Young tenor David Shaw is an unlikely spokesman for Sussex opera house Glyndebourne.

He was brought up in a sporting household and had trials for Manchester United and Oldham Athletic.

By his late teens he had to decide whether he wanted to pursue a cricketing career (he played for Lancashire U17s and U19s) or to follow his dream of singing professionally.

He opted for the latter. Nowadays he divides his time between Manchester and Uckfield, which is his base for Glyndebourne Festival season.

“Glyndebourne has made a big effort to bring in different types of people,” explains the 28-year-old in his thick Lancastrian accent as we chat a few days before tickets for the opera house’s 2014 seaons go on sale.

“There has been this stereotype and perception that it’s elitist.

“I’ve found opera in general is trying to dismiss this. Certainly Glyndebourne is going to be doing lots of things over the festival to bring in different audiences.”

He points out live streams from the main house, which will be screened to cinemas across the world as well as to movie screens in Uckfield and Brighton. Then there are the cheap ticket deals for under-30s.

Shaw’s mates have been to see him perform – and above all, he adds, they were surprised. “It was a mixed bag with lots of different reactions. It is broad entertainment: there is music, singing, drama and movement, all on stage.

“If we are moved by it on stage, and if we are doing our jobs correctly, then the audience are going to be moved by it too.

“There is a lot more to it than you might imagine. My advice is just to try it.”

Shaw admits he’s not from the “opera world” and had never heard of Glyndebourne until he went to music school, which meant getting a place at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester was a drama.

Shaw had his big break when a former teacher put him forward for documentary TV show I Want To Be Pavarotti.

At the time, he was icing buns in an Oldham supermarket to help pay for his singing lessons. Three wannabe opera singers from different backgrounds were picked for the show, which Shaw starred in when he was only 17. Robert Alderson, principal vocal tutor at the Royal Northern College of Music took the students through their paces as they tried to get a place at the prestigious establishment.

One, Mario Chalilopoulos, who had previously been booted off Pop Idol after Pete Waterman told him, “I’ve seen frogs with more talent”, was unemployed. The other, Mike Bracegirdle, who is still singing professionally, quit a £150,000 a year financial services job to follow his dream.

Ten years on and Shaw wonders when a call is going to come in from TV producers for a follow-up. It’s certainly something he’s expected.

“It’d be interesting. Mike Bracegirdle is still singing around the London scene. But the other guy is a car salesman. He’s definitely not singing.”

Should the TV execs get in touch, they’d hear that Shaw in now in his fifth Glyndebourne season. He’s just back from performing a production of Billy Budd to audiences in New York and has roles in four of the six productions for Glyndebourne Festival 2014, which runs from Saturday, May 17, to Sunday, August 24.

As a member of the chorus, he’ll sing in Richard Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier, Pytor Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Don Giovanni. In Giuseppe Verdi’s La Traviata, he’ll play the role of Giuseppe.

“It’s a tiny role but I get to go on stage and sing as a soloist as opposed to singing in a chorus, which is still amazing, but it is nice to stand on your own two feet.

“Rosenkavalier and Onegin, on the other hand, are good chorus pieces and it’ll be great to work with the directors and conductors for those.”

Israeli conductor Omer Meir Wellber makes his UK and Glyndebourne debut with a revival of Graham Vick’s 1994 production of Eugene Onegin.

Richard Jones directs a new production of Der Rosenkavalier with Robin Ticciati conducting London Philharmonic Orchestra. It will be his first production as Glyndebourne’s new music director (he takes over from Vladimir Jurowski).

Other productions in the season are Mozart’s La Finta Giardiniera and George Frideric Handel’s Rinaldo.

The two Mozart productions continue the house’s long-running love for the German’s work.

“It’s a balanced season,” says Shaw. “There are three new productions, two popular revivals and Handel’s Rinaldo, which is a different genre.”

He recommends opera newbies try La Traviata.

“It’s always a good one even if you don’t know much because it is easy listening and you’ll recognise some of the tunes.”