Before the end of January I thought I’d write a musical review of 2015, If you want to read a little more from each post click on each of the pictures.
I started the year with an exciting announcement that I’d entered an open audition to play the role of ‘Eve’ in Jonathan Dove’s opera ‘The Walk from the Garden’ with Scottish Opera Connect to be performed in April 2015. I was so happy when I was told that I had been cast in the role of Eve, It was such a brilliant experience and enhanced my love for performing opera.
I released an album of my music at the end of 2014 of the songs I learnt in my first two years at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and posted some of my research into each song which you can recap by clicking on the cd cover if you missed them.
For my January 2015 exam I’d learnt four American Folk Songs by Aaron Copland later I recorded them for you to listen to and then added them to the bottom of the post. They are full of life and energy which is why I really enjoy singing them. If you click on the picture it takes you to the post about Aaron Copland and the link to my SoundCloud page.
I was training for my role of Eve with the International soprano and teacher Judith Howarth and she agreed to an interview for my blog. Judy is my vocal tutor for my fourth year and I’m learning some very technically challenging pieces at the moment in a new style which I’ll tell you more about when I can do them justice. I am thrilled by the challenge and I’m looking forward to preparing them for performance.
In March I sang the American folk songs in the judging interval of the Bruce Millar Gulliver Singing Prize along with ‘Rossini’s Cat Duet’ with Jessica Hurst, we went on to perform this in ‘The Christmas Cracker’ at The Glasgow Royal Concert Hall in December. I was asked to stand in at short notice for the RCS Opera production in February and the 4th March was opening night of ‘Dido and Aeneas’ I was the First Witch, great fun. As a member of Les Sirenes Female Chamber Choir we recorded a new cd.
April was fabulous I sang in the RCS Chamber Choir at St.Mary’s Cathedral in Glasgow and the following day was opening night of ‘The Walk from the Garden’. I met Pascal Barnier the photographic artist who creates my fabulous banners and cd cover.
In May 2015 I was part of the ensemble in the RCS Opera ‘Sir John in Love’ we had great fun check out the photos. As a member of Les Sirenes we performed Mendelssohns’ Midsummer Nights Dream with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, a 5⭐️ review from The Herald for both productions.
I was invited to sing at a magnificent fund raising event for The Greater Manchester Chief Constables Ball see photos from the evening.
Then to round off an exciting month George Todica and I auditioned and gained a place in the Grieg International masterclass in Bergen, Norway:
In June I spent an enjoyable week training at The Fife Youth Arts Hub on its pilot project
and at the end of the month I was La Zia and understudy for Kate in Madama Butterfly at Bowdon Festival Opera in Cheshire.
I’ll put the second half of my ‘2015 Music Review’ post on Wednesday, and hopefully I’ll finish my ‘Cosi Fan Tutti’ review from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland’s opera production that I went to see last night ready for next weekend, if you’re near Glasgow I’d recommend you watch the production, there are shows Monday 18th, Friday 22nd and Saturday 23rd January.
I have a busy week ahead, a ballet exam tomorrow eek (it’s been a long time since I’ve done one of those), an audition, rehearsals, preparation for my exams, and I’m also singing for pianist and friend Alex Standing’s exams.