Can Karl Loxley make classical music cool? |
I’m backstage with classical crossover singer Karl Loxley and his pianist Tim Abel at Stratford-Upon-Avon’s Rother Street Arts House. The sound and lighting team are setting up in the empty theatre for what will be one of the final shows in Loxley’s ‘Songs of Christmas’ tour. Since 2015, when Loxley sung Puccini’s ‘Nessun Dorma’ on the TV talent show The Voice, he’s been on a mission to make classical music cool. I’m here to see exactly what that involves – and if he’s succeeding.
Loxley is charming, expansive and – at least when I interview him, a couple of hours before showtime – relaxed. Appearing on The Voice, he tells me, was ‘a very nerve-wracking experience. I don’t think I would have the nerve to do it now. I think when I was 24, going on there, I didn’t really have such anxiety or nerves, I just kind of went for it’. Ten years on, with three albums to his name and millions of fans on Spotify and YouTube, he still gets nervous: ‘I like to play characters. I like to not be Karl, but play a role. Then suddenly, when you’re doing concerts, it’s very exposing because it’s you, it’s your personality, you can’t hide behind anyone.’
Loxley discovered his talent for........