St Giles' Spotlight is a concert series celebrating musicians we are excited to share with our visitors. This series presents varied and engaging performances, featuring singers from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland's Vocal Department and organists from around the country.
This week, we invite Cara-Rose Toale and John Zhang to present a programme of Scottish and Irish folksongs:
O whistle and I’ll come to you my lad – arr. John Zhang
Ae fond kiss – Robert Burns
Shy Geordie – Buxton Orr
O can ye sew cushions – Majory Kennedy-Fraser
My love is like a red, red rose – Helen Hopekirk
Subhail a Grá – unknown
The gartan mother’s lullaby – Herbert Hughes
Credhe’s lament for Cail – Charles Wood
Danny Boy – Jake Heggie
Sea Wrack – Hamilton Harty
My Lagan love – Hamilton Harty
Five Irish folksongs – Howard Ferguson
4. The Swan
5. My grandfather died
Artist biographies:
Cara-Rose is a 21-year-old Irish soprano from Armagh and a third-year vocal performance student at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, where she studies under Jane Irwin and Jessica Leary. In 2025, she completed a semester abroad at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music, having spent six months studying with Suzy Johnson.
Recent performances include RCS Opera Scenes, where she performed as Elettra’s servant/chorus and Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande, as part of the RCS Chamber Choir and the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra.
She has a keen interest in art and folk song, placing third in the finals of the RCS Scottish Singing Competition November 2025. Cara-Rose has taken part in workshops with the Dunedin Consort and was a member of the 2024–25 Sestina Early Music Training Programme.
Cara-Rose was awarded the William Lauder Scholarship at the 2025 Charles Wood Festival. Under the direction of David Hill, she performed in a wide range of settings, including churches, care homes, and outdoor venues, collaborating with choirs throughout the week. She also received one-to-one coaching with Paul Farrington and performing in the Singers Concert and was delighted to be a junior finalist this year at the International Song competition.
John Zhang is pursuing an MA in Collaborative Piano at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, studying with Claire Haslin. At the RCS he enjoys a busy life specialising in song and opera repertoire as well as chamber music, playing for classes, concerts and competitions. His highlights this academic year include harpsichord continuo for Bach’s St Matthew Passion at Stevenson Hall, song masterclasses with Joseph Middleton and Malcolm Martineau, and performing Bach cantatas with John Butt at St Mary’s Cathedral, Glasgow. He gained a double first in Music from St Catharine’s College, Cambridge in 2025, where he was the Neville Burston Organ Scholar and actively performed as pianist, organist, and harpsichordist alongside his academic studies. Highlights from this time include being a finalist at the Clare College Song Competition, his concerto debut with Poulenc’s Organ Concerto, and performing Vaughan Williams’ A Sea Symphony with the Philharmonia at Ely Cathedral.