No bull, we must give our kids a passion for the arts

OPERA star Christine Rice fears social media has made it harder for young people to focus on longer art forms such as theatre or novels.

- By Jaymi McCann

The mezzo-soprano has taken on some of the greatest roles in theatre in her decades-long career but now has concerns for the future of her industry.

The mother of four said: "Social media is one of the ways the longer art forms might suffer - novels and plays or operas - if they're two or three hours long.

"Younger people are not used to just being in one story for one time, because they'll be home-working, listening to music, watching something on Netflix and also going through their phone at the same time.

"So there's this divided focus, just in case the other thing is more interesting."

Christine, 54, from Manchester, is starring as Phaedra in the Royal Opera and Royal Ballet's Phaedra + Minotaur, which opens at the Linbury Theatre in London on Thursday.

This is her second time in the role and she is excited to take on the challenge again.

Despite her huge talent, her school career adviser told her as a teenager that she would "never get a job in the arts", and should focus on science instead.