User:Musica13

ANDY FRASER Biography
 

'''Andy Fraser was born in Edinburgh and by the tender age of 6 his talent was already noted, with the result that he was headhunted by teachers from St. Mary’s Music School in his hometown. After his audition he was accepted as a chorister. His exceptional singing ability was recognised from the outset and he eventually became a Head Boy at the school.'''

Most of Andy’s school years were spent singing – study and performance – and even at this early stage he was involved and performed on several school vinyl LP’s recordings.

After leaving school, Andy chose a different career path, but music eventually found him again; by chance, he spotted a street notice advertising a singing audition for The Edinburgh Opera Group and on impulse walked in.

'''Despite being completely unprepared he just stood and sang “God save the Queen”. Despite this rather unorthodox approach - his singing stunned the audition panel, he was offered a role and was strongly advised to study music again.'''

'''This was Andy’s first experience of performing in an Opera and it gave him an insight if trained properly, what his voice could achieve; it soon became clear to Andy that opera singing was his forte. Other reputable amateur opera companies swiftly offered him singing roles in their productions. His first lead role was Dick Dauntless - a Man-o'-war's-man in a Gilbert and Sullivan production of ‘Ruddigore’ performed in the Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh. In succession he performed lead roles with the likes of the Edinburgh University Savoy Opera Group and Edinburgh Grand Opera.'''

'''Consequentially an opportunity arose to audition for the Royal College of Music in London and the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester. He was offered a placement at both colleges; his preferred choice was Manchester where he could study and train as an opera singer under the much admired head of the vocal studies Patrick McGuigan, who taught Alexander Young technique.'''

On completing his studies Andy was able to return to Scotland and fulfill his dream of pursuing a professional career in singing.

His roles included: Graham in Spike and the lead role of Duke in the Scottish tour of Opera Galactica; Thomas in Thomas and Sally; Turridu in Cavalleria Rusticana/ Pagliacci; Pong in Turandot.

'''From 2006 he worked regularly as a freelance tenor with Scottish Opera; during his 10-year association with the company he sang the tenor role in the quartet of their production Die Entführung aus dem Serail (Seraglio, 2007). Other productions for Scottish Opera include Carmen (2006), Der Rosenkavalier (2006), Madama Butterfly (2007 & 2014), Two Widows (2008), La Traviata (2008), Manon (2009), La Boheme (2010), The Barber of Seville (2011), The Magic Flute (2012), Cavalleria Rusticana/ Pagliacci (2012), Tosca (2012), The Flying Dutchman (2013), The Pirates of Penzance (2013), Don Giovanni (2013), Pirates of Penzance (2013), Turandot (2014), Don Pasquale (2014), Ines de Castro (2014), La Cenerentola (2015).'''

'''Apart from his opera roles Andy’s singing career continued to develop, he embraced a wide selection of musical styles and genres (from classical music to jazz and folk). Although classical music was his first love, Andy relished performing folk music and was enthralled by the possibilities of an eclectic crossover of classical music and folk; this would fuel his developing songwriting talent, which eventually came to full fruition on his album I Feel So Near.'''

'''Andy also specialised in Scottish folk music and was an accomplished interpreter of Robert Burns’ songs. He performed concerts with Lorraine Jordan and for many years sang at the ‘Taste of Scotland Scottish Show’ at Prestonfield House, Edinburgh as one of The Three Scottish Tenors.'''

'''Being Edinburgh-born and bred, Andy was often involved in Edinburgh International Festival and Fringe productions, such as The Emperor’s Quest. He also worked as a volunteer for “The Drake Project” (Electronic music for the handicapped) and worked regularly for the ‘Council for Music in Hospitals’ as a therapist for people with autism; this work took him to Orkney, touring with Geraldine MacDade and pianist Andrew Thomson.'''

Andy often sang in venues around Edinburgh - the Royal Oak, Leith Folk Club, the Waverley and various other folk clubs throughout the city.

'''Andy joined forces with Chris Rönig, forming ‘Uber Gallus’ and together wrote and sang many original songs. They sang at Open Mic sessions all over Edinburgh, which lead to concerts at Glasgow’s prestigious Celtic Connections festival. ‘Uber Gallus’ came to an end when Chris went home to Germany, but Andy kept writing and singing as a solo artist. In 2001 he recorded a demo CD on which he collaborated with singer Lorraine Jordan (vocals and bouzouki). He also sung with ‘Singing Waiters’ in Switzerland.'''

'''Andy’s directorial productions include: Associate Director, Macbeth for Edinburgh Grand Opera; Thirteen years as Associate Director for Edinburgh University Group. Director, Gilbert & Sullivan’s The Gondoliers, he also directed a new adaptation of the play Helen by Euripides, translated by Andrew Wilson.'''

In 2006 Andy recorded his first album, Till A’ The Seas Gang Dry and his second, I Feel So Near, in 2014.

'''He has received much critical acclaim on the Scottish circuit - ‘A voice to die for’ - Paddie Bell. ‘Beautiful’ – Tommy Sands.'''

 

Review of I Feel So Near by Andy Fraser by Marcin Puławski (Laboratorium Muzycznych Fuzji)

'''I Feel So Near by Andy Fraser consists of beautiful songs full of ineffable sweetness, tenderness and very interesting melodies. Clear form of the songs and their poetic content – the album includes lyrics from Robert Louis Stevenson’s poem I will make you brooches - constitutes a unique entity, which is bound together with one of the most beautiful male voices I’ve ever heard. Andy impresses with the excellence of his vocal technique brought to perfection, with richness of expression, graceful timbre changes, and exceptional tunefulness of the leading of cantilena. Andy sings very high, sometimes simply in an operatic way, however all the time he does it incredibly naturally, without snobbism, pedantry and calculation flaws.'''

'''This artist is also gifted with intuition he uses when catching stylish features of various eras. Hard Times is a song that is over 160 years old, After All is a contemporary composition, composed by the performer himself and dedicated to his wife. Arrangements of particular songs testify to the richness of the author’s ideas. In spite of structural repetitions the album does not get boring, due to the lead’s voice, poetic imaginativeness and bucolic mood which decide about its great value. There is nothing that would be too much here and even the fiddle’s parts are limited to the skilful counterpoint.'''