As if the activities of the Active Society were not enough, Chisholm was planning in his head performances of little-known operas. That Idomeneo should have been one of these seems strange to us now, but it had yet to be heard in the British Isles. During 1927 or 1928, Chisholm was in correspondence with Maisie Radford about the edition of Idomeneo. She had seen a Munich production and appears from the correspondence to have been involved in the preparation of one of Chisholm's Berlioz revivals. But the real opportunity to bring these schemes to fruition only came with Chisholm's appointment as conductor of the Glasgow Grand Opera Society.

Apparently, even The Bartered Bride was a novelty; but in opening its portals to Chisholm, did the Glasgow Grand Opera Society realise just how ‘Grand’ he expected it to be? He was himself almost a Trojan horse, and the Society was nearly brought to its knees, partly through his ambitions. But before launching into Chisholm's operatic ventures, never mind the continuing heroic efforts of the Active Society, it is time to catch up with everyday life, if such a thing ever existed in the Chisholm household, not forgetting his continuing output as a composer.

In 1931, Chisholm received his B.Mus. degree from the University of Edinburgh, and no doubt he immediately turned his mind towards obtaining his doctorate, but he had also turned his mind towards Diana Brodie, who had in fact prompted him to apply.

Diana and Erik first met in St Matthew's Church, where she sang in the choir and he was organist. She was good-looking and had a well-pitched dramatic soprano voice, and was also capable of accompanying herself at the piano by ear, although she had had none of Erik's formal training.