“I’ve come to discover that collaboration makes the best results. Making sure that you’re doing everything you can to elevate whoever you’re working with…”
Crystalla Serghiou
Crystalla Serghiou is a Cypriot composer, songwriter, and conductor currently based in the UK. Crystalla’s compositional approach explores the blending of different genres, including contemporary and pop music styles, vocal techniques, and her training as a singer. Since leaving Cyprus, Crystalla has fully indulged herself in the UK’s music scene, with her music being performed by the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Riot Ensemble, and Red Note Ensemble, and showcased at Spitalfields Music Festival and Edinburgh Fringe Festival; recently, her score for short film ‘Monster’ was nominated for Best Composition at the British Short Film Awards. Crystalla studied at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and the Royal Academy of Music; she is a National Youth Choir Young Composer 2024-25, a London Philharmonic Orchestra Young Composer 2023-24, and a Magnum Opus composer with Britten Sinfonia, who recently premiered her concerto ‘The Stepford Wife’ with jazz vocalist Emma Smith in London.
Following the premiere of her concerto with Britten Sinfonia as part of the Magnum Opus programme, we caught up with Crystalla over Zoom, discussing “popera”, pastiche, vocal trainings, Stepford wives, staying authentic, and more…
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Zyggy/PRXLUDES: Hi Crystalla! Thanks so much for joining me today. You’ve recently premiered a concerto for jazz singer and orchestra with Britten Sinfonia as part of their Magnum Opus scheme; tell me a bit about how the concept of the concerto came about?
Crystalla Serghiou: I’ve always had this idea of using a jazz singer in [the] contemporary classical world. Blending [and] mixing genres is something I do often; especially with different styles of vocals. That was one thing on the list that I’ve never done, and that I’ve always wanted to do. When we had the opportunity to write a concerto with Britten Sinfonia, I was considering lots of different types of concertos, and different instruments; but then I thought, I would rather use this opportunity to do something I probably wouldn’t be able to achieve myself — not as easily, anyway.
So I decided to go down the niche route — a potentially riskier route, especially as there isn’t really such thing as a “vocal” concerto. Because I was aware of that, I knew I wanted the voice to be particularly instrumental; so I thought, what is the most “instrumental” way of delivering the voice musically? And that is through jazz scat singing — where they literally turn themselves into an instrument. That was how it all started coming to life.
The scat singer for your concerto was jazz vocalist Emma Smith; tell me about how your collaboration developed, and how the piece developed from those ideas?
When I met Emma, and we started talking about it… We discovered we both have a shared love for 50’s jazz. Some of her inspirations [are] Ella Fitzgerald, Miles Davis, Betty Carter — I also really like that overly-romantic 50’s sound, of artists like Doris Day and Frank Sinatra. We really started shaping the piece around that era. That’s when I got the idea to base it on the Stepford Wives.
I’ve called my piece ‘The Stepford Wife’. The scat solos, in relation to the storyline, are the moments where the protagonist can really express their individuality and identity, escaping the many expectations of being a woman. I was thinking about how women are often silenced and told to do things in certain ways; there are always a lot of opinions towards how women should lead their lives. I wanted to explore the concept of being silenced, and then having this retaliation through scat — where we can really express ourselves, and break through that. That’s where I dipped into the “stepford wife” idea; having this perfect, 50s housewife model of what a woman is “supposed” to be in a patriarchal society. The piece explores Emma being a brainwashed robot, who lives this perfect life in her happy home with her husband; she slowly malfunctions through the scat, trying to break into consciousness.
It’s been amazing; I really like that Emma has been really open about wanting me, as a composer, to stay authentic to myself. And equally, I want[ed] to write a piece that makes Emma shine. So we have that unanimous respect for each other, where we want it to be a team collaboration. Britten Sinfonia have been so open, and flexible — just being able to write a cross-genre, jazz-scat concerto says it all, really — I love how they’ve supported me into doing something different. Something that they felt is reflective of me as a composer, instead of going down a more “traditional” concerto route.
What was the process like of scoring for a scat singer — how much improvisation did you give Emma, and what was the interplay like between that and the orchestra?
There’s elements where there’s guided improvisation throughout the piece, for her to really do her thing. The piece starts in a very traditional 50s jazz era — but as it develops, it becomes more contemporary [and] cinematic, and I let my “contemporary composer” come out. I like how that reflects Emma’s journey of becoming [a] modern woman. That’s something that’s quite interesting, as well; she’s having to improvise over a chord sequence, or perhaps material that isn’t her usual go-to. It sounds really lovely, having this fresh jazz improv above something that wouldn’t usually have it. There is a little surprise at the end, but I won’t tell you how the piece ends… -laughs-
It was a really interesting rehearsal process, as well, having someone who mainly uses their ear and improvises using chord charts — versus the classical musicians who like their sheet music, and [are] very efficient sight-readers. But it works! The performers at Britten Sinfonia were really open in the rehearsal; the percussionist and bass player also had to improvise over some of the sections, to test different ideas out. It was really great seeing everyone involved sharing ideas beyond the sheet music.
Your practice as a composer is incredibly multi-faceted and poly-genre, drawing influence from contemporary classical, pop music, Cypriot folk traditions, and more — tell me about the kinds of music you were exposed to growing up, and how they informed your practice?
I’ve always listened to a lot of music. I did grow up in a nonclassical family, and a fairly nonmusical family — no-one really played instruments, or performed. I was the first child. -laughs- Aside from that, my siblings [and] my parents all had quite fluid musical tastes within popular culture — we grew up listening to funk, 80s disco, 90s music — and we’ve always had a broad palette, as a family. But I think 80s was a big one for the family; I love Chaka Khan, and anything disco — but especially Chaka Khan.
So I think I grew up surrounded by popular culture. I did begin my journey playing piano, which was then followed by singing lessons. I used to write pop songs at the piano, or musical concepts — I always had this big, grand storyline with every song that I wrote, and imagined this musical production that they would be a part of. As I developed and grew, that’s when [I got] introduced to the classical stuff; I went into opera training with the singing. And then it was quite late — at the age of seventeen — where I chose to do composition, and that’s the main time I was introduced to contemporary music. That’s when it all “changed”; not necessarily that it changed, but I was now focusing on studying — in higher education — in a very specific, niche area of music.
With pop and disco playing such a pivotal role in your musical upbringing — how did you find your experience of contemporary music institutions? Was that kind of poly-genre approach encouraged from you?
I find it interesting, with the whole “training as a composer.” When you go into education, there is a subtle pressure of having to be “contemporary enough”, or dissonant enough, atonal enough. I think every composer goes on this journey; where they start out fairly innocent, and they go on to study composition, become more “atonal” and really explore new ideas. Which is great, in a way — it’s good that you learn all these things, you push your limits — but then I think you come back round to a mixture of [an] advanced way of musical thinking, but also what you initially went into music for. I think through the arch, I’ve come out now with: Actually, I love 80s disco music, I love pop, and I’m not going to hide it from the classical world. I’m going to bring them together, I’m going to be very open about that.
Of course — what kind of attitudes helped you cement that approach?
When I reached Masters level, I just wanted to create music that I was proud of, and really do things that were of interest to me. That has remained with me after I graduated. Working on different projects — with Britten Sinfonia, the London Philharmonic, National Youth Choir — something you learn is that it’s really important who you work with. I’ve had great opportunities with these organisations where they genuinely like you for you, and they want to bring out your musical voice. I really feel that connection on all the projects I’m doing at the moment; you feel safe, then, to give your music to the world, because you know they respect it.
I’ve definitely gone through ups and downs, where I think “oh, can they [these genres] coexist together? Am I doing too many things?” — but at the end of the day, I just work project per project. Whatever I want to do at that time, I will do. There’s definitely similarities in my pieces, but generally, I always want to do something new. I’m not a strict, by-the-books composer where I only do one “thing”. I think part of that is because I like exploring all the time: if I’ve just done an opera, I want to do an orchestral piece next, then [I’ll] work with a jazz singer, then merge pop, musical theatre, and opera all in one — do a cross-genre popera. Once I’ve done one thing, I need to find something new and exciting to do; I don’t like repeating pieces. I think I have accepted to just “do what you want” — and [for me] those result in the best pieces, if you just follow what you want to do at the time.
In a similar vein to bringing in all of these different genres and genre-practices — particularly in ‘The Stepford Wife’ — do you take inspiration in the idea of pastiche? Is pastiche something that consciously resonates in your work?
It’s definitely a conscious approach. Even if I’m not directly referencing that era, I do think [that] extended jazz harmony is part of my harmonic language in general. I definitely like to be slightly comical, and play around in my music sometimes — and hope that people get the reference, or understand that I am referencing a certain era. I think especially in my vocal work — [in] the last two projects that I’ve done — I’ve found that I’m steering more towards slightly comical works. Still trying to engage an emotional response, and delivering a meaningful message — but keeping it light-hearted.
The last thing I did before the concerto was my cross-genre popera, called ‘Chronicles of Millennial Dating’. It follows the journey of a young girl in her 20s, trying to date on dating apps… and it just goes horribly wrong. Essentially, it’s really quite heartbreaking what she goes through, but I made sure that it’s quite comedic throughout, as well; demonstrating how ridiculous some of these encounters online can be, and how ridiculous it is to even try and connect with [these] people in real life. I think that’s a nice way to deliver something a bit heavier.
Absolutely. I think we often take ourselves far too seriously, as composers — we shy away from things that are more “fun”, or comedic.
I think I used to be a lot more “serious” as a composer. I wanted all my music to be really serious, and sophisticated, and “we can’t joke”… -laughs- [But] as I am evolving, I am definitely using pastiche more, making little references. Obviously, when there’s a topic behind it — like when working on these vocal projects — that’s a lot easier to clearly reference, because I am in a specific time period. However, I still find ways of doing it in my instrumental music that [isn’t] related to that. I have an orchestral piece called ‘Selini’s Sway’, where there’s a little cue [that] feels like it’s referencing a 50s jazz love song moment — for about ten seconds, and then it goes off into something a bit more contemporary.
I’m aware that it can be “cheesy”, or quirky, maybe. But I’ve got this new rule where: if the music feels like it wants to do that, then I have to let it do that. That’s a bit of advice that my undergraduate tutor, David Fennessy, gave me; he said “I can always tell when the music’s flowed out of you.” I was always terrified of something being cheesy, or not sophisticated [enough] — and when you go into the contemporary world, even just having tonality [can be] cheesy. You get so stuck in this mindset of “Oh no, I used a major chord, and now I’m not a contemporary composer…” — you find nice sounds terrifying. He really snapped me back into reality, and said: It’s fine! The music feels good, it wants to travel in that direction — let it do that. If it happens to go along the cheesy, comedic route, I let it do that now, without feeling guilty. -laughs-
Tell me more about your “popera”, ‘Chronicles of Millennial Dating’ — how did the concept initially come about?
I began doing it as part of my research during my Master’s. The ideal outcome was to have it presented as a final production; but because of venue booking clashes, it didn’t actually happen in that way. I have individual “scenes” and songs that I recorded throughout my research.
The research was about different vocal types, and different vocal trainings, coming together and delivering a cross-genre popera. The whole idea came about [because], one: I’ve always wanted to do a “Chronicles of Millennial Dating” opera, or theatre production — but [also] because I’m a classically trained singer, and I also do pop, I have a specific vocal type that I like. That’s a fluffy, light soprano sound — in pop, you would describe that more as a falsetto type tone, as opposed to the heavy, “operatic” sound. I particularly love the vocal styles of Kate Bush and Deniece Williams.
How important were ideas of accessibility in that research, for you?
I was researching the opera world, [and] sometimes, there’s disconnect there. People feel they can’t digest an opera for multiple reasons. Sometimes that’s due to lack of clarity in the speech, with all the over-used vibrato; then there’s also the opposite side in musical theatre, where people find it cheesy, and it’s hard to take seriously — because it’s so flamboyant, and very different in its delivery. I just thought [that] there’s no “pop” in the theatre world: we’ve got opera, we’ve got MT, and they sometimes blend — they feather into each other — but we don’t have pop vocalists joining the club. I wanted to break that, and explore that; by either having them co-exist under one production, or find specific vocalists who have more of a “hybrid” vocal.
It is [all] written — it’s just a case of tweaking the storyline slightly, and finding the right setting to deliver it to the world. In one of the experiments, I had an MT tenor voice singing with an operatic mezzo-soprano — and they actually blend really well as a duet. It suits the different characters, too. You’ve got this overly-dramatic mezzo-soprano who’s really frustrated by her dating experiences — but then you have the flamboyant MT tenor, who’s the heartbreaker. It’s really nice having these different vocal styles coming together. I thought it might feel weird, but it doesn’t; you don’t question it. I think it really works in enhancing their characters.
When you’re composing, what role does the voice, or “your” voice, have in your process?
Obviously, [with] any soloist, or vocalist — the voice is so personal to you. Definitely when I was younger, I had this thing where I only liked light sopranos with high registers… -laughs- Which is the area of music that I could sing, and that I enjoyed singing. I’m a high soprano — I’ve got quite a coloratura voice — and I used to love singing operettas, light opera. Previously, whatever vocal project I was doing at the time, I always wanted the soloist to be that kind of soprano — because that’s what I [was] used to, it’s “my” voice. But that has changed as the years have gone on. I [now] love working with soloists for who they are, and for their voices. Emma [Smith], she’s an alto, and an amazing jazz vocalist — it’s the complete opposite end of my voice — but I love it, I’m just amazed by it, and I’ve loved writing for it.
I think it’s also [related to] growing as a composer, and knowing who your collaborators are. Maybe when you’re younger, things feel a lot more personal to you — whereas as you grow in the industry, you realise [that] this is a collaborative process. If I really elevate my soloist, that will make the piece way better than if I strictly stick to what I want. I’ve come to discover that collaboration makes the best results. Making sure that you’re doing everything you can to elevate whoever you’re working with is what will get you the best results.
How has your approach to the voice, generally, related to how you work with different vocal styles and trainings?
I definitely still cross styles. A lot of my projects come in the form of something that is a multi-genre experience, a cross-genre experience — quite literally, with jazz [vocalists] and contemporary [instrumentation], or pop coming into the opera world. I definitely openly blend them. The same goes with pop: I like to come up with more extended harmonies in my pop songs, I like to bring in my high register from my classical training into the pop world to create something a bit more ethereal.
How much of a role does the physical voice play during your compositional process?
A lot! Piano is my other disciplinary instrument — so I definitely work in a very tactile way. Improvising through piano and voice is a big approach of how I compose; I will improvise at the piano, I’ll sing “oohs” and sounds above that… -laughs- My voice notes are jam-packed with me singing and playing lots of sketches.
I’d say that’s my main method. But sometimes I do sit down in a more “traditional” manner: seeing the score — especially if it’s for orchestra, seeing the instrumentation laid out — and getting into the mindset and physicality of individual instruments. That will influence the type of material that I create. It depends on the piece. I do like staring at a blank score in silence, and creating a bit more with my inner ear; with what I know an instrument can do, and can achieve. Yes, it’s great playing something at the piano and singing — but that can’t be reflected in every instrument. So you’ve got to tweak and change things.
Talking about your blending of genres, and pastiche — tell me more about your synergies between pop and contemporary music styles. Where has this blending of styles taken you as a composer, and where do you see your trajectory going?
I’ve had this constant battle of: should I try and keep coexisting in all these forms, or should I compartmentalise my music? That’s something I keep revisiting. In an ideal world, I would love to be Crystalla who does everything — and hope that people like it. But I know that’s hard to maintain; it’s hard to maintain interest from everyone when you’re constantly doing so many things. If people are specifically there for your contemporary composition, and they have to see your “pop” stuff, or stuff outside of being an composer — performing, conducting, music directing work — it can be a concern on how you present yourself. How reliable you are in delivering certain things.
I’m trying to stay authentic. I’m trying to keep them coexisting with each other. I don’t literally, completely merge the two; they are slightly compartmentalised. I just bring in influences from both into each other. When I’m in pop, my main focus is pop, but it’s got a couple of classical influences; when I’m in the contemporary classical world, my main focus is that, but I’ll take inspiration from other things.
Moving forward, I just want to keep engaging in projects that interest me. A lot of the time, this involves a blended world of genres. At the moment, I’m assistant music director for a concert that’s happening [at] the Royal Festival Hall. That’s on the 15th March1, with a 90s dance artist called Sonique. There’s also going to be Rozalla and Baby D singing some of their songs there. Really 90s, upbeat music; but we’re incorporating a more “classical” arrangement in the mix, with string players, and a choir. Even when I’m working on a “pop” production, I like to bring in classical elements.
In your experience, how much scope do you feel there is within that crossover?
There are a lot of pop artists that are craving that. Look at RAYE for example, with her new album, where she put on a massive show at the Royal Albert Hall with the Heritage Orchestra. I think a lot of pop is craving this realness, which you don’t often get — and I always enjoy that: “yes, they’re using real instruments!”
So moving forward, [I’m] trying to get involved in projects where I’m allowed to bring both of my skillsets to the table. Where if I’m working with a pop artist, I can elevate that with my classical knowledge; and if I’m working in the classical world, coming up with fresh ideas that relate to a broader audience, that aren’t strictly in the contemporary composition world. I want my mum, for example — who isn’t classically trained, or into contemporary music — I want to be able to show her my piece, and feel something from that, relate to the context of it, or just hear something and enjoy it. I want my composition world to be approachable not just by composition peers, but a wider audience.
Of course. I’m really reminded of Oliver Leith’s opera ‘Last Days’ that sold out at the Royal Opera House a while back, and how that brought in collaborations with folks such as Caroline Polachek and Balenciaga. That really showed me that there are certainly ways to reach audiences while still being “contemporary”…
Because “contemporary” isn’t just about being atonal, or dissonant. There’s so many ways you can be fresh, and different, and have a unique voice. That’s part of why I wanted to do my popera, as well. [As] part of my research, I did public surveys and asked questions from a broad group of people — classical peers, pop peers, my more “fluid” musical friends who like everything — [and] something that came up was that they didn’t feel welcome in the opera world. That’s one of the reasons they didn’t go and watch it.
And also, the delivery of music: in the pop world, a lot of [the music] is record[ed]. You stream it on Spotify, you listen to it on your travels. Sure, if they do a tour, you’ll go to their concert; it’s very interactive, the audience is shouting and singing along and cheering, they’re fans of this artist. It’s the same in musical theatre: there’s cheers between each song, the soloist has their moment and everyone rewards that. Sometimes, there’s audience engagement [as well]. Whereas in the opera world, you need absolute silence. You can’t clap, or speak, at the wrong time. Obviously, not every production is the same, and not every company is the same — but I think there is that slight disconnect there.
Something else I looked at (when I was doing my cross-genre popera) was the fact that in the pop world, you’re also following a specific artist, and it feels very personal. Half their songs might not even be written by them — they might have no connection to it at all — but they are presenting as themselves, on this personal journey through their songs.
For you, how do you see this synergy between pop and classical taking place — and what attitudes do you feel need to change?
Not everyone has the same opinion… -laughs- I don’t want to generalise. But I think every industry and genre has their preconceptions. The average listener of pop music will have their preconceptions of contemporary music. But likewise, in the classical world, there is a preconception that pop is really basic, [and] there’s no authenticity, there’s no creativity — but just like the classical world, the pop world is extremely broad.
It’s so hard to say “pop” as an umbrella term. There are also some really theatrical artists who I love, who have that “classical-esque” sound in pop — artists like Kate Bush, Queen, and Abba who really brought theatre into their music. You know, Kate Bush is groundbreaking and [has] made history as the first female artist to achieve a UK number one with a self-written, self-produced and performed song — she was one of the first pop artists to wear a headset mic and brought contemporary dance, and movement, into her music. And people connected with that. People love her. The resurgence in popularity amongst younger generations of her song ‘Running Up That Hill’ — which was featured in Stranger Things — is proof that she created timeless art that still resonates today.
I mentioned RAYE earlier: she has just won 6 Brit awards for her album My 21st Century Blues, and her orchestral version of the album performed at the Royal Albert Hall with Anna Lapwood featured on the organ — incorporating big band jazz, operatic theatrics, beautiful classical orchestrations. She is a good example of someone who is trying to show that music has no rules; we don’t need to be put into one box. I think every industry has its stereotypes, but clearly people do appreciate these crossovers. If you just remove all the rules, I think we all kind of like everything. But we’re told not to — we’re given a false image of something.
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Learn more about Crystalla and her practice as the following links:
- http://crystalla.co.uk/
- https://soundcloud.com/crystalla-lola-serghiou
- https://www.instagram.com/crystallalola/
Learn more about Crystalla’s recent collaborations with Britten Sinfonia, London Philharmonic Orchestra, and National Youth Choir:
- https://www.brittensinfonia.com/stories/getting-to-know-crystalla-serghiou
- https://lpo.org.uk/project/young-composers/#meet-the-composers-5
- https://www.nycgb.org.uk/young-composers-2024
References/Links:
- RAYE at the Royal Albert Hall (2024), BBC
- Andrew Clements, ‘Last Days review — Leith’s opera is bleak and beautiful’ (2022), The Guardian
- Kate Bush – ‘Running Up That Hill’ (1985)
- Tara Bitran and John Dilillo, ‘Why Max’s Favorite Song on ‘Stranger Things’ Is Now No. 1 on iTunes’ (2023), Tudum
- RAYE – My 21st Century Blues (2023), Human Re Sources
- Our conversation with Crystalla took place a month before the 15th March concert at the Royal Festival Hall. ↩︎
