Read Paul Carey Jones' new book 'Giving It Away: Classical Music in Lockdown and other fairytales'

Stranded in London when the Coronavirus pandemic hit, Welsh opera singer Paul Carey Jones began chronicling the voyage of the classical music industry through the perils - and opportunities - of a global crisis. Based on his hit blog series 'Coronaclassical', Giving It Away: Classical Music in Lockdown and other fairytales is his lockdown story so far.

In his own words…

In March last year, without very much warning at all, I was without work and with a lot of time in my hands. Having spent over twenty years in the business, for the first time in my professional life I suddenly found myself on the outside looking in, with the time and space to step back and observe how the industry as a whole was dealing with the huge challenges posed by the pandemic.

I’d always kept an occasional blog about what was happening in my work, but I decided to commit to making it a weekly habit, and see where it took me. One or two of the early posts caught a lot of people’s attention, and by October it had gathered momentum to the extent that a book version seemed appropriate. It’s also now been adapted into Kindle and audiobook editions, and has provoked a wide range of positive and constructive discussion.

I’ve continued to write since the book’s publication, although this year as things have tuned out it’s been a lot more focused on the challenges of Brexit rather than the pandemic - although the two are very closely linked, of course. 

As the industry starts to open back up, I’m looking forward very much to getting back to my singing work - it’s an exciting but also a terrifying prospect, after a full year in career lockdown. But I’ll be aiming to move forward with my writing too. One of the things that many of us have realised during this period is that the industry needs to get better at listening to the voice of all of those involved in making it work, and if I can play a small part in that process, and help the whole art form progress and flourish, then the struggle and hard work will all have been worthwhile.

Paul Carey Jones’ book is now available to purchase on paperback, kindle, and audiobook. For more information, click here.

"His view is alert and complex, evaluating developments with a searching but sceptical eye. There's no shortage of good ideas in his approach to a problem that has found operatic managements the world over wrong-footed, literally giving away the valuable assets of their recorded performances. A steadily rising Wotan, he explores Wagner's most complex character in further essays which also cover Tosca's death and other matters largely vocal and all worth encountering."

BBC Music Magazine - March 2021