Haddo House Choral & Operatic Society – Mozart Requiem

Ross Cumming is a Baritone originally from the NE of Scotland. He has just completed his 2-year MA in Opera Studies at the Alexander Gibson Opera Studio at Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in Glasgow. At RCS Ross studied under Scott Johnson and performed roles of Siroco in ‘L’étoile’, President in ‘A Feast in a Time of Plague’ and Krumpelblatt in ‘Four Sisters’

A music graduate of the University of Aberdeen, Ross also studied at the Royal Northern College of Music, in Manchester achieving Distinction in his Vocal Studies Masters. While there he was under the tutelage of Matthew Best. In 2021 he won the Bessie Cronshaw/Frost Brownson Song Cycle Competition.

Outside RCS he has been a Young Artist at Buxton International Opera Festival, and other roles have included Amonasro in ‘Aida’ with Opera Festival Scotland, Don Giovanni in ‘Don Giovanni’ with ALLO Opera, The Forester in ‘The Cunning Little Vixen’ RNCM, and Kilan in ‘Der Freischutz’ with Random Opera. He has performed St John’s Passion with Cumbria Opera Festival and has also sung with The Sixteen, The Dunedin Consort and Voces8.

Ross is very grateful for the support during his studies of an RCS Scholarship, the Robert Nicol Trust and the Sir James Caird Travelling Scholarships Trust. He is now embarking on his professional singing career, with performances this summer as Johann in ‘Werther’ with Grange Park Opera and Pilgrim in ‘Pilgrim’s Progress’ with British Youth Opera.

From August Ross is excited to be a 2023/24 Scottish Opera Emerging Artist.

Liam Forrest, from Dunfermline, Fife, is currently a postgraduate tenor at the Royal Northern College of Music, studying with Matthew Best. Liam’s studies at RNCM are kindly supported by the Drapers Company and the Andrew Lloyd Webber foundation. In 2022, he graduated from the University of Aberdeen with a Bachelor’s of Music with Honours. He is a former choral scholar at St Machar’s Cathedral, and chorister at the Dunfermline Abbey. Liam has performed for Dunfermline Carnegie Trust, the United Dunfermline Burns Club, and the Rotary Club of Dunfermline. These included high profile events, such as the Tiffany Window dedication ceremony for the Carnegie Trust, and at John Cairney’s Book Launch of ‘The Tycoon and the Bard.’ Liam has performed at the Rotary Club of Dunfermline’s  Centenary  Dinner  Banquet  at  the  Balmoral  Hotel,  Edinburgh, and has performed the Mozart Requiem with the Arbroath Choral Society. As an RNCM Songster, Liam has performed with Sir Stephen Hough, and most recently sung with the RNCM Chamber Choir alongside Edvard Grieg Kor, and Roderick Williams. In June 2023, Liam performed the role of Mr Rushworth in Jonathan Dove’s opera, Mansfield Park with Byre Opera in St Andrew’s, Scotland.

Faith Ockwell is a Seattle native, living in Scotland since 2021. She received her Bachelor’s Degree in Music Education from Pacific Lutheran University, and taught music to all ages until moving across the pond to pursue her postgraduate studies. In the Fall of 2022 she received a Master’s in Musicology and Composition from the University of Aberdeen, and has since been teaching and performing throughout Aberdeenshire. Faith directs the Inverurie Choral Society, the Spectrum Singers in Kemnay, teaches private violin lessons, and is a choral scholar at St. Machar’s Cathedral. She is honoured to be performing at Haddo House, and would like to thank the HHCOS for inviting her to be a part of this magnificent musical evening.