Opera Scotland

The Coaching of Wagner Singers 2017Wagner Society of Scotland

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As a member of Welsh National Opera’s music staff in the 1980’s, Derek Clerk helped prepare the casts of several Wagner operas, work he continued at Scottish Opera, where he was assistant to Sir Richard Armstrong of their production of Parsifal in 2000 and for the 2004 Ring cycle. He has since gone on to coach many other singers in Wagner roles. In this talk he will discuss the problems, as well as the joys, of working with singers in preparing them to perform this repertoire

Derek Clark was born in Glasgow and studied at the RCS, the University of Durham and the London Opera Centre. He joined WNO as a repetiteur and Staff conductor in 1977, and has been Head of Music at Scottish Opera for the past 18 years, conducting a wide repertoire from Handel to James MacMillan. He is respected guest coach at several colleges and also works as an accompanist, composer and arranger. Since 1911 he has been Music Director of the Dundee Choral Union and since 2014 has been Director of Music at Helensburgh Parish Church.

The speaker will be Derek Clark who will speak on 'Coaching Wagner Singers'.

 

 

Admission £7 members, £15 non-members or pitch up and join!