Morag McLaren (born 1957) is a Scottish singer, director and coach who now focuses on helping young singers at the early stages in their professional careers.

Early life and education

Morag McLaren was born and educated in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

, graduated in Music Education at

Lancaster University Lancaster University (legally The University of Lancaster) is a public university, public research university in Lancaster, Lancashire, Lancaster, Lancashire, England. The university was established in 1964 by royal charter, as one of several pla ...

and trained as an

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...

singer at the

Royal Northern College of Music The Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM) is a conservatoire located in Manchester, England. It is one of four conservatoires associated with the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music. In addition to being a centre of music education ...

, where she studied singing with Frederick Cox. As a mature student she completed an MA with distinction in Performance Health and Personal Development at London College of Music.

Performing and recording career

Morag McLaren has performed in opera, musicals, concerts, music theatre productions, improvisation, one woman shows, cabarets and recordings during her career, including principal roles with

Welsh National Opera Welsh National Opera (WNO) ( cy, Opera Cenedlaethol Cymru) is an opera company based in Cardiff, Wales; it gave its first performances in 1946. It began as a mainly amateur body and transformed into an all-professional ensemble by 1973. In its ...

(The Mother and Witch in ''

Hansel and Gretel "Hansel and Gretel" (; german: Hänsel und Gretel ) is a German fairy tale collected by the German Brothers Grimm and published in 1812 in ''Grimm's Fairy Tales'' (KHM 15). It is also known as Little Step Brother and Little Step Sister. Hansel ...

''),

Scottish Opera Scottish Opera is the national opera company of Scotland, and one of the five national performing arts companies of Scotland. Founded in 1962 and based in Glasgow, it is the largest performing arts organisation in Scotland. History Scottish Op ...

(Lucy in ''

Threepenny Opera ''The Threepenny Opera'' ( ) is a "play with music" by Bertolt Brecht, adapted from a translation by Elisabeth Hauptmann of John Gay's 18th-century English ballad opera, ''The Beggar's Opera'', and four ballads by François Villon, with music b ...

''), The

Royal National Theatre The Royal National Theatre in London, commonly known as the National Theatre (NT), is one of the United Kingdom's three most prominent publicly funded performing arts venues, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal Opera House. I ...

(Mrs Segstrom in ''

A Little Night Music ''A Little Night Music'' is a Musical theatre, musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by Hugh Wheeler. Inspired by the 1955 Ingmar Bergman film ''Smiles of a Summer Night'', it involves the romantic lives of several couples. ...

'') and in the West End (Carlotta in ''

Phantom of the Opera ''The Phantom of the Opera'' (french: Le Fantôme de l'Opéra) is a novel by French author Gaston Leroux. It was first published as a serial in from 23 September 1909 to 8 January 1910, and was released in volume form in late March 1910 by Pierr ...

''). Morag McLaren toured internationally with Opera Circus
www.operacircusuk.com
(The Good Wife in ''Shameless an Immoral Tale''), presented on BBC Radio 3 ''The Music Tree'', released three solo CDs (''I Never Do Anything Twice''; ''Nobody Does It Like Me – A Tribute To Dorothy Fields''; ''Tonight: Lola Blau'' - https://www.amazon.com/Morag-McLaren/e/B001LHOTRG) and featured on RNT
www.nationaltheatre.org.uk
cast recording (''A Little Night Music'' - https://www.discogs.com/Stephen-Sondheim-Judi-Dench-Patricia-Hodge-Si%C3%A2n-Phillips-A-Little-Night-Music-1996-Royal-National-T/release/5586426) and other compilations (e.g. ''Dangerous Cabaret – The Music & Lyrics of Brett Kahr' - 'https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dangerous-Cabaret-Music-Lyrics-Brett/dp/B000E7FT32). She has presented one-woman shows worldwide, including ''Dorothy Fields: Rhythm of Life'' and Georg Kreisler’s '' Tonight Lola Blau''. She is a founder member of the opera improvisation group, Impropera
www.impropera.co.uk
.

Education Work

Morag McLaren also works as a workshop leader/vocal consultant for emerging artists in the early stages of their professional careers and has led performance workshops and master classes at The Guildhall School of Music and Drama (https://www.gsmd.ac.uk), Ardingly International Music School, Guildford School of Acting (https://gsauk.org), London College of Music (https://www.uwl.ac.uk), where she also directed a production of

Dido and Aeneas ''Dido and Aeneas'' (Z. 626) is an opera in a prologue and three acts, written by the English Baroque composer Henry Purcell with a libretto by Nahum Tate. The dates of the composition and first performance of the opera are uncertain. It was co ...

), and The Cooper Hall Emerging Artists Workshops
www.cooperhall.org
. Her teaching collaboration with Theresa Goble (Vox Integr
www.voxintegra.com
involves her in a range of vocal workshops, with an emphasis on the integration of vocal skills with acting for singers.

Cooper Hall

Morag McLaren is the founder and principal Trustee of The Cooper Hall Foundation charity
www.cooperhall.org
, promotes music performances, education and the development of creative projects at Cooper Hall, a performance space, venue near Frome, Somerset. At Cooper Hall Morag McLaren directed the operas ''

The Turn of the Screw ''The Turn of the Screw'' is an 1898 horror novella by Henry James which first appeared in serial format in ''Collier's Weekly'' (January 27 – April 16, 1898). In October 1898, it was collected in ''The Two Magics'', published by Macmill ...

'', ''Hansel and Gretel'', and ''

Cosi Fan Tutte Cosi, COSI or CoSi may refer to: * ''Così'', a 1992 play by Louis Nowra ** ''Cosi'' (film), 1996, based on the play * Così (restaurant), an American fast-casual restaurant chain * Compton Spectrometer and Imager, or COSI, a NASA telescope to be ...

'' for Frome Festival in collaboration with

Bath Philharmonia The Bath Philharmonia is an orchestra based in Bath. Jason Thornton is the orchestra's Artistic Director Background Bath Philharmonia is one of the leading professional orchestras in the South-West of England. Discography *'' Paul Carr: Requiem ...

. She describes her approach to these small scale productions as workshop led direction. Morag McLaren also directed ''

'' at London College of Music. Morag McLaren is Patron of Frome Festival
www.fromefestival.co.uk
,

Personal life

She is married and has two adult children. Her son Gregor Riddell
www.gregorriddell.co.uk
is a professional cellist and composer and her daughter Kirsty Riddell
www.kirstyriddell.com
is an artist .

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McLaren, Morag Living people 20th-century Scottish women opera singers Scottish musical theatre actresses Musicians from Edinburgh Alumni of the Royal Northern College of Music 1957 births 21st-century Scottish women opera singers