ONE of Scotland’s finest male vocal ensembles is warming up ahead of an afternoon in Melrose.

On Saturday the Scozzesi Ensemble of male voices will perform in Melrose Parish Church Hall.

Their varied programme of music includes many favourite classical operatic arias from Mozart through to Gounod, Bizet, Donizetti, Fauré, Verdi, Leoncavallo and Puccini, not forgetting ‘O Sole Mio’, the immortalised Neapolitan song by written and composed by Capurro and di Capua.

They will also perform much-loved songs from Gilbert and Sullivan’s Pirates of Penzance and Iolanthe, Les Misérables, Fiddler on the Roof, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum and the McCartney and Lennon classic When I get Older.

Scozzesi is an exciting new male vocal ensemble of classically trained singers plus accompanist.

All the singers are Scottish and already making their mark in the singing world with their solo careers.

Roger Patterson, tenor, trained at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and the University of Glasgow.

Following his debut recital in London in 2016, he has performed widely throughout the country, including major operatic roles.

The ensemble's other tenor, Christian Scheeberger, also graduated from the Royal Conservatoire, achieving great success in prestigious competitions.

As a member of the National Youth Choir, he appeared in the Edinburgh Festival and the Proms. Last year he completed his postgraduate Master of Music in Performance and was winner of the Hugh Robertson Prize for Scottish Singing.

Colin Murray, baritone, graduated from the Alexander Gibson School of Opera at the Royal Conservatoire.

His performances have included that of Don Alfonso in Cosí Fan Tutte and leading roles in Rossini’s Venetian operas on tour in Britain and Italy.

The baritone Douglas Nairn, from Fife, also graduated from the Alexander Gibson School of Opera having previously graduated with distinction from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.

He has sung at the Aldeburgh and Buxton festivals, the Hermitage in St Petersburg and for a BBC Radio 3 radio broadcast. Most recently he sang for Scottish Opera at the Lammermuir Festival.

The piano accompanist, Andrew Brown, studied at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and now works there on the modern ballet course.

He plays regularly with Opera Bohemia and has accompanied performances of La Bohème, Madame Butterfly, Falstaff, Eugene Onegin and The Merry Widow.

He is also involved in a variety of educational projects, including the Edinburgh International Festival’s ‘Art of Listening’ programme, introducing Edinburgh children to classical music.

The Scozzesi Ensemble will perform in Melrose Parish Hall on Saturday (December 7) at 3pm.

Tickets, priced at £15 for adults and free for accompanied school-aged children, will be available on the door.