Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

North-east soprano and her conductor mother to take to stage for final time

Post Thumbnail

A north-east soprano and her conductor mother, who nurtured her musical talent from birth, will appear on stage together for the final time at a popular event next month.

The fifth Haddo Arts Festival, at Haddo House, will begin on Saturday, October 1 with Ellon opera star, Eleanor Dennis, taking centre stage for an opening concert.

Ms Dennis will sing the Mozart Requiem with the Haddo House Choral and Operatic Society, with whom she fostered her talents.

The show is being conducted by her mother, Alice Dennis, in her final appearance as the society’s musical director.

Eleanor Dennis
Eleanor Dennis

It will mark her retirement after 26 years in the group and the last occasion on which she will work with her 29-year-old daughter.

Former Ellon Academy student, Ms Dennis, is now based in Essex and is currently touring with Scottish Opera for her role in an adaptation of Mozart’s masterpiece, The Marriage of Figaro.

dennis

Her mum – organiser of the Haddo Arts Festival since its inception – said: “I have conducted her a few times and it is always very moving, everyone notices the chemistry between us.

“I taught her to sing and we have always been best pals. We have hardly ever fallen out and have a very good relationship.

“I study piano and singing myself. I could tell from an early age that she was going to be a performer.

“She is really supportive of everything I do and was a member of the choral society from the age of three. She has sung with them just about every year since.

“I have chosen pieces that are my favourites.”

The 55-year-old added she was delighted at how far the festival had come in the past five years.

She explained: “It is terrific that it is well attended, because we have well over 1,000 people coming now which is great considering it is classical music.”

The festival’s art exhibition, Visions, will feature work from Nienke Attema, Joyce Cairns, Helen Denerley, Sarah Dunton, Winifred Fergus, Paul Ritchie and Gillian Tyler.

Concerts from tenor Jamie MacDougall and composer Pete Stollery will take place at the Haddo chapel.

And students from the North East of Scotland Music School will also parade their qualities during the festival.

North-east author Stuart McBride will be in attendance for a talk and book signing on the evening of Wednesday, October 5 in Haddo House’s library.

Comedian Jenny Chalmers will return to the festival on the Thursday night, whilst a candlelit Chopin piano recital by top Australian pianist, Piers Lane, will take place on the Friday.

The event will end on Saturday, October 8 with The Elixir of Love, as produced by Scottish Opera.

Tickets are on sale now at www.haddoartsfetsival.org.uk or at 03336 663 366. Any other enquiries to 01651 851 041.