2009 Awardee: Katherine Grosset

I am determined to continue achieving at a high standard, and I have no doubt that …[the tutors] at the Guildhall can support and aid me in both setting and accomplishing my goals .. I am extremely grateful to the Dewar Arts Awards for making another year at this inspiring institution possible.

Biography

Mezzo-soprano Katherine Grosset from Edinburgh first studied composition and performance at the University of Glasgow graduating with an honours degree in music. She later went on to study for a Master of Music in Vocal Training at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, with Susan McCulloch. In between graduation and going to the Guildhall, she was a peripatetic Kodaly vocal instructor for the National Youth Choir of Scotland.

As well as possessing a well-trained, rich voice full of potential Katherine has a deep musicality and artistic imagination. She has had master classes with (former Dewar awardee) Karen Cargill, Rosalind Sutherland, Amy Jarman and Malcolm Martineau. Katherine is considered to have both the talent and the character to achieve great success in her chosen career.

Katherine looks forward to the challenges of a second year at Guildhall. She and her tutor are building up a bank of repertoire that she can take to competitions and auditions and perform at an exemplary level.

How the Award Helped

The Dewar Arts Award will go towards the costs of studying at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.

Since the Award

In the summer of 2010, Katie graduated with an MPerf degree with distinction. A highlight of the year was singing the role of ‘Ma’ in Iain Burnside’s highly-acclaimed production of ‘Lads in their Hundreds’, which incorporates a variety of English songs by different composers about the tragedy of war. At the end of a very eventful year, Katie was awarded a fellowship by the GSMD enabling her to continue her opera studies for a further year.

I am determined to continue achieving at a high standard, and I have no doubt that …[the tutors] at the Guildhall can support and aid me in both setting and accomplishing my goals .. I am extremely grateful to the Dewar Arts Awards for making another year at this inspiring institution possible.