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Catriona Morison

Catriona Morison

Catriona Morison
Mezzo soprano

Winner of the Cardiff Singer of the World Main Prize and joint Song Prize 2017, Edinburgh-born Scottish-German mezzo-soprano Catriona Morison was a member of the ensemble of Oper Wuppertal from 2016 until 2018 after which she became a resident artist there.

Genre
Classical
    Biography

    She sang a wide variety of roles with Oper Wuppertal including Nicklausse (Les contes d’Hoffmann), Charlotte (Werther),Hänsel (Hänsel und Gretel), Maddalena (Rigoletto), Kleiner Araber (Juliette) Prinzessin Clarice (Die Liebe zu den drei Orangen) and Cherubino (Le nozze di Figaro). Guest engagements have taken her to the Edinburgh International Festival as Wellgunde (Götterdämmerung) under Sir Andrew Davis, Oper Köln as Cherubino, Bergen Nasjonale Opera as Charlotte, Deutsches Nationaltheater Weimar as Annina (Der Rosenkavalier) and Theater Erfurt as Giove/Pisandro (Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria). She made her Salzburger Festspiele debut under Franz Welser-Möst in 2015 as part of the Young Singers Project, and also appeared at the Salzburger Pfingsfestspiele as Minerva in a concert performance of excerpts from Monteverdi’s Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria with Animae Eterna also in 2015. On the operatic stage she has worked with conductors Julia Jones, David Parry, Frédéric Chaslin, and Stefan Solyom, and directors Antony McDonald, Immo Karaman, Joe-Hill Gibbons, Christopher Alden, Inga Levant, Charlie Edwards, Nigel Lowery, Timofey Kuljabin.

    On the concert platform, Catriona Morison made her BBC Proms debut in 2019 singing Elgar’s Sea Pictures with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales conducted by Elim Chan. She has performed Ravel’s Shéhérazade with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra and Thomas Søndergård, Mahler’s Rückert Lieder with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales and the Sinfonieorchester Wuppertal, and Chausson’s Poème de l’amour et de la mer with the Philharmonisches Orchester Heidelberg under Elias Grandy. She also gave the world premiere of Errollyn Wallen’s This Frame is Part of the Painting at the BBC Proms. This work was commissioned for her by BBC Cardiff Singer of the World. Invitations for the 2019/20 season include Sea Pictures with the Kristiansand Symfoniorkester conducted by Nathalie Stutzmann, and a selection of Duparc’s orchestral songs with Julia Jones and the Sinfonieorchester Wuppertal.

    As a recitalist, Catriona Morison works regularly with Malcolm Martineau, Simon Lepper, Joseph Middleton and the young Japanese pianist Yuka Beppu, at venues and festivals such as the Wigmore Hall, Edinburgh International Festival, Leeds Lieder Festival and Weimarer Meisterkurs. She recently paired up with soprano Soraya Mafi to perform with Graham Johnson in his renowned Songmaker’s Almanac recital series. Next season she will add Schumann’s Frauenliebe und -leben and Mahler’s Kindertotenlieder to her already extensive repertoire. A new project sees Catriona Morison team up with Armenian soprano Anush Hovhannisyan and Malcolm Martineau to create a diverse duet programme by composers such as Abt, Rubenstein, Dvo?ák, Saints-Säens, and Fauré amongst others. Catriona Morison will record her first solo CD with Malcolm Martineau in the 2019/20 season.

    Catriona Morison has performed oratorio across Europe and Russia in repertoire ranging from Bach to Vaughan-Williams. Highlights include a tour of Mozart’s Requiem with Teodor Currentzis and MusicAeterna, Bach’s St Matthew Passion with the MDR Sinfoniker, Duruflé’s Requiem with the Royal Liverpool Symphony Orchestra and Sir Andrew Davis, and Handel’s Messiah with the Royal National Orchestra of Scotland. She recorded Ethel Smyth’s Mass in D for Chandos, and performed the work with Sakari Oramo and the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, as well as with Martyn Brabbins and the BBC Symphony Orchestra at the Barbican. Future oratorio projects take her to Hamburg, Stuttgart, and the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival with Christoph Eschenbach.

    Catriona Morison is a current BBC New Generation Artist and was awarded an Honorary Professorship of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (RCS) in 2017. She trained at the RCS, the Universität der Künste in Berlin, Hochschule für Musik Franz Liszt Weimar, and the Thüringer Opernstudio in 2015/16. Winner of the Toonkunst Oratorio Prize at the 50th International Vocal Competition ’s-Hertogenbosch in 2014, she also reached the final of the 9th International Hilde Zadek Competition in Vienna in 2015. Catriona Morison took part in the Samling Artist programme for outstanding young singers in 2013. She continues to study with Professor Siegfried Gohritz.