Sarah Connolly

Born in County Durham, mezzo-soprano Sarah Connolly studied piano and singing at the Royal College of Music, of which she is now a Fellow.

In opera, her recent appearances have included Purcell’s Dido at La Scala, Milan and at La Monnaie, Brussels; Gluck’s Orfeo and the title role in ‘The Rape of Lucretia at the Bayerische Staatsoper, Munich; the title role in ‘Giulio Cesare’ at the Glyndebourne Festival and Octavian (Der Rosenkavalier) for Scottish Opera. In the U.S. she has sung Annio (La clemenza di Tito) at the Metropolitan Opera, New York; the title role in ‘Ariodante’ and Romeo (I Capuleti e i Montecchi) for New York City Opera and Ino and Juno (Semele) in San Francisco.

A favourite at the English National Opera, her roles there have included Octavian; Handel's Agrippina, Xerxes, Ariodante and Ruggiero (Alcina); the title role in ‘The Rape of Lucretia’; Ottavia (L'Incoronazione di Poppea); Dido (Dido and Aeneas / The Trojans); Romeo, Susie (The Silver Tassie) and Sesto (La clemenza di Tito) - for which she was nominated for an Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in Opera.

Engagements the 2008/09 season include her debut at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden as Purcell’s Dido; her debut at the Liceu in Barcelona as Nerone (L’Incoronazione di Poppea) and a return to the Glyndebourne Festival as Giulio Cesare and also as Brängane (Tristan und Isolde).

Her plans also include Komponist (Ariadne auf Naxos) at the Metropolitan Opera, New York; her debut at the Aix-en-Provence Festival and the title role in 'Maria Stuada' for Opera North.

She has appeared in recital in London and New York and her many concert engagements include appearances at the Salzburg Festival, Tanglewood Festival, BBC Proms, Vienna Konzerthaus, Berlin Philharmonie and the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, with such conductors as Sir Simon Rattle, Sir Colin Davis, Sir Roger Norrington, Edo de Waart, Philippe Herreweghe and Daniel Harding. She has sung ‘The Dream of Gerontius’ with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Sir Colin Davis; Mahler’s 'Das Lied von der Erde' with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and Daniel Harding; the ‘St Matthew Passion’ and ‘Des Knaben Wunderhorn’ with Philippe Herreweghe and Mozart’s ‘Requiem’ with Ivor Bolton in Salzburg.

Committed to promoting new music, her world premiere performances include Mark-Anthony Turnage’s ‘Twice through the heart’ with The Schoenberg Ensemble conducted by Oliver Knussen; Jonathan Harvey’s ‘Songs of Li Po’ at the Aldeburgh Festival and, most recently, Sir John Tavener’s ‘Tribute to Cavafy’ at the Symphony Hall, Birmingham. Her most recent release features Schumann Lieder with Eugene Asti for Chandos: Songs of Love and Loss, and Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. Forthcoming releases include Korngold songs with Iain Burnside for Signum.

She is a prolific recording artist, twice nominated for a Grammy Award.

For further information, visit www.sarah-connolly.com

Photo: Peter Warren