A Royal Conservatoire of Scotland graduate will premiere a powerful new collection of songs that brings the words of Scottish women to life through the voices of female singers today.

Soprano, composer and alumna Monica McGhee will unveil her debut song cycle, The Pebbles We Keep, on Sunday 23 November in RCS’s Stevenson Hall concert venue.

Monica has taken poems penned by Scottish women throughout history – spanning 400 years – and set them to music. They’ll be performed by singers of all ages with a female actor reciting each poem in its original form before each song.

“This project is about more than performance – it’s about representation, legacy and mentorship,” says Motherwell-born Monica, who graduated from RCS’s Bachelor of Music degree programme in 2010, and has graced concert halls and opera houses across Europe.

“The Pebbles We Keep remembers the poets who were often overlooked in their own lifetimes, while offering opportunities for today’s Scottish singers to be heard, in a bid to rebalance the deficit of female roles available within the opera world.

“It aims to honour Scotland’s cultural roots while creating new repertoire that future generations of singers can perform.”

The poems reflect a wide range of women’s experiences, from disability and working-class struggle to loss, resilience and creativity, by writers including Janet Hamilton, Jessie Anderson, Carolina Oliphant (Baroness Nairne), Mary Mackellar and Mary Symon.

The oldest poem is Elizabeth Melville’s Ane Godlie Dreame from 1603 – the first published poem by a Scottish woman – to contemporary poet Lisa Kennedy’s The Pebbles We Keep.

“Many of these poets were forgotten, misattributed to male contemporaries or dismissed entirely,” said Monica.

Auditions for the cast took place at RCS where fellow RCS alumni joined Monica on the panel – conductor Andrew Nunn and pianist and vocal coach Geoffrey Tanti. The concert will feature graduate Andrew Brown on piano.

Monica began her musical life as a pianist and trumpet player. She studied at RCS’s Junior Conservatoire of Music before embarking on her Bachelor of Music undergraduate degree in Vocal Performance.

Following her studies at RCS, Monica moved to London at the age of 21 to pursue postgraduate studies at the Royal College of Music and spent the next few years working at some of the most prestigious houses across the UK, including English National Opera, Scottish Opera and the Royal Opera House.

On the concert platform, Monica has appeared as a soloist in some of the country’s leading venues including The Royal Albert Hall, Birmingham Symphony Hall, Bridgewater Hall, The Barbican, Glasgow’s City Halls and Liverpool Philharmonic Hall.

Like the pioneering poets in The Pebbles We Keep, Monica’s own story is one of talent, courage and inspiration.

Monica was diagnosed with thyroid cancer in 2017 which looked like it would put a premature end to her career. As she battled the disease and subsequent treatment to repair her voice following emergency surgery, she spent a number of seasons singing extra chorus at the Royal Opera House, with highlights including a tour to Tokyo in 2019.

Having successfully recovered from her illness, she was accepted as the soprano Young Artist at The National Opera Studio for 2020-2021. Recent roles include the title role in Tosca for Opera Bohemia, Beatrice in Beatrice and Benedict for Mid Wales Opera and the leading role of Iolanta for If Opera.

Monica made her English National Opera debut earlier this year, playing Mary Beaton in Mary, Queen of Scots, on the anniversary of her cancer diagnosis.

“It feels incredibly special to be staging the world premiere of The Pebbles We Keep at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, the place where my journey as a musician began,” Monica added.

“To bring this music to life alongside fellow RCS graduates makes it even more meaningful. Returning to RCS to share this project feels like bringing things full circle.”

Tickets for The Pebbles We Keep are available from the RCS Box Office

Visit Monica’s website

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Main image @ Daniel Lewis