I'm Alison Barton and I am a professional mezzo-soprano. I studied at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, which provided me with a good vocal technique, various scholarships and prizes, and a husband.
As I was finishing my postgraduate year in the opera school, I was awarded a contract with Scottish Opera, and began my career there under the baton of Sir Alexander Gibson. My experiences on full time contract gave me many insights into the daily routine of a national company. It was not as I had expected it would be. Within a year, I had moved on courtesy of an award from the National Federation of Music Societies (now called Making Music).
Thus I embarked on the life of a freelance performer. As I travelled the country, performing in different venues and in a wide variety of contexts, I began to wonder about what different things appeal to audiences and whether or not there was a formula for success.
My freelance solo career developed, and as well as making regular forays onto the operatic stage I began to appear as soloist with many British orchestras, like the Northern Sinfonia, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, the orchestra of Scottish Ballet and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. Working with these orchestras and their conductors taught me a great deal about how it feels to be an orchestral player, how our orchestras function, and what keeps everyone going, sometimes under considerable adversity.
In the early 1990s - in addition to embracing motherhood - I gave a number of solo broadcasts for BBC radio, and in 1991 was selected to represent Scotland in the Cardiff Singer of the World competition (now called BBC Singer of the World). Spending time with singers from so many other parts of the world was one of the best experiences of my life. The competition was immensely valuable and through it I first met Sir Georg Solti.
By this point in my career, I had become convinced that innovation in the world of opera was essential, but like most performers, thought that the power to effect it lay only in the hands of others (agents/managers/administrators etc).
Nevertheless, by 1998 I could resist the temptation no longer, and in between appearances on the operatic stage and concert platform, I began to write my first screen play with filmmaker, Pip Broughton, based on the music of Hugo Wolf.
Although I had by this time performed over 20 operatic roles and all of the core oratorio repertoire, my appetite for performance never declined, so I simply added writing to my activities, developing various other screenplays and new approaches for programming and performance as I went along.
It was at about this time that I decided to experiment with new ways of presenting concert repertoire, and four concert series inspired by the presentational style of television were to follow.
By 2001, it was clear to me that my new approach was the way to go; direct, innovative, and above all, with no dumbing down. The next logical step was to take the same approach into opera productions.
And so Naked Opera was born. The first production numbered 40% "opera virgins" in its audience, and we went on to develop other shows and initiatives in the "Naked" mould - offering real feelings or your money back; taking the repertoire into some unlikely places and running a few risks along the way.
In 2003, ITV made a documentary about my work with Naked Opera, which focussed on the live events we offer and on the possibilities for collaboration with the worlds of film and television.
Life has become even more interesting since then, with my performing career also now including invitations to appear as a guest speaker.
I am also currently working on a package for emerging performers, which will be disseminated through the conservatoire system, and developing ways of making new connections by which we can expand our industry and create widespread desire and demand for it.