The RCS – Hugh S Roberton Scots Song Competition

The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland Hugh S Roberton Scots Song competition is a very popular event at our conservatoire. It took place today at the RCS Ledger Recital room starting at 1400.

It was great to learn two traditional Scottish songs, the pieces I chose were:

MacMillan – ‘Scots Song’ 1991 and an adaption of a poem by Carolina Oliphant – ‘The Laird O’ Cockpen’

I was accompanied on piano in the competition by third year student George Todica from Romania.

It was an open competition featuring around 20 students who all performed their favourite two traditional Scots songs.  The competition was running a little ahead of schedule and when I approached the room for my ten minute call I was asked to go straight on.  I announced my songs to give me a bit of breathing space.  I really enjoyed the performance space and the audience was fabulous and seemed to enjoy my songs.

I have put a video of me performing “Scots Song” at the Kathleen Ferrier Competition and I do hope you enjoy it. Since the recording I have been working on the bottom range of the song to try and improve my performance and it did feel a little better today.

The winner of today’s competition was my good friend Christian Schneeberger a tenor on the Master’s program at RCS

ScottsSongWinner
Christian Schneeberger ( Winner )

 

and second place went to Kenneth Reid from the Opera school both fabulous performances and I was elated to be awarded third place for my performance.  I will continue to work on these songs and try my best to perfect them,

Upcoming performances, keep an eye on my events page on facebook and I’d appreciate it if you could like my page if you haven’t already 😉 and if you have thank you very much.

On Saturday 30th November 2013 I will be at the Bowdon Festival in Cheshire.

On Friday 6th December 2013 I am performing at Cumbernauld Church in Glasgow.

On Saturday 7th December 2013 I will be singing at a Marie Curie Cancer Care event organised by my friend Alex McFadden in memory of Jim Clark at Roslin, Midlothian (near Edinburgh).  I will be singing two solos and a duet with Marcus Kitchen.

On Tuesday 10th December 2013 I will be singing with the Les Sirenes Female Chamber Choir at St Mary’s Cathedral in Glasgow.

58 thoughts on “The RCS – Hugh S Roberton Scots Song Competition”

    1. Thanks Dan, I’m really happy you enjoyed my song. You should see some of the hard working people at my Conservatoire most of the pianists practise 10 hours per day and enter competitions regularly. I’m learning my words today for some new repertoire, I’ve been asked to sing at a wedding soon which is very exciting.

      Best wishes
      Charlotte

      Reply

  2. Wonderful, you are coming up the straight. I wish the singing world weren’t quite so competitive, but since it is, you are tackling it the right way and becoming familiar with the pattern of these events and the stresses at just the right stage. Great that you can take a song that already did so well at one competition and hear where is could be improved and you clearly succeeded for the next.

    Reply

    1. Hi Hilary, The RCS is very good at creative collaborations and getting artists to work together on projects so I don’t feel that it is a competitive environment on a regular basis. I went to a school where competitive events were few and far between so going to music festivals really helped to prepare me for auditions and singing events. I listen back to old recordings now and think oh gosh that could have been better so there is always room for improvement when I’m learning so much each month that passes.

      All my best wishes
      Charlotte

      Reply

  10. (clapclapclapclapclapclapclapclapclapclapclapclapclapclapclapclapclapclap) That was really awesome! Congratulations! It reminds me of the song, “Into the West” from the film, “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.” Excellent. I keep wondering how you’re able to sing like this.

    Reply

    1. Hi Eric, I’m glad your blog link is working now. I’ll take a listen to that Into the West. I’m going to post some video clips of me soon as a young child singing so that you can see the progress and have a chuckle, I have one video of me dressed as a reindeer.

      Best wishes
      Charlotte

      Reply

    1. Hi Terry, all of the singers at the RCS are fabulous so I enjoy these competitions just for the pure joy of singing to an audience you know I love the applause 😉

      All the best
      Charlotte

      Reply

  13. Well Done Charlotte.!!

    Although we read all your weekly blogs, we don’t get round to leaving a reply but please keep them coming, we love hearing about everything you’re doing.

    Looking forward to seeing you at Bowden..

    Reply

  17. Beautiful voice, great performance. Congratulations on third place. The fist and second places must have be phenomenal performances, as your performance was outstanding.

    Reply

    1. I got a lot of help with the Scottish word pronunciation from Rob’s Mum, very grateful to her, listen to it a few times it’ll grow on you ;). “not bad for a sasanach” lol
      See you soon,
      Charlotte x

      Reply

  23. Wow!
    Love your composure on stage and the concentration.
    This one subtly transports us into another world. Great job and third place to boot!
    Congratulations!
    Love the poem by Carolina Oliphant. This is what I love about blogging: you always learn something.

    03:23 to the end: wow… goosebumps…

    Reply

    1. Hi Phillip, I’m working a lot on my presentation this year. I like to watch the videos back so that I can see what the audience sees not what I imagine in my head.
      Thank you best wishes
      Charlotte

      Reply

  25. Well done Charlotte in the comp, looking forward to seeing and hearing you on Saturday.Best Wishes

    Reply
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  27. Pingback: The Laird O’Cockpen « Charlotte Hoather

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