Haddo Junior Choirs- Alice Dennis

Alice E Dennis

Musical Director - Haddo House Choral & Operatic Society

Musical Director - Haddo Combined Treble Voice Choir

Musical Director - Haddo Youth Music Theatre

Alice Elizabeth Dennis (née Larner) was born near Manchester to Guardian music critic Gerald and writer Celia. She started piano lesson at four years old with the late RNCM teacher Marjorie Clementi, completing her 100% record of exam passes at distinction with her grade 8 at fourteen years old. She also studied singing with RNCM teacher Caroline Crawshaw, as well as taking lessons in percussion and flute.

Alice was a member of the Trafford Youth Orchestra as a pianist (appearing as a soloist in piano concertos with them on occasion) and percussionist and was a member of several choirs, frequently taking soprano solos as required.

Alice then went on to study piano with Fanny Waterman in Leeds and with concert pianist Peter Donohoe before going to Trinity College of Music in London.

There she studied with Eva Bernatova (piano) and Valerie Cardnell (singing) and gained a teaching diploma LTCL (pft) and a hons. music degree - GTCL.

Whilst she was in London she met future husband Jerry, whom she married following graduating. They then moved to Edinburgh, where they lived for eight years and had their two children Matthew (’84) and Eleanor (’87). Alice built up a popular teaching practice and also played piano for singers, instrumentalists, and ballet schools.

Over the years Alice has sung most of the lead soprano roles in G and S operettas as well as other roles such as the Mother in 'Amahl and the Night Visitors' and Belinda in 'Dido and Aeneas'. She has also performed many times as a pianist and particularly excells as an accompanist.

In 1990 the family moved to Aberdeenshire and Alice got heavily involved in the musical activities at Haddo House. She joined the Choral Society as a soprano appearing in many operas and concerts, and sang many times as a soloist. She also became Musical Director for five years for the Children’s Theatre and Junior Choir. She also built up a large teaching practice (piano and singing). During this time Alice continued her singing studies with Raimund Herincx at the NE school of Music in Aberdeen and sang regularly with the Edinburgh Festival Chorus under the brilliant guidance of David Jones.

Alice has also been Musical Director for the Garioch Musical Society, the Haddo Pantomime and Haddo Youth Music Theatre (conducting their two sell out runs of 'West Side Story' and 'The Mikado') and is now the Musial Director for the Haddo House Choral & Operatic Society and the two Haddo Junior Choirs. Despite none of the Haddo singers being auditioned, she has taken the latter to the top, increasing their numbers to around 100 young singers and leading them to success at local and national level. The younger Children’s Choir gained a first place in Scotland in Sainsbury’s Choir of the Year 2002, and the Youth Choir the same in 2004 (now called BBC Radio 3

Choir of the Year). In 2006 she formed a choir made up of 80 non auditioned treble voices aged 11 - 82, taken from the 3 Haddo choirs (known as the 'Haddo Combined Treble Voice Choir') into BBC Radio 3 Choir of the Year 2006. They not only won the Scottish heat but qualified for the two finals down in Cardiff. They eventually walked away as runners up in the whole of the UK, beating many of the top amateur choirs in the country and appearing on local and national TV and radio. This choir has just achieved an Open Choir of the Day certificate (Edinburgh heat) in the 2010 competition, making them top in Scotland again.

Since becoming chorus master for HHCOS she has increased the membership to over 90 singers and has conducted them in major sell out concerts: such as Soirée Française, the Mozart Requiem and their French Concert last September. She has trained them to work with renowned guest conductors in the operas and concerts to great professional and critical acclaim. She conducted three sell out performances of The Pirates of Penzance with a cast of all ages, most of the principals also being Dennis pupils and has recently repeated this success with Iolanthe. She was appointed Musical Director in 2009 after the death of HHCOS founder and director Lady Aberdeen.

As a piano and singing teacher her pupils and choirs regularly win first places in the Aberdeen and NE Scotland Music Festival, for example in 2004 18 classes were won by Dennis pupils. She often enters pupils right up to grade 8 and beyond in the ABRSM exams with an outstanding success rate and has had pupils accepted into The Royal College of Music, the Royal Northern College of Music, the Guildhall School of Music, Trinity College of Music, The Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, Leeds College of Music, The Arts Educational Schools London, Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts, and many university music departments.

She continues to take pupils of all ages and abilities and has unprecedented success with them whatever their requirements.

Alice is a member of the professional body the ‘Incorporated Society of Musicians’ and is one of very few teachers to be admitted to their specialist ‘Private Teacher's Section’ from the NE of Scotland.

Alice performs on piano regularly, accompanying for concerts, auditions, festivals and music exams.

Daughter Eleanor Dennis, now an up and coming soprano currently studying at the RCM International Opera School, started her singing studies with her mother and learned much with the Haddo Junior Choirs and by taking lead roles in the youth shows staged at Haddo House.

Alice is always available to do choral workshops, adjudications, conducting, accompanying, vocal coaching and regularly gives free school workshops for state schools in the area. WORKSHOPS RUNNNG NOW - call 01358 722977 for an appointment.