COWAL MUSIC Club hosts a special concert at Dunoon’s Burgh Hall this Sunday, featuring Scottish musical stalwart Gordon Cree and acclaimed mezzo-soprano Cheryl Forbes.
Cree – a pianist, organist, arranger, composer, conductor and entertainer – is regarded as one of Scotland’s most versatile musicians, with a career spanning classical, jazz, traditional Scottish music and musical theatre.
His piano performances feature on numerous commercial recordings and on soundtracks for television, radio and film. He has appeared with artists including Marilyn Horne, Moira Anderson, John Rutter and Nicola Benedetti, as well as entertainers Roy Hudd, Ken Dodd and Anita Harris.
As a conductor, Cree has led ensembles such as the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, the BBC Concert Orchestra, the Hallé Orchestra and the National Youth Orchestra of Scotland, often performing his own arrangements. He was recently selected for the small team of organists at the Blackpool Tower Ballroom Wurlitzer and, in 2019, received the Scottish Music Hall and Variety Society’s Lifetime Achievement Award.
He also serves as President of the Scottish Showbusiness Benevolent Fund and is a trustee of the Scottish Cinema Organ Trust.
Falkirk-born Cheryl Forbes is widely described as “one of Scotland’s most exciting and versatile singers”.Shemadeherstage debut at the age of eight and later trained in Glasgow, London and New York with legendary soprano Marilyn Horne and Metropolitan Opera coach Frederic Camara. In demand across the UK, she has sung principal roles with Scottish Opera and Opera Bohemia, performed oratorio with major choral societies and made guest appearances in London’s West End.
