The City of Discovery Charity Concert - Performers

Alfie Boe

Alfie Boe's love affair with opera started quite unexpectantly as a teenager. It was whilst working as an apprentice at the local sports car factory that he was approached to tour with D'Oyly Carte touring company.

This then inspired him to go on and study at the Royal College of Music and the National Opera Studio and, whilst at the Royal Opera House, he was approached by Baz Luhrmann, to take on the role of one of the leads in his Broadway production of Puccini's La Boheme, for which he won a Tony Award.

Having signed to "Classical FM Presents" in 2006, Alfie's eponymous debut album was released in Novemeber 2006. His second album, 'Onward' which included a special arrangement of 'The Lord is My Shepherd', was released in 2007 and went straight to No.1 in the UK classical chart establishing Alfie as a household name in the UK. In late 2007 Alfie released 'La Passione', a collection of traditional, mainly Italian folk songs that have stood up to the test of time. The repertoire includes 'O Sole Mio', 'Funiculi Finicula', 'Santa Lucia' and the wonderful 'Caruso'.

In 2008 Boe returned to take on one of the main roles with the English National Opera at the Coliseum, in a new production of Lehar's, The Merry Widow and was the only performer with two nominations for the Classical Brits.

This will be Alfie's first singing engagement in Scotland.

Christina Lawrie

Hailed as a rising star by the magazine International Piano, Dundee-born pianist Christina Lawrie's recent engagements have included acclaimed recitals at the Wigmore Hall, the Purcell Room and St Martin-in-the-Fields as a PLG Young Artist, and the Perth Concert Hall, as well as live BBC Radio 3 broadcasts and a debut at Cheltenham International Festival.

Christina plays frequently in Scotland, and had the honour of inaugurating the Steinway piano bought by Music Nairn in 2008. Recent Scottish engagements include a 6-concert tour of Argyll and Bute, and a tour of the far north, including Orkney.

Royal Scottish National Orchestra

The Royal Scottish National Orchestra is one of Europe's leading symphony orchestra. Formed in 1891 as the Scottish Orchestra, the company became the Scottish National Orchestra in 1950, and was awarded Royal Patronage in 1991. A host of renowned conductors has contributed t its success, including Walter Susskind, Sir Alexander Gibson, Bryden Thomson, Neeme Jarvi, Waler Weller, and Alexander Lazarev. In July 2007 Stéphane Deneve was joined by Austrian David Danzmayr as RSNO Assistant Conductor.

National Youth Choir of Scotland

The National Youth Choir of Scotland (Dundee branch) was formed in September 2000, and now consists of over 300 children, ranging from training choirs, probationary choirs to the Dundee Youth Choir. The DYC perform regularly at the Dundee Twinning Association services under their conductor Fiona McIntosh and enjoyed a very successful visit to Orleans in 2006. They are looking forward very much indeed to performing with the RSNO and Alfie Boe.