Oratorio Choir

  Helensburgh Oratorio Choir Winter Warmer Programme 2021 Our sixth and final guest in our ‘Winter Warmers’ on Tuesday 30th March was Soprano Lorna Anderson. With her close ties to Helensburgh and the Oratorio, it was like being treated to a cup of tea with your favourite friend as she started to recall memories from her earliest days and tell us about how she started on the road to stardom as a world-renowned Soprano. Born in Dunbeath, a beautiful village, located on the East Coast of Scotland in the County of Caithness, just 30 miles South of John O'Groats, Lorna recalled the records she used to listen to on her parents’ old gramophone/radio player. (We had one of those too!). It was mostly traditional Scottish songs and the wonderful Irish Tenor, John McCormack records. She played us a track ‘ I love a Lassie’ from The White Heather Club collection. That had all our toes tapping! It was her Father’s job as a policeman which brought her to Dumbarton round the age of 2. Alt...

  Helensburgh Oratorio Choir Helensburgh Oratorio Choir Winter Warmer Programme 2021 For our fifth offering in the series of 6 ‘Winter Warmers’ on Tuesday 16th March, we welcomed our own Musical Director, Susannah Wapshott and her professional Baritone husband, David Stout, to our screens. The title for the evening was ‘The history of the Baritone’. Both musicians have made their mark on the world stage. We were delighted to discover last year that Susie had been successful in her application to the famous Hart Institute at the Dallas Opera! The Dallas Opera’s Hart Institute, launched in 2015, is the only program of its kind in the world and seeks to address the extreme gender imbalance of leadership on the podium in opera companies. Now in its sixth year, more than 500 women conductors from 40 nations have applied to be trained, advised, and supported by this extraordinary initiative. Last year, a total of 72 applicants from seventeen countries applied by the May 1st 2020 de...