A Day and Night of Song 

Monday 7 August, 8pm
Included in the price of your registration.

Soprano: Jessica Leary
Baritone: Andy McTaggart
Cello: Andrew Huggan
Piano: Andrew Forbes

Jessica Leary

Described as ‘a polished and radiant soprano’ (Opera Magazine), Jessica Leary has worked throughout
the UK and abroad with companies including Scottish Opera, Bayreuth Festival, Grange Festival Opera,
Buxton International Festival, Iford Arts, Dunedin Consort, RedNote Ensemble, BBC Scottish Symphony
Orchestra, and OAE Choir. She made her debut at the Edinburgh International Festival in 2021 as Lynne
in Rodgers and Hammerstein’s A Grand Night For Singing. Her other recent performances include
Second Woman in the world premiere of Wallen’s Dido’s Ghost at The Barbican Centre, London (with
further performances at Buxton International Festival and Edinburgh International Festival), Bach St
Matthew Passion with Dunedin Consort, the role of Tebaldo in Don Carlo for Grange Park Opera, and
Euridice Orpheus and Euridice with Scottish Opera. Jessica has appeared several times on BBC Radio
3 and BBC Radio Scotland, and features on recordings with Delphian records and Warner Classics.

Andrew McTaggart

Andrew McTaggart graduated from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, where he attended the
Alexander Gibson Opera School. His Edinburgh International Festival debut was singing Vaughan
Williams’s Five Mystical Songs in the Usher Hall in 2019. Other notable concert engagements include
Messiah at the Royal Festival Hall, Mozart’s Requiem at the Royal Albert Hall and Belshazzzar’s Feast
with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra. Other notable concert engagements include Messiah at
the Royal Festival Hall, Mozart’s Requiem at the Royal Albert Hall and the Bridgewater Hall, and
Belshazzzar’s Feast with the National Youth Choir of Scotland and the Royal Scottish National
Orchestra.

His operatic roles have included Falstaff and Gianni Schicchi (Opera Bohemia), Bottom A Midsummer
Night’s Dream, Samuel The Pirates of Penzance, Garibaldo Rodelinda, Yamadori Madama Butterfly,
(all Scottish Opera), Lakai in Ariadne auf Naxos (Opera de Lorraine) and Gasparo Rita (West Green
Opera). Andrew sang the roles of Noye in Noye’s Fludde and the premiere of An Cadal Throm with the
Lammermuir Festival whilst working with the community groups to create the performance. He
created the role of Duncan in the European première of Tom Cunningham’s chamber opera The
Okavango Macbeth (recorded on Delphian Records). Returning to Opera de Lorraine in 2019, Andrew
gave a recital in the Musikfestspiele Saar, as well as singing Josef in Bernard Herman’s Wuthering
Heights.

Andrew Huggan

Scottish ‘cellist Andrew Drummond Huggan gained a place at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama Junior department, under the tutelage of Timothy Paxton in 2005. He continued his studies at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland gaining his BMus (hons) with Rudi De Groote and baroque *cello
under Alison McGillivray.

Since leaving the RCS Andrew has performed with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra. BBC Scottish
Symphony orchestra, Manchester Camerata, Scottish Philharmonic. Concert and Festival orchestras,
British Philharmonic orchestra, Scottish Ballet and in 2010/11 was awarded an apprenticeship with
Scottish Opera, whom he now plays with on a regular basis. Andrew’s passion for theatre has seen
him tour internationally performing with ensembles and as a soloist across Europe, USA, Canada,
China and Oman. 2018 saw Andrew’s debut at the Lincoln Centre, New York.
In September 2019 Andrew collaborated with his twin brother, Calum an internationally acclaimed
Marimba player performing for a live BBC broadcast.

Aside from his busy freelance career Andrew holds the post of Part-time lecturer at the RCS.

Andrew Forbes

Andrew Forbes is an innovative Scottish organist whose dynamic style of playing creates ‘a symbiosis
between artist and instrument’ (The Montrealer). Appointed as Director of Music at Glasgow
Cathedral aged 21, he is a winner of the Northern Ireland International Organ Competition and the
RCS Prize for Early Music. A versatile artist, Andrew was hailed by The Scotsman for his ability to
transform the organ into ‘the most sublime of musical conduits’. A growing international reputation
sees Andrew performing throughout Europe, with solo appearances at the Philharmonie de Paris, Šv
Matu International Organ Festival (Lithuania), St Paul’s Cathedral (London) and Westminster Abbey.
Andrew teaches organ and historical keyboards for Glasgow University and RCS Junior Conservatoire.
Originally from Perth, he studied at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and Glasgow University, and
now learns with Dame Gillian Weir, supported by awards from the Hope Scott Trust and the
McGlashan Charitable Trust.