Scottish Opera Wins Cultural Award For Architectural Expansion

The exterior of the award-winning structure in Glasgow.
(click on image to enlarge)

"Scottish Opera's recently transformed performance home, Theatre Royal Glasgow, has won Cultural Building of the Year at the RIAS (Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland) Awards 2015. From 65 submissions across Scotland and a shortlist of 24, 12 winners were announced last night at an awards ceremony in The Balmoral Hotel, Edinburgh. The judging panel of industry specialists praised Page\Park Architects’ innovative design of the building: ‘Creating a welcoming entrance foyer and embracing a dramatic, sinuous stair, this new structure boldly signposts Scottish Opera’s HQ. 'Street to seat' was the ethos, with the client wanting to literally 'open up' theatre and opera as art forms. By providing a welcoming entrance, addressing the street corner, the theatre experience has been 'democratised'.’ All the RIAS Award-winning buildings - including a nursery, a distillery and a cancer care centre - will now go forward to be considered for Britain’s richest architectural prize, the £25,000 Andrew Doolan Best Building in Scotland Award, to be announced in November. RIAS was founded almost 100 years ago in 1916, and the awards, though only in their fourth year, have already become the most important recognition of architectural achievement in Scotland."

A winding staircase makes for a dramatic centerpiece.
(click on image to enlarge)

"The Theatre Royal Glasgow's stunning new foyers have won Best Leisure/Culture Building at the Scottish Design Awards 2015. Organised by The Drum magazine, the Scottish Design Awards are now in their 18th year and are Scotland’s most prestigious awards for architecture firms and design agencies. The awards aim to recognise creativity within Scotland’s design industry, with the judging panel of specialists looking for innovative pieces of work and concepts that stand out from the crowd. The awards ceremony took place on 21 May in the Grand Central Hotel, Glasgow. Lynn Lester, Managing Director of Drum Events said ‘It was an incredible night for the industry and all those involved should be proud of what they have brought to design in Scotland’." [Source]

Read the architect's concept for the expansion, and see more photos, after the jump.

Scottish Opera Appoints Gareth Williams Composer in Residence

"Scottish Opera has appointed Gareth Williams as its first ever composer in residence. The post, which sits within the company’s Emerging Artists Programme, will last two years and is set to provide development opportunities to up-and-coming composers. Williams has already working on a number of projects including a community and schools opera, a piece that will feature in the Opera Highlights tour in January 2012, a chamber opera that will tour Scotland in Autumn 2012 and a pilot project to develop an evidence-based music therapy programme. Gareth created two short operas for Five:15 Operas Made in Scotland, is a lecturer at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and has composed works for the Hebrides Ensemble, the Paragon Ensemble, Symposia, the Black Hair Ensemble, and the London Sinfionetta. He was the winner of the British Conservatoire Composers Forum 2000, and in 2004 won the Dinah Wolf prize for composition. His work has also been featured in the Edinburgh Festival, the St Magnus Festival, Opera to Go, and the York Late Music Festival. Closer to home, Gareth recently worked with NOISE to create the site-specific The Sloans Project, based on the history and characters of the local landmark." [Source]

Thomas Allen Gets All the Credit for Scottish Opera "Barber"

"When the curtain lifted for the first time, we saw Simon Higlett’s very realistic set of the front of houses and places of business of a street in Seville around the time Rossini wrote his opera in 1816. This was good, and it got better as the story began to unfold on the street, before the action moved to the inside of Dr Bartolo’s house. Sir Thomas Allen, the director and better known as the baritone, had sung the part of Figaro years ago. With this experience he gave us a traditional rendition of the much loved opera but with just the right amount of mischief. Several times I was chuckling out loud - for his humour was as timely for its period as it was for today, not an easy challenge. Disguise, false teeth and a couple of nuns were all part of an easy to understand plot. The singing was a delight by a cast so well suited to their part - in voice, size, demeanour and dress, and aided by a chorus of eighteen who we saw but briefly. For once I had a good view of the orchestra and admired the deft finger-work of Susannah Wapshott on the harpsichord." [Source, Source]

For the record, the singers not mentioned in this review of the Scottish Opera production of Il Barbiere di Siviglia were Thomas Walker (Count Almaviva), Ville Rusanen (Figaro), Claire Booth (Rosina), Tiziano Bracci (Dr. Bartolo), Teuta Koco (Berta) and Adam Miller (Fiorello/Officer).