Introducing mezzo soprano Catherine Backhouse and Emotionally Volatile Productions.
Emotionally Volatile Productionswas founded by Catherine Backhouse and named after a 19th century critic’s hilarious claim that women were “too emotionally volatile for the exact science of composition”. She hopes this will be the first of many resourceful performer-led passion projects in Scotland.
‘sung by the fabulous Catherine Backhouse, one of Scotland’s finest singers. Her range is phenomenal, with sonorous lower notes matched by a thrilling top… she revealed a clarity of diction and expression which was faultless.”
Brian Bannatyne-Scott, Edinburgh Music Review
Mezzo-soprano Catherine Backhouse grew up in Edinburgh and began singing as a chorister in St Mary’s Episcopal Cathedral. She graduated with an honour’s degree in music from The University of Durham and was a founder member of the a cappella group Voces8 with whom she sung for three years before training on the prestigious Opera Studies and Artist Diploma programmes at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama. She was a Scottish Opera Emerging Artist and won the Sunday Herald Culture Award for Best Musical Artist for her performances. Recent projects include playing Waltraute in Wagner’s Die Walküre and Götterdämmerung with Regent’s Opera in London. Career highlights include Concepción L’heure Espagnole for Grange Park Opera (film) and Mid-Wales Opera, Isabella L’Italiana in Algeri (Diva Opera), Suzuki Madama Butterfly and Dryad Ariadne auf Naxos (West Green House Opera) and Kate Julian Owen Wingrave (Aldeburgh and Edinburgh International Festivals). On the concert platform she has appeared as a soloist in Verdi’s Requiem, Handel’s Messiah, as The Angel in Elgar’s Dream of Gerontius and Irene in Handel’s Theodora. An enthusiast of new music, Catherine has performed Messages of the Late R.V. Troussova by Kurtág and Stumped by Lewis Coenen-Rowe at the Scottish Storytelling Centre. Her recital work has featured Elgar Sea Pictures, Wagner Wesendonk Lieder and ‘Emotionally Volatile’ a programme of songs composed by women.
Bass-Baritone Timothy Dickinson enjoys a diverse performing career, ranging from concerts around the world to Operatic roles at Glyndebourne, Scottish Opera, Longborough and elsewhere. Timothy is also very active as an Oratorio soloist, embracing a broad repertoire including Bach’s Passions, the Requiems of Brahms, Verdi, Fauré and Duruflé, and Haydn’s ‘The Creation’. As well as being a member of the BBC Singers, Timothy has also worked with The Sixteen, Dunedin Consort, La Nuova Musica and Polyphony, among others. Additionally, he has enjoyed a deeply rewarding association with the education department of the OAE, engaging with young people across the country. In 2023, along with soprano Amy Carson, he founded The Echoing Air, a new ensemble for the South West of England.
Lliam Paterson is a Scottish composer and pianist. He trained at the University of Cambridge and as a collaborative pianist and répétiteur at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. In 2014-17, Lliam was Composer in Residence with Scottish Opera, during which time he created The 8th Door, a partner opera to Bluebeard’s Castle co-produced by Vanishing Point with direction by Matthew Lenton and conducted by Sian Edwards. BambinO, an opera for babies, was premiered at the Manchester International Festival 2017, in a co-production between Scottish Opera and Improbable, directed by Phelim McDermott. Since then, BambinO has toured to many locations, including the Metropolitan Opera in New York. Subsequent operas include: The Angel Esmeralda, an opera for the Guildhall School of Music and Drama Opera Department after the short story by Don DeLillo with libretto by Pamela Carter; and Catriona and the Dragon, a community opera commissioned by the Lammermuir Festival and both directed and with libretto by Laura Attridge, and conducted by Sian Edwards. Lliam’s most recent opera was an adaption of the Sherlock Holmes story The Sign of Four for Leeds Opera Festival 2024, directed by David Ward and conduced by Ellie Slorach. Lliam’s debut album of music for electric guitar and choir, Say It To the Still World, was released on Delphian Records in 2021 with Sean Shibe on guitar and the Choir of King’s College London, directed by Joseph Fort. He holds a PhD in Creative Music Practice from the University of Edinburgh.
Calum Robertson is an Edinburgh-based clarinettist, organist, and choral conductor. A former Live Music Now Scotland artist and graduate of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (RCS), he has established a diverse career as a performer and educator. Calum freelances with orchestras such as the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, BBC Philharmonic, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Scottish Opera and Opera North. He is a founder member of the White Rose Ensemble, dedicated to promoting Scottish classical music, and has been involved in commissioning works like Reed Talk by Rory Boyle and Kneeling by Claire McCue. Calum is also a member of the wind quintet Sirocco Winds, Assistant Director of Music at Old Saint Paul’s, and has been the Director of the Edinburgh University Singers since 2018. Outside of his musical pursuits, Calum is passionate about hiking and bagging Munros, as well as enjoying the great pubs of Edinburgh and drinking good ale — two things that fuel his love for both the city and its rich traditions.
Director Mark Burns grew up in England and studied at the Royal Northern College of Music. He regularly works with many of the UK’s major opera companies such as Royal Opera, Scottish Opera and Welsh National Opera. He also has a close association with Buxton International Festival for whom he has directed numerous productions including Tisbe, Lucio Papirio Dittatore and La Voix Humaine, the latter starring Dame Felicity Lott. He was also Associate Board Member of Buxton Festival for several years until 2021. Previously, Mark has assisted Sir Thomas Allen on his productions of Don Giovanni and Barber of Seville for Scottish Opera. More recently Mark has revived Silent Opera’s production of Vixen at the Hong Kong Arts Festival. Last Autumn he directed L’étoile at the RNCM and will return there this Autumn to direct L’amour des Trois Oranges.