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The Scottish bass, conductor and music pedsgogue, Alasdair Jamieson, studied at George Watson's College in Edinburgh (1967-1973); He studied Music with Cedric Thorpe Davie at St. Andrews University (M.A. (Hons), Music Grade 1st: 1973-1978). He then trained as a teacher at the University of Cambridge (PGCE in Music Education: 1978-1979).
Since then, Alasdair Jamieson has divided his time between teaching, research work and performance. His first post was as Director of Music at Cheltenham College Junior School (September 1979-August 1985). Whilst in that town he organised the film programme for the Cheltenham Festival of Music for 5 years (1985-1990). At the same time he also studied at the University of Birmingham (M.Litt in Music: 1985-1990). Other teaching posts followed - Director of Music at Sir Thomas Rich's School in in Gloucester (September 1978-August 1990); Lecturer Extra-Mural Department at Birmingham University (September 1985-August 1987); Assistant Director of Music at School of St Helen and St Katharine in Abingdon (September 1990-August 1995); Director of Music at Bootham School in York (September 1995-August 2001); Curriculum Leader for Music, Sixth Form Tuto at Skipton Girls' High School (September 2004-August 2005); and in Pocklington. A spell of research work in the 1980's into the music of the contemporary Italian composer Goffredo Petrassi at Birmingham (with John C.G. Waterhouse) led to him sitting in 1986 as an adjudicator for the Choral Composition prize in Arezzo. He has now returned to academia, and in 2007 gained a doctorate for a thesis on the music of Scottish composer Hamish MacCunn (1868-1916) based at Durham University, supervised by Jeremy Dibble (2001-2007). He sang as a Lay Clerk at Ripon Cathedral (September 2001-August 2008) and now sings in a vocal quintet, Amici, and in the Leeds-based choir, the St. Peters Singers. In York he has directed the Micklegate Singers (1996-2000), and has conducted the York Symphony Orchestra since 2005.
Alasdair Jamieson has been Musical Director of York Opera since 1996 for whom he has conducted 25 operas, including The Moon, Benjamin Britten's Peter Grimes, Iolanthe, Turandot, The Sorcerer, Suor Angelica, Amahl and the Night Visitors, Don Carlos, The First Nowell, Georges Bizet's Carmen, The Mikado, Die Fledermaus, Cavalleria Rusticana, I Pagliacci, H.M.S. Pinafore, The Elixir of Love, The Gondoliers, Eugene Onegin, W.A. Mozart's Don Giovanni, Hugh the Drover, W.A. Mozart's The Magic Flute, The Yeomen of the Guard and Macbeth.
Alasdair Jamieson was a Research Fellow at Durham University (January 2008-December 2010) and since January 2011 he is a Teaching Fellow in Musicology there. at Durham University. He is also Director of Chapel Music at St John’s College, Durham. He has recently written a book on two Northern Irish composers, Havelock Nelson and Joan Trimble, to be published in 2015. |
