Born in Scotland, Eleanor Forbes completed a degree in German studies before attending the Royal College of Music to study singing. Her performing experience includes opera, oratorio, recitals, chamber music and choral music, and her repertoire is wide and varied, covering several different vocal genres. She also gained experience as a voice-over speaker for Deutsche Welle tv.
She has been based in Germany since 1986. Her long teaching career has involved work with jazz, pop and musical theatre singers as well as classical, and many of her students have developed successful careers. She also enjoys working with choirs and small groups.
A member of the board of the German Voice Teachers’ Association from 2014-2018, she is also a qualified teacher (EMT) of Estill Voice Training and has frequently sat on the jury panel for Jugend musiziert, Germany’s young musicians’ competition. She has given lectures and teaching demonstrations/masterclasses at conferences and colleges in Germany and abroad. Eleanor currently teaches freelance, e.g. at the Jazz Institute Berlin, where she was appointed honorary professor in 2010. From 2007-2019 she taught at the University of Music in Dresden and from 2011-2016 at Stage Entertainment’s Joop van den Ende Academy in Hamburg. Her main interest lies in the dissemination of knowledge about healthy vocal technique, free of aesthetic bias, serving artistic expression.
