Dr Dionysios Kyropoulos is a professional life, career and academic coaching for people with ADHD. Before his transition to coaching, he built a wide-ranging portfolio career as a performer, stage director, teacher and researcher. This website is a repository of his research and artistic work.
Dionysios started his career as an opera singer before becoming a stage director. He read music at City University London whilst receiving performance tuition at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, he was awarded an MPhil in Music Studies from the University of Cambridge, he worked as a research fellow at Harvard University’s Theatre Collection, and he earned a doctorate from the University of Oxford. In parallel to his coaching practice he currently maintains his academic role as Professor of Historical Performance and Academic Studies at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama.
Dionysios started his career as an opera singer before becoming a stage director. He read music at City University London whilst receiving performance tuition at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, he was awarded an MPhil in Music Studies from the University of Cambridge, he worked as a research fellow at Harvard University’s Theatre Collection, and he earned a doctorate from the University of Oxford. In parallel to his coaching practice he currently maintains his academic role as Professor of Historical Performance and Academic Studies at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama.
Teaching Acting to Singers
Left: a plate from Le Brun’s Méthode (1702) depicting the passion ‘anger mixed with fear’. Right: Jenny Ashworth portraying the same passion in a production of Pergolesi's Livietta e Tracollo directed by Dionysios in June 2014. Photo by Johannes Hjorth.
This research project is the culmination of twelve years of Dionysios’ teaching and performance practice, and constitutes a new method for the dramatic training of classical singers. His thesis, Teaching Acting to Singers: Harnessing Historical Techniques to Empower Modern Performers (DPhil Thesis, University of Oxford, 2023), is available in open access at the Oxford Research Archive.
The newly developed teaching method is based on 150 historical treatises covering gesture, rhetoric, emotions, personality, and aesthetics. It has been carefully shaped through the integration of modern pedagogy and theatrical practices, with the aim of providing singers with a comprehensive set of innovative and specialised tools for creating powerful and captivating dramatic performances.
This research serves as a testament to the power of historical acting techniques and their alignment with the needs of classical singers. It emphasises the pursuit of beautiful yet powerful performances that convey vivid emotions and dramatic character while maintaining inner composure and control. This long exploration of historical acting has revealed a wealth of ideas and techniques that resonate particularly well with the craft of classical singing.
Through his doctoral research, Dionysios aimed to explore the potential integration of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century acting techniques with contemporary theory and practice, resulting in modern acting tools tailored to the dramatic training of classical singers. He contends that these historical techniques are especially suitable for singers and can yield positive outcomes even within limited timeframes, challenging the predominant focus on vocal elements in classical singing curricula.
The theoretical foundations of Dionysios’ research draw from a diverse range of treatises published between 1528 and 1832 across Europe, as well as contextual investigations into the London stage during the first half of the eighteenth century. By merging historical insights with modern theatrical practices and studies in pedagogy, drama and psychology, he formulates new techniques refined through practical application in teaching settings.
The new teaching method aims to equip singers with an extensive repertoire of innovative and specialised tools to enhance their preparation and performance in the visual domain, including movement and gesture. While particularly suited for pre-1900 operatic repertoire, these skills apply to performances from any era. Dionysios envisions that this method’s broad applicability and tailored development for the conservatoire curriculum could significantly enhance the provision of acting training for classical singers.
The newly developed teaching method is based on 150 historical treatises covering gesture, rhetoric, emotions, personality, and aesthetics. It has been carefully shaped through the integration of modern pedagogy and theatrical practices, with the aim of providing singers with a comprehensive set of innovative and specialised tools for creating powerful and captivating dramatic performances.
This research serves as a testament to the power of historical acting techniques and their alignment with the needs of classical singers. It emphasises the pursuit of beautiful yet powerful performances that convey vivid emotions and dramatic character while maintaining inner composure and control. This long exploration of historical acting has revealed a wealth of ideas and techniques that resonate particularly well with the craft of classical singing.
Through his doctoral research, Dionysios aimed to explore the potential integration of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century acting techniques with contemporary theory and practice, resulting in modern acting tools tailored to the dramatic training of classical singers. He contends that these historical techniques are especially suitable for singers and can yield positive outcomes even within limited timeframes, challenging the predominant focus on vocal elements in classical singing curricula.
The theoretical foundations of Dionysios’ research draw from a diverse range of treatises published between 1528 and 1832 across Europe, as well as contextual investigations into the London stage during the first half of the eighteenth century. By merging historical insights with modern theatrical practices and studies in pedagogy, drama and psychology, he formulates new techniques refined through practical application in teaching settings.
The new teaching method aims to equip singers with an extensive repertoire of innovative and specialised tools to enhance their preparation and performance in the visual domain, including movement and gesture. While particularly suited for pre-1900 operatic repertoire, these skills apply to performances from any era. Dionysios envisions that this method’s broad applicability and tailored development for the conservatoire curriculum could significantly enhance the provision of acting training for classical singers.