Ellie Pirie Scholarship

A fund has been established in memory of Elizabeth Pirie LRAM ARCM ARCO, who was accompanist for the choir from 1956 until her death in 1988. The award consists of a Scholarship for a resident of the North-East of Scotland who is of Secondary school age or above. The recipient must have reached a standard of performing equivalent to that of at least Grade 7 Associated Board and must be receiving, or willing to accept, tuition from a teacher of appropriate standing. This is normally arranged through the North East Scotland Music School (NESMS).

2012 - Brychan Cromwell

Brychan Cromwell graduated in Chemical Engineering from the University of Aberdeen in July 2012 and moved on to work in Southampton.

Brychan sings soprano and the Scholarship helped with tuition at NESMS, where she studied under Jean Webster. She was a member of the St Machar's Cathedral Choir during her stay in Aberdeen and took part in many University musical performances.

Brychan gave a performance after the Annual General Meeting in June 2012, accompanied by Drew Tulloch.

 

 

2010 - Andrew Greer

Andrew has recently moved to Aberdeen where he works as a doctor. He has a singing repertoire that has grown from bases in both Warwick and Dundee.

During his time in Warwick he was actively involved in many pursuits. He was a choral scholar with, and was president of, Warwick University Choir. Outwith university he also sang with the Warwick Phoenix singers, and during this time he was given the opportunity to sing with Kiri te Kanawa. As a member of Warwick Student Opera he was involved in productions of Mozart, taking on roles such as Figaro and Don Giovanni.

Whilst studying in Dundee he was again involved with a number of choirs, singing with Dundee University Chamber Choir, St Paul's Cathedral Choir and St Mary's Church, where he was also a scholar. He has enjoyed various tours with choirs over the years visiting Leipzig, Dublin, and Barcelona in the past.

More recently he was granted the Ellie Pirie Scholarship in 2010, and is now singing in the Aberdeen Bach Choir. He has received vocal tuition from Raimund Herincx, Alan Watt, Jean Webster, and more recently Ruth Black.

2009 - Mairi Findlay

The winner of the 2009 Ellie Pirie Scholarship is Mairi Findlay who is from Inverness and was in her final year of studying medicine at Aberdeen University. She had received singing tutition from Colin Lewis and currently studied at the North East of Scotland Music School with Alison MacDonald.

Mairi has sung in number of choirs and was head chorister of Inverness Cathedral. More recently she has sung solos with Alyth Choral Union, Highland Harmony and with the NHS Grampian Healthcare Choir at their Christmas Carol Concert. She has also been a member of the National Youth Choir of Scotland for a number of years and was selected to sing in the semi-chorus at a performance of The Dream of Gerontius as part of the Edinburgh International Festival in 2009. As well as singing she enjoys playing the piano and violin. In her spare time she plays in a ceilidh band called Ceol Cridhe!

Colin Brockie was the winner in 2006-7 and again in 2007-8. Colin sang the part of the Messenger in the Choir's performance of Samson in St Machar's Cathedral on Sunday 27 April 2008 and Alan Cooper said of him: ... there was an especially fine performance from young Colin Brockie as the Israelitish messenger. This is surely a young man to look out for in the future. After gaining a BA Hons from Gray’s School of Art at the Robert Gordon University, Colin has continued to receive his singing lessons at the North East of Scotland Music School (NESMS), being taught by Ruth Black, Alan Watt and Raimund Herincx, as well as being one of the assistant administrators there. He hopes to pursue a career in opera after further studies in Manchester or London.

Paul Tierney, Baritone, then a final year student of music at the University of Aberdeen, was the winner of the Ellie Pirie Scholarship for 2005-6. Paul studied under Jean Webster at NESMS. He gave a short recital to the choir at St Margaret's School on Tuesday 17 January 2007.

The winner of the Ellie Pirie Scholarship for 2004-5 was Andrew House, a third year student at the University of Aberdeen. Andrew, a tenor, comes from Perth. He was a pupil of Jean Webster at NESMS and sang with the National Youth Choir of Scotland.

The Ellie Pirie Scholarship winner for 2003-4 was Colin Brockie. Colin was then in his third year at The Robert Gordon University studying 3D Design. A baritone, he was in his fifth consecutive year with the National Youth Choir of Scotland. A pupil of Ruth Black at NESMS, Colin performed along with the Aberdeen Bach Choir at the closing concert of the 2004 Brechin Arts Festival in Brechin Cathedral on 3 October 2004, giving a recital of songs accompanied by Donald Hawkesworth.

 

Page last updated 5 July, 2012 by Ian Downie