Callum McCandless

Callum is a Bass-Baritone from Ayrshire who is currently based in Manchester. With generous funding from The Oglesby Charitable Trust and under the tutelage of Quentin Hayes, he recently completed his Postgraduate Diploma at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester where he also studied for both his Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees.

Whilst at the RNCM, Callum performed a number of operatic roles including Inspector Frank in Strauss’ Die Fledermaus, Antonio in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro and Mr Gobineau in Menotti’s The Medium. Opera excerpts include Parmenione from Rossini’s L’occasione fa il ladro, Leporello from Mozart’s Don Giovanni, Figaro from Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro and Friedrich Bhaer from Adamo’s Little Women. He was also the recipient of The Elsie Thurston prize and a finalist for The Joyce and Michael Kennedy Award for the Singing of Strauss.

For this academic year, Callum was selected by Opera North to take part in their 2023/24 Chorus Mentorship Scheme. He joined the Opera North chorus alongside the RNCM and Opera Rara in their new recording and performance of Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra under the baton of Sir Mark Elder. Callum currently holds a choral scholarship at Blackburn Cathedral, where he sings regular Sunday services in addition to one off services. While singing there, he has performed works such as Handel’s Messiah and Fauré’s Requiem, including the Baritone Solo on multiple occasions, in addition to performing as a Cantor.

Callum is currently working at Opera Holland Park, singing in the chorus as part of their production of The Flying Dutchman – which is also the company’s first staging of a work by Richard Wagner.

In the summer of 2024, Callum recently appeared as the Bass Soloist in Bach’s Ascension Oratorio (BWV11), alongside the RNCM Chamber Choir and Chamber Orchestra. He participated in the Barock Vokal Akademie, singing in their production of Händel’s Alcina in addition to duet and cantata works by G.J. Werner, G. Bononcini and others in various concerts. He worked with conductors Paul Goodwin, Alessandro de Marchi and György Vashegyi and coaches such as Elisabeth Scholl, Daniele Boccacio, Nicholas Tamagna, James Taylor and Markus Stein.

Under the baton of Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Callum performed in a concert production of West Side Story at the Edinburgh International Festival, where he sang as a member of the chorus and covered the role of Action. In 2012, he worked with world renowned baritone Sir Thomas Allen, who directed Scottish Opera’s newest production of Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte, singing the role of First Boy.

Callum has also enjoyed singing in the chorus for Mozart’s Requiem, Fauré’s Requiem, Brahm’s Requiem, along with Berlioz’s La damnation de Faust, Roméo et Juliette, and Lelio, which he performed with the National Youth Choir of Scotland and Sir John Eliot Gardiner in Carnegie Hall. Other notable venues include The Royal Albert Hall (London), Millennium Park (Chicago) and Usher Hall (Edinburgh). He also performed Beethoven’s 9^th Symphony with NYCOS at the Grand Teton Music Festival under Sir Donald Runnicles.

Outside of music, Callum is a Level 3 Qualified Personal Trainer and a Level 2 Qualified Fitness Instructor. He has also hosted talks looking at topics related to strength training and opera singing with a long term goal of making strength training more accessible for opera singers.