her. My parents drove me everywhere but they were so pleased I had found something I was good at. ‘It became my life.’ When Sophia started lessons at the Royal College of Music, she could not read music. Sophia explains: ‘I had been able to keep it a secret that I didn’t know a lot.
‘I said I knew there was a bloke called Beethoven and that a piano is black and white.
‘They told me I would have to learn to read music. I was so incredibly behind everyone else at my age – some of them had been reading music since they were so young and went to special schools.
‘I took my grade five theory exam and passed with 100 per cent.’
At 16, Sophia was told by her music teacher at the college that they thought she would not cope with the pressure if she studied there full-time.
‘She said: “There’s something not right about you but we don’t know what it is”.
‘They said they didn’t think I would be able to keep up with the pressure and exams at a music college.
‘I was heartbroken. I went to bed for three days.
‘But I applied to all of the prestigious music schools anyway and when I went to the audition at the Royal College, my music teacher was there because she was a member of the board.
‘We never spoke about what she said to me and they offered me a scholarship.
‘I was also offered a scholarship to