{"version":1,"type":"rich","provider_name":"Libsyn","provider_url":"https:\/\/www.libsyn.com","height":90,"width":600,"title":"Nicky Spence - Tenor","description":"Nicky began his musical journey in Dumfries in Scotland, staying late after school singing Elaine Paige at pitch and tinkling on the piano until the cleaners threw him out. With ideas of becoming the Michael Ball of Dumfries, a singing teacher recognised his talent and pointed him towards Guildhall in London, so he jumped on the Megabus and auditioned at the tender age of sixteen. A self-confessed \u2018rough diamond\u2019 when he first arrived, Nicky began his training at Guildhall, and soon won a record deal with Decca Records, and found himself marketed as \u2018The Scottish Tenor\u2019, touring the country with Katherine Jenkins, singing with Shirley Bassey and chatting on TV with Lorraine Kelly among other extraordinary and surreal experiences.  However, he recognised that it wasn\u2019t quite the path he wanted for himself, and he returned to his training, going on to the National Opera Studio and to become an inaugural Harwood Young Artist at English National Opera.  Nicky is now at the heart and soul of the international opera scene, singing all over the world on the most prestigious stages, even right now he is simultaneously working at the Royal Opera House & English National Opera in London. Alongside his thriving international career, he\u2019s also an ambassador for Help Musicians UK, who helped support him on his operatic journey when he didn\u2019t have a bean. Find out more about Nicky on his website here and through his agent here Find out about Help Musicians UK here   ","author_name":"The Opera Pod","author_url":"http:\/\/theoperapod.libsyn.com\/website","html":"