Scottish Opera performers collaborate with Scottish pop acts

Scottish Opera and a pop performers are working together for #OperaPassion Day later this month.
As part of BBC Arts Digital’s #OperaPassion Day on Thursday, October 19, Scottish Opera is joining forces with Be Charlotte, fronted by Dundonian Charlotte Brimner, and Carla J Easton from Glasgow-based band TeenCanteen for two exciting new collaborations.
Four Scottish Opera singers – Hazel McBain, Andrew McTaggart, Alex Otterburn and Laura Zigmantaite – will be recording with the musicians to give a unique spin to the songs ‘One Drop’ with Be Charlotte and ‘Impossible Stuff’ with Carla J. Easton.
Performances of the final tracks and footage of the recording sessions will be shared online along with radio-ready audio recordings, contributing to an unprecedented day of live streaming and digital content giving never-before-seen access to the UK opera world. This is part of the BBC Opera Season featuring new films, documentaries, performances and special projects across BBC Two, BBC Four, Radio 3 and BBC Arts Digital.

Be Charlotte with Scottish Opera singers Andrew McTaggart, Hazel McBain and instrumentalists. (Picture courtesy of Julie Broadfoot)

Named Best Electronic Act at the Scottish Alternative Music Awards in 2016, Be Charlotte, who have been featured on Radio 1, evolved from the solo project of 20-year-old singer songwriter Charlotte Brimner, whose new EP ‘Heart of Survival’ is released this month.
Charlotte will be joined by former Scottish Opera Emerging Artists, soprano Hazel McBain (The Trial, 2017) and baritone Andrew McTaggart (The Cabinet of Dr Caligari, 2016) who will perform Be Charlotte’s ‘One Drop’ in a rearrangement by Ciaran McEneny. Ciaran has co-written songs with internationally acclaimed pop artists and is also in the band Pronto Mama.
Carla J. Easton from TeenCanteen, who released their debut album ‘Say It All With A Kiss’ in 2016, will be collaborating with Scottish Opera Emerging Artists Alex Otterburn (Greek 2017) and Laura Zigmantaite on ‘Impossible Stuff’, from her forthcoming solo album. The baritone and mezzo-soprano both star in Scottish Opera’s upcoming production of La traviata. Lead singer and keyboard player for TeenCanteen, Carla has also achieved success with her solo psychedelic disco project, Ette, and has co-written Belle and Sebastian’s forthcoming single ‘Best Friends’.

Singer Carla J. Easton from Glasgow

Charlotte said: ‘As a vocalist I have huge respect for the enormous talent within opera. I’m always keen to embrace new challenges so I’m excited to collaborate with Scottish Opera, and have one of my songs reimagined as a classical piece.’
Carla agreed: ‘I am so honoured to have been invited to collaborate with Scottish Opera on a track. My recent work has been a development into orchestration and a further exploration of the power of multiple human voices stacked in harmony to utilise and unite human bodies as an additional instrument in making music, so the opportunity to work with Scottish Opera to continue this exploration is really amazing.’
Scottish Opera, along with other major UK opera companies and the V&A Museum, will be collaborating with BBC Arts Digital on #OperaPassion Day on Thursday 19 October. The day aims to show the immense breadth of work that goes into every production and to engage new audiences and inspire the next generation of opera lovers.

Be Charlotte recording with Scottish Opera earlier this month. (Picture courtesy of Julie Broadfoot)

As part of Scottish Opera’s #OperaPassion live offering, the four singers and pianist on tour with Scottish Opera’s popular Opera Highlights show will perform from Bowmore on Islay. They will be singing live and giving viewers an insight into life on the road.
Scottish Opera will also be sharing collaborations with a few unexpected partners. Three operatic poems, commissioned from celebrated Scottish authors Liz Lochhead, Alexander McCall Smith and Janice Galloway, will be read aloud by their authors.
Throughout the day there will be opportunities to watch a 30 minute Pop-up Opera performance, explore the making of an opera for six to 18-month-olds, and find out more about how the artform can help those living with dementia through Scottish Opera’s innovative Memory Spinners project.
As well as Scottish Opera, other companies working with BBC Arts Digital to present the day, which is supported by the British Council, are The Royal Opera House, English National Opera, English Touring Opera, Opera North, Glyndebourne, Welsh National Opera, Northern Ireland Opera, the V&A, BBC Radio 3, Tomorrow’s World and Manchester’s Museum of Science and Industry.
The BBC Opera Season is part of a collaboration with the V&A Museum’s blockbuster exhibition: Opera: Passion, Power and Politics which opened on September 30.