Live Mozart’s Requiem Fri 25 – Sat 26 April

Patrick Hahn is Principal Guest Conductor of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, General Music Director of Sinfonieorchester und Oper Wuppertal and Principal Guest Conductor of Münchner Rundfunkorchester of the Bayerischer Rundfunk. He is one of the most sought after and exciting conductors of his generation.

In his third season in Wuppertal, Patrick’s symphonic and choral programmes include Mahler’s Symphony No2, Bruckner Symphony No9, Wagner’s Der Ring ohne Worte, Zemlinsky’s Seejungfrau, Varese’s Ameriques, to name but few. The operas there this season include Wagner’s Tristan and Isolde, Schoenberg’s Erwartung and E.Symth’s Der Wald.

After successful concerts, productions and recordings as the Principal Guest Conductor of Münchner Rundfunkorchester, in his third season Patrick returns to conduct Zemlinsky’s Lyrische Symphonie with Marlis Petersen and Milan Siljanov joining him as soloists and ends the season with the popular televised ‘Space Night in Concert’.

As a guest conductor in the 2023:24 season, Patrick makes his first appearances at SWR conducting Sibelius’ Symphony No6, Zurich Opera with Barrie Kosky’s new production Die lustige Witwe, New National Theatre Tokyo with Die Fledermaus. Return visits include Mozarteumorchester Salzburg, Royal Scottish National Orchestra and Wiener Symphoniker for Schoenberg’s Erwartung at the Musikverein.

Previous season’s highlights include his successful debuts with Deutsche Symphony Orchester Berlin and Bamberg Symphony with Sol Gabetta, Tonhalle Orchester Zurich conducting Bruckner’s Symphony No4, Royal Scottish National Orchestra in concerts and recording and Opera Frankfurt with La Cenerentola. Patrick Hahn enjoys a regular relationship with Wiener Symphoniker and Klangforum Wien and has acted as Principal Guest Conductor and Artistic Advisor for Borusan Istanbul Philharmonic between 2021-2023.

Aside from his work in classical music, Patrick accompanies himself on the piano singing cabaret-songs by the Austrian satirist and composer Georg Kreisler. As a jazz pianist, he received awards from the Chicago Jazz Festival and the ‘Outstanding Soloist Award’ from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse as the best jazz pianist of the 37th Annual Jazz Festival.

A wonderfully versatile musician, Carolin Widmann’s activities span the great classical concerti, new commissions specially written for her, solo recitals, a wide variety of chamber music and period instrument performances, including play/direction from the violin.

Widmann was awarded the Bayerischer Staatspreis for music in 2017, honouring her individuality and exceptional musicianship. Widmann was also the recipient of an International Classical Music Award (Concerto category) for her critically acclaimed recording of both Mendelssohn’s and Schumann’s Violin Concertos with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, released in August 2016 by ECM and which Widmann herself conducted from the violin.

Named ‘Musician of the Year’ at the International Classical Music Awards 2013, Ms Widmann has played with Berliner Philharmoniker, Orchestre de Paris, Orchestre National de France, Czech Philharmonic, Swedish Radio Symphony, Vienna Radio Symphony, London Philharmonic, BBC Symphony, and Bayerische Rundfunk with distinguished conductors such as Sir Simon Rattle, Riccardo Chailly, Edward Gardner, Vladimir Jurowski, Sakari Oramo, Daniel Harding, François-Xavier Roth, Santtu-Matias Rouvali and Jukka-Pekka Saraste. She also appears at such widely known festivals as Musikfest Berlin, Salzburger Festspiele, Lucerne Festival and Festival d’ Automne in Paris.

Recent highlights include Carolin’s debuts with the Los Angeles Philharmonic with Esa-Pekka Salonen, Scottish Chamber Orchestra with Maxim Emelyanychev, Munich Philharmonic, Dresden Philharmonic, Barcelona Symphony and the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester with Robin Ticciati, her New York debut play/directing the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, as well as returns to the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra at the Musikverein, and the WDR Rundfunk Sinfonieorchester Cologne. Additionally, the 21-22 season saw Carolin give two premiere performances – a new Violin Concerto by Georg Friedrich Hass and the Kammerorchester Basel at the Beethovenfest Bonn, as well as a new Concerto by Lisa Streich with the Münchener Kammerorchester. Carolin has also embarked on an extensive Italian recital tour, as well as a return to Paris for performances with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Orchestre de Chambre de Paris and the Insula Orchestra.

The 2023-24 season will see Carolin return to the Berliner Philharmoniker and Royal Stockholm Philharmonic to perform Jörg Widmann’s Violin Concerto No. 2. She will also appear with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Musikkollegium Winterthur, Deutsche Radio Philharmonie Saarbrücken, Filarmonica Toscanini, NDR Radiophilharmonie Hannover, Netherlands Radio Symphony, Polish National Radio Symphony, Indianapolis Symphony, Oregon Symphony, the Schwetzinger SWR Festspiele and the Prague Spring International Music Festival.

Carolin Widmann is playing a G.B. Guadagnini violin from 1782 which is on loan from a Charitable Trust.

Mhairi Lawson has performed in opera houses and concert halls worldwide. In the UK, she has regularly collaborated with such companies as The Gabrieli Consort & Players, The Academy of Ancient Music, English National Opera, The Early Opera Company and The Scottish Chamber Orchestra, and with many leading conductors such as William Christie, Sir Charles Mackerras, Paul McCreesh, Jane Glover and Sir John Eliot Gardiner, in repertoire ranging from traditional folksong to opera.

This season, Mhairi sings Purcell’s King Arthur with the Early Opera Company in London, Bach’s B minor Mass with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Mozart’s Requiem with the Royal Northern Sinfonia, and returns to the Academy of Ancient Music.

Recent highlights include performances of Handel’s Messiah with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra and also the Dunedin Consort, Haydn’s Creation with the Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra and also the Arctic Philharmonic, Bach’s St Matthew Passion with Nieuwe Philharmonie Utrecht and also BBC NOW, regular residencies at the Carmel Bach Festival in the USA, and performances of Purcell’s King Arthur on tour with the Gabrieli Consort.

With Les Arts Florissants, Mhairi has performed dramatic music by Purcell, Charpentier, Landi and Monteverdi at the Cité de la Musique, Paris, throughout Europe, and London’s Barbican Centre and Birmingham’s Symphony Hall in the UK.

Further afield, Mhairi has sung Bach’s St John Passion in New York’s Lincoln Centre, and in Weimar, Germany, the St Matthew Passion with the St Paul Chamber Orchestra, and King Arthur with the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, San Francisco.

She has made many commercial recordings, including Haydn’s Creation with the Choir of New College, Oxford, conducted by Edward Higginbottom, Scottish Jacobite Songs on the Avison Ensemble’s CD Rebellion, and two discs of Schubert Lieder, including the vocal tour de force Der Hirt auf dem Felsen, with clarinettist Jane Booth and pianist Eugene Asti. Mhairi also features on Les Arts Florissants’ 2017 release of Monteverdi Madrigals vol. 3 ‘Venezia’ for Harmonia Mundi, a finalist for the Gramophone Baroque Vocal Award.

With the virtuoso baroque band La Serenissima, Mhairi has recorded many of Vivaldi’s sacred and operatic works and has performed large-scale pieces including La senna festeggiante and La fida ninfa in Venice.

A keen recitalist, engagements have included songs from the British folksong tradition and Lieder by Haydn, Mozart, Schubert, Schumann, Strauss and Wolf with appearances in the Edinburgh Festival, Newcastle and York Universities, recordings for BBC Radio 3, and a recital with lutenist Elizabeth Kenny as part of the St Magnus International Festival.

Whilst still a student at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, Mhairi won the International Early Music Network Young Artists Prize with the fortepianist Olga Tverskaya, which led to her first CD recording of Haydn’s English and Scottish Songs.

Hanna Hipp’s ardent and impassioned singing make her a favourite for the leading lyric mezzo repertoire around the world with her recent roles including a critically acclaimed portrayal of Offred in The Handmaid’s Tale at Royal Danish Theatre (Jessica Cottis), Der Komponist in Ariadne auf Naxos at Glyndebourne Festival Opera (Cornelius Meister) and Opera North (Antony Hermus), Dorabella in Così fan tutte at Seattle Opera (Paul Daniel), English National Opera (Kerem Hasan) and New Zealand Opera (Natalie Murray Beale), Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro with Royal Opera House, Covent Garden (Antonio Pappano).

Increasingly in demand on the concert platform, in the 2023/24 season Hanna Hipp will join Marc Soustrot and Malmo Symphony Orchestra for Viva España featuring De Falla’s El amor brujo, Dinis Sousa with Royal Northern Sinfonia for Bruckner’s Mass No.3 at Sage Gateshead and will reunite with Sir Simon Rattle and the London Symphony Orchestra for concert performances of Jenůfa after her recent performance of Szymanowski’s Stabat Mater at the Barbican. Further recent concert highlights include Ein Page (Salome) for both Bergen and Edinburgh International festivals under Ed Gardner, Der Trommler in Ullmann’s Der Kaiser von Atlantis with BBC Symphony Orchestra under Josep Pons, the title role in Mascagni’s Zanetto with the orchestra of Scottish Opera under David Parry, and Rossweise (Die Walküre) with London Philharmonic Orchestra under Vladimir Jurowski.

Recent repertoire highlights include Mahler’s Symphony No.3 (Royal Philharmonic Orchestra/Vasily Petrenko), Brahms’ Alto Rhapsody (Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra/David Hill) and she had a particular affinity with Berlioz’s Les nuits d’été, having sung the work with BBC Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre de Chambre de Paris, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and Oulu Symphony Orchestra. Beethoven’s Symphony No.9 has brought debuts with Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, Hamburger Symphoniker, Philharmonia Orchestra, and most recently Wiener Konzerthausorchester and Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, under Klaus Mäkelä and Jonathan Nott respectively.

A former member of the Royal Opera House’s Jette Parker Young Artist Programme, roles since on the mainstage include both Magdalene (Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg) and her role debut as Hänsel in Antony McDonald’s new production of Hänsel und Gretel under Sebastian Weigle, Elsewhere in the United Kingdom, Hanna Hipp sang her first Varvara (Katya Kabanova) for Scottish Opera, and the title role in Offenbach’s Fantasio and her first Octavian (Der Rosenkavalier) both for Garsington Opera. International debuts include Teatro Real Madrid as Frances, Countess of Essex (Gloriana) in David McVicar’s new production under Ivor Bolton, at Dutch National Opera as Ein Page in Ivo van Hove’s new production under Daniele Gatti, and both Isolier (Le Comte Ory) and Beatrice (Beatrice and Benedict) for Seattle Opera.

This season Hanna Hipp joins Welsh National Opera and Pacific Opera Victoria as Frederico Garcia Lorca in two new productions of Osvaldo Golijov’s Ainadamar and a return to the Royal Opera House for Hänsel und Gretel under Mark Wiggleswoth.

On disc, Hanna has appeared as Anna in Berlioz’s Les troyens with Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg under John Nelson on Warner Classics, Flora in Verdi’s La traviata at the Glyndebourne Festival under Sir Mark Elder on Opus Arte DVD, and released her debut recital album featuring the songs of Ildebrando Pizzetti with pianist Emma Abbate on Resonus Classics, garnering praise for her “gleaming sound and declamatory fire” (Gramophone).

Born in Glasgow, Jamie MacDougall, since 2001, has been Scotland’s voice for classical music on BBC Radio Scotland presenting Grace Notes and Classics Unwrapped. His voice can be heard regularly presenting for BBC Radio 3 and for 16 years he’s anchored the BBC TV’s Proms in the Park from Glasgow as part of the Last Night of the Proms Festivities.

Away from broadcasting Jamie continues to enjoy a busy singing career that takes him around the world.

In 2017 he was Artist in Residence at the St Andrews Voices Festival and together with pianist Tim Dean launched Scotland’s first song recital group, Song Tellers. As a recitalist, Jamie has performed with pianists Malcolm Martineau, Susan Tomes, Graham Johnson, Roger Vignoles and Julius Drake, appearing at the Edinburgh International Festival, the Perth Festival, Australia, the Salzburg and Aldeburgh Festivals.

On the concert platform he has worked with some of the world’s top baroque, chamber and symphony orchestras, including the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, the St Louis and Houston Symphony Orchestras and most recently the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra in Australia.

In 2014 he took his show Inspirations to the Wintergarten in Berlin and subsequently to Mexico and America. Jamie’s extensive discography of over 45 titles, covers baroque and classical, German, Scottish and English song as well as 20th century music. With the Haydn Trio Eisenstadt he released the 20 CD collection of Haydn Folksong arrangements. His most recent recording with Trio van Beethoven of Beethoven Folk songs will be released in 2018.

In a co-production with Scottish Opera Jamie staged an adaptation of Jimmy Logan’s one man play, Lauder! that helped mark the 150th anniversary of the Theatre Royal in Glasgow. There are plans to take this ‘play with tunes’ on tour in 2019.

The renowned Canadian bass-baritone Daniel Okulitch is known for his commanding stage presence and impressive vocal versatility. He has performed with major opera companies and orchestras around the world taking on a diverse range of roles showcasing his musical intelligence and strong sense of artistry. Some of his most acclaimed portrayals are in the principal Mozart roles, including his recent debut at Opernhaus Zürich as Count Almaviva in Jan Philipp Gloger’s new production of Le nozze di Figaro under Stefano Montanori.

At the same time Okulitch is sought after for many contemporary operas and world premieres. Most notably he created the role of Ennis del Mar in Charles Wuorinen’s Brokeback Mountain at Teatro Real, premiered Lyndon B. Johnson in David T Little and Royce Vavrek’s JFK at Fort Worth Opera, performed General Groves in John Adams’ Dr. Atomic at Santa Fe Opera, and made his British debut as Mark Rutland in Nico Muhly’s Marnie at English National Opera. Okulitch recently reprised the role of Beck in Joby Talbot and Gene Scheer’s Everest with BBC Symphony Orchestra, set for future release on CD, and made a notable role debut as The Protector in George Benjamin’s Written on Skin at Opéra de Montréal, followed by Katie Mitchell’s production of Lessons in Love and Violence at Gran Teatre del Liceu. Daniel returns to Opéra de Montréal this season for the role of Axel Oxenstierna in the world premiere of Julien Bilodeau and Michel Marc Bouchard’s La Reine-garçon. Last season saw Daniel at LA Opera for Kaneza Schaal’s production of Omar, the 2023 Pulitzer Prize winning opera by Grammy Award-winning Rhiannon Giddens and composer Michael Abels conducted by John Kennedy, which will be presented by San Francisco Opera in the 2023/24 season led by John Kennedy.

On the concert stage Daniel Okulitch debuts Brahms’ Ein deutsches Requiem this season with South Dakota Symphony Orchestra under John Nelson, as well as Rachmaninov’s Spring cantata with Orquesta y Coro de la Communidad de Madrid conducted by Music Director Marzena Diakun. Elsewhere he joins the cast of Britten’s Billy Budd in concert performance at the George Enescu International Festival conducted by Hannu Lintu. Daniel has recently appeared as the bass soloist in Handel’s Messiah with Houston Symphony Orchestra under Julian Wachner and with Charlotte Symphony under Christopher Warren-Green, debuted Mendelssohn’s Elijah with Symphony Nova Scotia under conductor Jeff Joudrey, returned to Beethoven’s Symphony No.9 with Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra conducted by Krzysztof Urbański, and reprised Vaughan-Williams’ Dona Nobis Pacem with Charlotte Symphony under Christopher Warren-Green.

Okulitch’s career first garnered national attention in the original cast of Baz Luhrmann’s Tony Award-winning Broadway production of La bohème. His first solo recording, The New American Art Song, was released on GPR Records in 2011 and features world premieres by Ricky Ian Gordon, Jake Heggie, Lowell Liebermann and Glen Roven who all accompany Okulitch on the piano. Simultaneous with the record release, this programme was performed in concert at Carnegie Hall.

Daniel attended the Oberlin Conservatory and continued his studies at the Cincinnati Conservatory. During these years he apprenticed with the Des Moines Metro Opera, Cincinnati Opera, and in San Francisco Opera Merola Programme and was the recipient of numerous awards and prizes, including first prize from the George London Foundation and a Sullivan Foundation award.

The RSNO Chorus performs in around six different programmes in up to twenty concerts across Scotland with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra each year. The RSNO Chorus has also had great success in recording with the Orchestra. Its recordings, amongst others, of Prokofiev’s Alexander Nevsky, conducted by Neeme Jӓrvi, and Holst’s The Planets, conducted by David Lloyd-Jones, have both attracted high critical acclaim.

In addition to its commitment to the Orchestra, the RSNO Chorus performs independently and has been invited to perform with orchestras in many parts of the world, establishing an international status and touring to Copenhagen, Hong Kong, Israel, Germany, Belfast, Australia, Trondheim and most recently, Amsterdam and Prague. In 2018 it performed Britten’s War Requiem with the RSNO at the BBC Proms.

The RSNO Chorus evolved from a choir formed in 1843 to sing the first full performance of Handel’s Messiah in Scotland. Today, it is one of the most successful choruses in the UK. In recent years, it has performed practically every work in the standard choral repertoire along with contemporary works by renowned composers, including John Adams, Magnus Lindberg, Howard Shore and James MacMillan.

Stephen Doughty is Chorus Director of the RSNO Chorus and enjoys a varied career as a freelance musician. Commencing his appointment of the RSNO Chorus in September 2022, he previously spent 13 years as the Chorus Master of Belfast Philharmonic Choir who, in addition to their regular performances with the Ulster Orchestra, have given a number of world premieres. He particularly enjoys working with amateur singers and is Musical Director of Edinburgh Bach Choir (since 2017) and has been Musical Director of the Garleton Singers since 1994. Over the years he has also run several, highly-successful ‘come & sing’ events raising funds for a number of charities.

Stephen held the position of Director of Music of St. John’s Episcopal Church, Edinburgh for 18 years, directing the 30-voice choir through the full range of sung services which also included large-scale, orchestrally-accompanied services during the Edinburgh Festival.

As a keyboard player, he plays harpsichord/organ continuo and orchestral piano with all the Scottish orchestras as well as the Ulster Orchestra and has given frequent organ recitals including several four-star recitals on the grand Mulholland Organ in the Ulster Hall, Belfast.

He has compiled a large portfolio of arrangements and orchestrations, particularly for young voices and has received commissions from Children’s Classic Concerts, Ulster Orchestra and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra. Recent orchestrations include the premiere of Jonathan Dove’s Seek him that maketh the seven stars and a classical/folk crossover with award-winning band Dallahan marking the anniversary of the Battle of Loos. In addition, the BBC have commissioned a number of arrangements which have been performed at Proms in the Park and BBC Alba and his pieces feature on several recordings.

Finally, he is an Examiner for the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music.

Born in Huddersfield in 1964, Paul Whittaker has been profoundly deaf all his life yet pursued a career as a musician. A pianist and organist, he has a music degree from Wadham College, Oxford, a postgraduate performance diploma from the Royal Northern College of Music and holds ALCM and ARCO diplomas.

In 1988, he founded Music and the Deaf, a charity to help deaf people enjoy music, which he ran for 27 years. In 2007, he was awarded an OBE for Services to Music and he also holds honorary degrees from the University of Huddersfield and Open University.

For the past 13 years, Paul has been working with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra on their Feel the Music project, visiting many different countries around the world introducing deaf children to orchestral music. In 2023, he was invited to work with the Rundfunk Sinfonieorchester Berlin on a project involving deaf children and adults and in 2024 will work with an ensemble in Malmo on a similar project.

Since May 2015 he has been working freelance as a motivational speaker, signed song performer and workshop leader, and currently runs several signing choirs across the UK.

Paul has signed many musical shows and concerts, and performed with The King’s Singers, Tenebrae, Dunedin Consort, VOCES8, the Royal Liverpool, Royal Philharmonic, Scottish Chamber, Royal Northern Sinfonia and Halle orchestras, with Children’s Classic Concerts and at many festivals, including the Cumnock Tryst and BBC Proms. He is delighted to be returning to the RSNO after joining them last November for James MacMillan’s Christmas Oratorio.