Hervé Goffings

Hervé Goffings is a native French speaker and French language coach specialising in opera and classical singing. Based in London, he works with professional singers, young artists and conservatoire students on French diction and pronunciation, text, interpretation and performance.

Hervé is a French language coach at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire and for the Jette Parker Artists Programme at the Royal Ballet & Opera. He also works at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama and has coached singers for the Royal Danish Opera, Welsh National Opera, Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet Theatre, Opera Holland Park, BBC Singers and BBC Symphony Chorus. He has also given French repertoire masterclasses in Mexico, most recently at the Estudio de Ópera de Mérida.

Hervé studied classical singing at the Royal Northern College of Music before gaining an MA in Musical Theatre (Performance) at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. His background as a singer, actor and theatre director plays an important role in his approach to language coaching.

While accurate pronunciation is fundamental, Hervé encourages singers to approach French as both musical and dramatic text. His coaching combines diction and the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) with an exploration of meaning, character and dramatic intention, helping singers connect the language naturally to the music and performance.