Glasgow singer lands 'dream job' with Scottish Opera

Royal Conservatoire of Scotland graduate Colin Murray has been singing since he was seven years old but it was not until he went on a family holiday to Italy that he fell in love with opera.

“I went to see Tosca with my mum and that was the moment,” explains the 32-year-old baritone, who lives in Burnside. “It was like a lightning bolt.

“It’s very exciting for me to be doing Scottish Opera’s Opera Highlights tour – I can’t wait.”

Opera Highlights, which kicks off on February 14 at East Kilbride Village Theatre, features four singers and a pianist, with the aim of taking opera to the doorstep of local communities who would perhaps otherwise not have the opportunity to experience it.

Colin Murray (Image: Christina Riley)

The show includes the world premiere of a new piece by Toby Hession, with libretto by Emma Jenkins. Told By An Idiot is a modern and humorous reworking of Macbeth.

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“The tour is a great example of what opera can offer, from light to serious, from famous names to less well-known works and it’s lovely for us to perform to smaller audiences,” says Colin.

The demanding tour will cover 18 venues in six weeks, he adds.

“You do have to be careful with your voice but it’s less about avoiding certain food and drink – although I wouldn’t have a big fish and supper the night before a performance – and more about making sure you sing every day,” says Colin.

That is easy for someone who has become a successful and in-demand freelance singer since he graduated from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, give or take a year or so when “singing was one of the most dangerous things you could do,” he says, referring to the Covid rules which prevented singing and the playing of many instruments.

“Lockdown was very difficult for performers of all kinds,” he adds. “It became about just keeping singing, trying to fight that creeping doubt and dread that you’d lose all those skills…but you had to just keep hope alive that things would eventually return to normal.”

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Colin is one of Scottish Opera’s 2022/23 Emerging Artists, which is a programme set up to offer outstanding young singers a period of full-time work to help them launch their career. Throughout the year they work in-house with staff and visiting coaches to develop their skills.

“Sometimes I have to really remind myself this is actually happening, it’s not a dream,” he laughs. “After the tour, I just hope to keep singing here in Scotland, across the UK, maybe Europe…who knows, maybe a boy from Hamilton can sing opera in Italy one day.”

Opera Highlights runs from February 14 to March 25 at various venues around Scotland.