Jean Rigby (born 22 December 1954) is an English opera and concert singer. A mezzo-soprano, she is a long-time principal with the English National Opera.
Born in Fleetwood, Lancashire, Rigby studied at the Birmingham School of Music and the Royal Academy of Music. She made her debut with the English National Opera in 1977. She has sung with the Royal Opera and has been for many years a regular guest at the Glyndebourne Festival. At the 2008 Glyndebourne festival, she created the role of Martina Laborde in Peter Eötvös' opera Love and Other Demons . In the field of concert music, she has been a frequent soloist at the BBC Promenade Concerts. Her recordings include the role of Maddalena in the English-language RIGOLETTO (EMI/Angel), based on Jonathan Miller's "gangster" production for ENO. She is an opera coach at the Royal Academy of Music [1] and a Patron of Bampton Classical Opera. She was a member of the jury for the company's Young Singers' Competition in 2019. [2]
Dame Janet Abbott Baker is an English mezzo-soprano best known as an opera, concert, and lieder singer.
Dame Felicity Ann Emwhyla Lott, is an English soprano.
Maria Louise Ewing was an American opera singer. In the early part of her career she performed solely as a lyric mezzo-soprano; she later assumed full soprano parts as well. Her signature roles were Blanche, Carmen, Dorabella, Rosina and Salome. Some critics regarded her as one of the most compelling singing actresses of her generation.
Danielle de Niese is an Australian-American lyric soprano. After success as a young child in singing competitions in Australia, she moved to the United States where she developed her operatic career. From 2005 she came to widespread public attention with her performances as Cleopatra in Giulio Cesare at Glyndebourne Festival Opera, England.
Dame Sarah Patricia Connolly is an English mezzo-soprano. Although best known for her baroque and classical roles, Connolly has a wide-ranging repertoire which has included works by Wagner as well as various 20th-century composers. She was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2010 New Year Honours and a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the 2017 Birthday Honours for services to music.
Nina Maria Stemme is a Swedish dramatic soprano opera singer.
Norma Burrowes is an Irish coloratura soprano, particularly associated with Handel and Mozart roles.
Bonaventura Bottone is an operatic tenor who has performed at many of the world's leading opera houses. He trained at the Royal Academy of Music in London. The Academy awarded him a Fellowship in 1998. He is described by the New Grove Dictionary of Opera as "a superb actor with a strong, lyrical voice" who "excels in comic roles".
Linda Esther Gray is a retired Scottish soprano and an operatic singing teacher.
Diana Montague is an English mezzo-soprano, known for her performances in opera and as a concert singer. She is Married to the English Tenor David Rendall
Lisa Milne is a Scottish soprano described by the BBC as "one of RSAMD's best-known alumni", who was among the first artists to be invited to the BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artists scheme in 1999-2001.
Katarina Esmé Marie Karnéus is a Swedish mezzo-soprano opera singer, winner of the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition, active on many of the opera world's major stages such as the Metropolitan Opera and the Paris Opera, and named Hovsångerska by the King of Sweden in 2018.
Hanna Tove Dahlberg is a Swedish mezzo-soprano opera singer, active on the international opera scene. In 2005 Dahlberg was one of a group of world-class musicians who were permitted to perform inside a building at Auschwitz for the first time ever during the filming of the International Emmy Award winning TV documentary Holocaust: A Music Memorial Film.
Lucy Mary Elizabeth Crowe is an English soprano in opera and concert. She has performed at international opera houses and music festivals such as the Glyndebourne Festival and Rheingau Musik Festival.
Tara Erraught is an Irish mezzo-soprano, a graduate of the Royal Irish Academy of Music (RIAM).
Jean Allister was an opera singer who encompassed a wide range of repertoire both on stage and on the concert platform in a career spanning over 30 years.
Louise Alder is a British lyric soprano. She won the Dame Joan Sutherland Audience Prize at the 2017 BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition and the Young Singer award at the 2017 International Opera Awards. Her debut album of Strauss Lieder titled 'Through Life and Love' with pianist Joseph Middleton, was released in July 2017 with Orchid Classics.
Lise Davidsen is a Norwegian opera singer, known as a lyric dramatic soprano. She came to prominence after winning the Operalia competition in London in 2015.
Katie Emily Bray is an English coloratura mezzo-soprano and is best known as the winner of the Dame Joan Sutherland Audience Prize at the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World in 2019. She is particularly noted for her baroque repertoire.
Claire Barnett-Jones is a British mezzo-soprano. She was a finalist and won the Dame Joan Sutherland Audience Prize at the 2021 BBC Cardiff Singer of the World Competition. She was the Sir John Tomlinson Fellow at English National Opera, a Samling Artist Britten Pears Artist and Independent Opera Fellow.