Edinburgh Grand Opera
Edinburgh Grand Opera is Scotland's oldest existing grand opera company, founded in 1955 by Richard Telfer. This Edinburgh Music Society is run by its non-professional chorus with advice and support from the professional Artistic and Musical Directors and Designers it engages. It was originally known as the Edinburgh Grand Opera Group, and it has also been referred to as Edinburgh Grand Opera Company. Its soloists are a mixture of amateur, semi-professional and professional singers from Scotland and abroad, many of whom are students or graduates from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (previously the Royal  Scottish Academy of Music and Dance). It was the first amateur company to perform at the Edinburgh Festival Theatre. Patrons. The original honorary patrons of the Edinburgh Grand Opera Group were Professor Sidney Newman, Sir Alexander Drummond Gibson and Lady Erskine Hill. Edinburgh Grand Opera's patrons in 1915 were international opera singers Ian Storey, Donald Maxwell and Frances McCafferty who all sang with Edinburgh Grand Opera early in their careers; conductor and chorus master Christopher Bell who was musical director for many shows. Musical directors. Musical directors and conductors have included Michael Moores, Alexander Gibson, John Grundy, Christopher Bell , Leslie Shankland, Richard Lewis, Neil Metcalfe, Susannah Wapshott. Artistic directors. Artistic and stage directors have included Cathie Boyd, Richard Telfer, Gerard Mulgrew, James Ross, Ben Twist, Andy Fraser, Adrian Osmond, Rita Henderson, John Binnie, Mark Hathaway, Michael Richardson, Christina Dunwoodie, Kally Lloyd-Jones. Performances. Semi and fully staged operas. Performances include fully staged and semi-staged operas, as well as gala concerts and other fundraising musical events in theatres and concert halls in Edinburgh and nearby towns and cities. The company usually sings in the language in which the libretto was originally written. The season runs from September each year . The list below shows performances in Edinburgh, unless otherwise stated. Charitable status. Edinburgh Grand Opera is a Scottish registered charity, no. SC003143.