Emma Kirkby talks to the webmistress

It's often said in concert programme notes that Emma Kirkby never intended to become a professional singer. Perhaps that's one of the reasons why she hasn't acquired that diva-like air of so many of the 'stars' of the musical world. She's done her time in the chorus, having sung in student choirs and never quite losing perspective of what's important - such as giving young people the opportunity to make music.

She clearly feels strongly about how government education policy has affected the provision for music teaching in schools. "I think it's so important to catch children's interest in music early. People like Susan Digby and the Voices Foundation are doing something about it - giving primary school teachers the confidence to teach music." For someone who was once an English teacher it's not surprising that Emma feels this way. I told her I had recently heard it said that amateur choral singing was a dying tradition, and she was horrified.

"I hope not! Although things are probably harder now for choirs. There's more competition for funding now. I was lucky - in the early days of the Taverner Choir, we were a mixture of professionals and amateurs. In that kind of situation the members of the choir take on solo roles rather than having to pay for professionals to come in from outside. And I do think actually that the price of concert tickets hasn't risen enough over the years!"

It's an interesting point which got me thinking - have market forces kept down the price of tickets, so that without major sponsorship choirs can do little to survive? The consequences are clear: the 'successful' choirs get funding for the 'popular' concerts, the audience gets used to paying a subsidised ticket price, and little-known or new works rarely get performed because no-one wants to pay more to hear something unfamiliar. And the special nature of a live concert performance is something upon which Emma Kirkby puts a high price.

Does she really prefer singing live to making a recording? "I enjoy both, but no recorded version can ever match the live experience. I get a little disappointed when people want to make CDs of performances - a live performance is such a unique moment, you can't capture on a disc all the things that go into it - the venue, the time of day, the audience mood and so forth."

This turned the conversation to a subject close to all would-be soloists' hearts - performance nerves. She admits she has never suffered from 'crippling' nerves, but with a little prompting she was happy to share her thoughts on how to combat them.

There are things you can do, certainly. Waiting for your entry is the hardest part. You have to put something else in your head! If you simply listen to what's going on and let the music fill you up, let your senses go out - that's the best thing. There are exercises too - I find yoga or stretching exercises help. And there's something called 'Brain Gym' for example, which is supposed to get your left and right brain working together. The aim is to counteract that 'disembodied' feeling you can get when you're nervous.

The good thing about all of these techniques is that they are things you can do before a performance... in silence - I think there's nothing worse than the audience hearing the sounds of warming up coming from the green room!" That surprised me - no vocal warm-up before performing?

"I think it's your mental and physical state that's important," she continued. "The voice itself shouldn't need warming up. And quite often you have to stay silent for some time in the concert hall before you sing anyway - and factors like the temperature may be different - so I don't see the point. If you get a 'frog' in the throat, my advice is to sing through it, not to cough. Coughing can be a very harsh way to clear a frog - just sing through the frog and let it pop out! Unless it's a recording, it doesn't matter."

Ah yes.. recordings. I had to remind myself momentarily that this friendly, chatty woman was indeed Emma Kirkby, world-famous soprano who has been described as 'one of the treasures of the world of music' and whose beautiful voice rings out from well over a hundred recordings.

It was probably a pretty hackneyed question but I wondered if she had a favourite. "Well I did recently make a recording with the London Baroque, of Handel church music. That was very special because we've played together for many years, but were never allowed to record together due to contractual reasons. So that was lovely. And yesterday I took part in a recording of the newly discovered work by Handel, 'Gloria in Excelsis Deo', which was very exciting to be involved in.

Finally, I had to ask the question that everyone in the Esterhazy Chamber Choir wanted to know: what did she think of our performance of 'Dido and Aeneas'? And what brought her to the Lewes Festival?

"The band and the choir were very good.. and your Sorceress was marvellous - I thought she had a stunning voice! Before this year I confess I didn't know of the Lewes Festival. But my parents lived in Lewes for many years. My mother was still living very happily there until last October when she had to move out (like a lot of people) because of the flooding. And my sister lives in Brighton, so I've got to know the area over the years."

Well that was good enough for me. The concert was one of the best attended of the festival, despite it being late on a Wednesday night. Everyone seemed genuinely buzzed at the end -it really did feel like a 'unique moment', as Emma Kirkby described it. For once, it felt as if 'Dido and Aeneas' had finished happily.