Poppy - Voice Lessons

Yorkshire born Soprano, Poppy, studied Voice at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland as an RCS Trust Scholar, and the Royal College of Music, where she graduated with Distinction as a Derek Butler scholar, further supported by the Countess of Munster Musical Trust, the Henry Wood Accommodation Award, the Il Circolo Italian Cultural Association Award, and the Mario Lanza Trust Award. Poppy has five years of experience teaching privately across London running her own private voice studio. During her time at the RCM, Poppy was awarded Highly Commended in the RCM Lieder prize, and was a 2018 Lies Askonas finalist. Further competitions success includes being a finalist in the 2019 Somerset Song Prize, a semi-finalist in both the 2019 Royal Overseas-League Vocal Category and the National Mozart Singing Competition. During her time at the RCS, Poppy was joint-winner of the 2017 RCS Governor’s Chamber Music Prize.

Poppy received recent recognition in The Guardian for her 2021 performance of Oberto in Alcina at the Arcola Theatre in London: “In a top quality cast, Poppy Shotts calls for special mention in the small role of Oberto, a boy who has lost his father, who, in the way of things, is now a lion. Handel apparently added the showstopping aria, for boy treble, at the last moment to highlight a newfound talent. If it worked then, it worked now too.” - Fiona Maddocks, The Guardian.

Poppy featured as the soprano soloist on recent NAXOS release of Massenet’s Visions with the RSNO, under the baton of Jean- Luc Tingaud, to critical acclaim. Poppy was a reserve candidate for the 2020 Georg Solti Accademia, and she was the Cover Artist with duo partner Marianna Abrahamyan for the 2018 Berlin Song Festival. Poppy and Marianna have been invited back to Berlin Song Festival to perform a main-stage recital when restrictions lift. Poppy has performed as a soloist with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at the Cadogan Hall (Peer Gynt, 2019), with Roger Vignoles in a recital of French Mélodie (Britten Theatre, London 2018), with the RCS Symphony Orchestra (Mahler’s 4th Symphony), and recurrently with St. John’s Chamber Orchestra, most recently to perform Mozart’s concert aria with orchestra Ch’io mi scordi di te.

Poppy joined the Scottish Opera Chorus list in 2020, and has vast opera chorus experience, including Götterdämmerung at the Edinburgh International Festival under the baton of Sir Andrew Davies, and Parsifal with Saffron Opera Group in 2018. During her time at the RCM, Poppy performed as part of the Song Plus series, and represented the RCM at various events celebrating the compositions of Parry, Karl Rankl and at Leeds Lieder Composer and Poet’s Forum. Poppy has also performed as a soloist with many choral societies across the UK, and has enjoyed travelling as far and wide as Jersey, Norway, Orkney, Scotland, and Devon to do so.

Poppy has been a regular performer with her home opera company, Hull Urban Opera, since 2018, with performances ranging from a one-woman tour of Satie’s Socrates, to Opera Favourites, and commissions of new local work. Moving digital, Hull Urban Opera have performed galas online, and will release newly commissioned work, including Lente Verelst’s CROCODILE in 2021, and It Must Have Been Tuesday, where Poppy wrote and performed a personal monologue to music. Recent performances include Opera Excerpts from four rarely heard operas: Julietta by Bohuslav Martinů, The Kaiser of Atlantis by Viktor Ullmann, Medea by Darius Milhaud, and the British premiere of The Lost Sheep by Darius Milhaud.

Opera roles at RCM include Barbarina, (RCM International Opera School, directed by Sir Thomas Allen), Léïla (RCM Opera Scenes, directed by Matthew Monaghan), Nedda (RCM Opera Scenes, directed by Polly Graham), Cleopatra (RCM Opera Scenes, directed by Stuart Barker), Fancy Cake and Embryo 2 (RCM Contemporary Opera Scenes project in collaboration with Tête a Tête Opera, directed by Bill Bankes-Jones). Further credits include L’amour and Zaïre (Ensemble Orquesta, Cockpit Theatre, 2022) Oberto (Alcina at the 2021 Grimeborn Festival, Arcola Theatre, London), Marcellina (Ensemble Orquesta, 2021) Madame Goldentrill (Pulp Rocket Theatre 2020), Abigail Williams (Berlin Opera Academy 2019, directed by Jennifer Williams, Susanna(Matchbox Opera, directed by Saffron van Zwanenberg), Pamina (Ensemble OrQuesta 2019, directed by Marcio da Silva, Soprano Soloist in a new 2019 touring production of Erik Satie’s one woman opera Socrates with Hull Urban Opera, Erste Dame (Berlin Opera Academy 2018, directed by Gidon Saks), Dew Fairy (St. Magnus International Festival, directed by Kally Lloyd-Jones), Susanna and Amor (RCS Opera Scenes, directed by Linda Ormiston).

Upcoming engagements include CROCODILE/ Whistle and I’ll come to you my lad as part of Hull Urban Opera’s Ghost Festival, Don Giovanni with Scottish Opera, directed by Sir Thomas Allen, It Must have been a Tuesday UK tour (created by Poppy Shotts and composed by Russell Plows), and returning to her hometown in the autumn to give a recital with Julian Savory as part of Cottingham St. Mary’s Saturday at Six concert series.