Morag McLaren (born 1957) is a Scottish soprano singer, director and vocal coach. She has performed in opera, musicals, concerts, one woman shows and cabaret acts.
Early life and education McLaren was born in Edinburgh and attended The Mary Erskine School. She graduated with a Bachelor of Education in Music at Lancaster University and trained as an opera singer at the Royal Northern College of Music, where she studied singing with Frederic Cox. She completed an MA degree with distinction in Performance Health and Personal Development at London College of Music.
Performing career McLaren played principal roles in the West End (Carlotta in Phantom of the Opera, in 1988–1989, and Mrs Segstrom in A Little Night Music with The Royal National Theatre in 1995–96). She also had principal roles with Scottish Opera (Lucy in Threepenny Opera in 1990) and Welsh National Opera (The Mother, the Dew Fairy and the Witch in Hansel and Gretel in 1990–1991).
She has also performed in cabaret acts alone and as part of Any Tessitura, a group comprising McLaren, David Bexon and Marion McCullogh and accompanist Tony Stenson, Iwan Llewelyn-Jones or Kelvin Thompson. McLaren has appeared at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe with a tribute to American librettist and lyricist Dorothy Fields titled Hey Big Spender, which she later performed in London. She was a founding member of Impropera, an opera improv group.
Selected stage performances Year Show Composer Theatre Role Director / Company 1981 Tom Jones Edward German Holmfirth Civic Hall, West Yorkshire Sophia Holmfirth Choral Society 1986 Pagliacci Ruggero Leoncavallo Darlington, County Durham Nedda Opera Nova 1987 Le astuzie femminili Domenico Cimarosa Osterley Park Manor, west London Bellina Opera Italiana 1988 The Phantom of the Opera Andrew Lloyd Webber Her Majesty's Theatre, London Carlotta 1990 Threepenny Opera Bertolt Brecht Tramway Theatre, Glasgow; Macrobert Arts Centre, Stirling; Eden Court Theatre, Inverness; Grand Theatre, Blackpool, and other UK locations Lucy Brown Scottish Opera 1990-1991 Hansel and Gretel Engelbert Humperdinck 24 venues in Wales and England, including the Sherman Theatre, Cardiff; Taliesin, Swansea; Maesteg Town Hall; Theatr Clwyd, Mold; Coliseum Theatre (Aberdare); Lyric Theatre (Hammersmith) Witch, Mother and Dew Fairy Welsh National Opera 1992 A Varied Evening of Musical Entertainment Blackfriars Theatre, Boston, Lincolnshire; Duchess Theatre, Long Eaton; Robin Hood Theatre, Averham Any Tessitura 1993 Tomfoolery Canal Cafe Theatre, London Sarah Jennings, Peter Crockford 1994 An Evening of Songs from Films and Musicals of the 70s and 80s Blackfriars Theatre, Boston, Lincolnshire; Robin Hood Theatre, Averham Any Tessitura 1994 Tomfoolery Everyman Theatre, Cheltenham 1994 Shameless! Macrobert Arts Centre, Stirling; Byre Theatre, St Andrews The Good Wife Opera Circus 1994 Trouble in Tahiti Leonard Bernstein Purcell Room, Southbank Centre, London Dinah JCM Productions, Peter Crockford 1995 Love Songs for St. Valentine's Day; Songs from the Shows Blackfriars Theatre, Boston, Lincolnshire; Duchess Theatre, Long Eaton Any Tessitura 1995 Trouble in Tahiti Leonard Bernstein The Theatre Chipping Norton Dinah Jigsaw Music Theatre 1995-1996 A Little Night Music Stephen Sondheim Olivier, National Theatre Royal National Theatre 1996 Cabaret with Morag McLaren Hebden Bridge Little Theatre, West Yorkshire 1998, 1999 I Never Do Anything Twice Wadhurst; Vinehall Theatre, Robertsbridge, East Sussex Solo performer 1999 Impropera Loughborough Town Hall Opera Circus 1999-2002 Hey Big Spender (A tribute to Dorothy Fields) Dorothy Fields Hills Street Theatre, Edinburgh Fringe Festival (1999); Pizza on the Park, Knightsbridge (2000); Purcell Room, Southbank Centre, London (2002) Solo performer 2005 Lola Blau: Morag McLaren Georg Kreisler New End Theatre, Hampstead Lola Blau Mark Tinkler, Bruce O'Neil 2006, 2008 Impropera Jermyn Street Theatre, London; Leicester Square Theatre, London
Directing and coaching McLaren was the founder and principal trustee of The Cooper Hall Foundation charity, which promoted music performances, education and the development of creative projects at Cooper Hall near Frome, Somerset. There, between 2013 and 2015, she directed the operas The Turn of the Screw, Hansel and Gretel, and Cosi Fan Tutte for Frome Festival, in collaboration with Bath Philharmonia, with a workshop focus. She was appointed Patron of Frome Festival in 2013.
McLaren also directed Dido and Aeneas at London College of Music. With mezzo-soprano Theresa Goble, she co-founded Vox Integra in 2012, which offered vocal coaching.
She is one of 20 opera singers featured in the 2018 book Opera Lives by Linda Kitchen.
Personal life She is married to a director of a US investment bank, and has two adult children. Her son Gregor Riddell is a professional cellist and composer, and her daughter Kirsty Riddell is an artist.
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