Samantha Crawford is a British-Australian [1] [2] soprano recognized for her performances on the opera, oratorio, and concert stages.
Her repertoire covers both traditional and modern pieces, with roles such as:
She has worked with opera companies including the English National Opera (ENO), Glyndebourne, Scottish Opera, Teatro Real Madrid, the Aldeburgh Festival and the Edinburgh Festival. Productions include Robert Carsen's Die Walküre and Claus Guth's Parsifal at Teatro Real, both of which were broadcast across Spain and filmed. [13] [14]
In addition to her opera work, Crawford has performed in concert halls such as Wigmore Hall, Royal Albert Hall, Barbican Centre, Hong Kong City Hall, and Schlosstheater Schönbrunn. Her concert repertoire includes:
In 2023, Crawford released her debut album, dream.risk.sing: elevating women's voices, on Delphian Records. The album includes pieces by Charlotte Bray, Libby Larsen, and Judith Weir, including the world premiere recording of Bray's Crossing Faultlines, [19] a song cycle that explores women's experiences in the workplace. Supported by Arts Council England and the RVW Trust, the album was described as "one of the most arresting recording debuts" by Presto Music. [20]
In 2024, Crawford created Freedom Cries Out, a program centered around stories of displacement and refugees. The project includes the world premiere of Raymond Yiu's specially commissioned song cycle, and the UK premiere of Shawn Okpebholo's Words Like Freedom. The premiere is set for November 2024 at the St. Marylebone Festival in London. [21]
During her studies, she received numerous awards, including the Golden Medal with Honours at the Julian Baring Award (2017), [22] the Berlin International Music Competition Gold Medal (2017), [23] the NSW Wagner Society Award for Emerging Wagner Singers (2017/18), and was honored with first prize at the Wagner Society Singing Competition (London, 2016). [24]
Crawford is married to Matthew Crawford; [25] they have two daughters. Her father, Shorland Hosking, died in a plane crash in 2010. [26]
Jane Eaglen is an English dramatic soprano particularly known for her interpretations of the works of Richard Wagner and the title roles in Bellini's Norma and Puccini's Turandot. Her career at the Metropolitan Opera started with her Brunhilde in the Ring Cycle. Eaglen has performed at all major houses globally such as La Scalla, the Metropolitan Opera House and many others. She currently resides in Boston, MA as a voice teacher at the famous New England Conservatory where she is training the next generation of world class singers. She is the President and founder of the Boston Wagner Society. Eaglen spends her summers instructing at the prestigious Merola opera training program for emerging artists. She is very active in her community. Every year she judges several voice competitions including the Laffont-Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions.
Nell Rankin was an American operatic mezzo-soprano. Though a successful opera singer internationally, she spent most of her career at the Metropolitan Opera, where she worked from 1951 to 1976. She was particularly admired for her portrayals of Amneris in Verdi's Aida and the title role in Bizet's Carmen. Opera News said, "Her full, generous tone and bold phrasing, especially in the Italian repertory, were unique among American mezzos of her generation.
Hariclea Darclée was a celebrated Romanian operatic spinto soprano of Greek descent who had a three-decade-long career.
Cheryl Studer is an American dramatic soprano who has sung at many of the world's foremost opera houses. Studer has performed more than eighty roles ranging from the dramatic repertoire to roles more commonly associated with lyric sopranos and coloratura sopranos, and, in her late stage, mezzo-sopranos. She is particularly known for her interpretations of the works of Richard Strauss and Richard Wagner.
Melbourne Opera was founded in 2002 as a charitable not-for-profit company dedicated to producing opera and associated art forms in Melbourne, Australia. With philanthropic assistance it has also toured to outer-suburban and regional Victorian theatres, as well as to Canberra and Hobart interstate. Despite receiving no government funding since its foundation, the company mounts between three and five main stage productions each year. Its principal rehearsal and performance home is the Athenaeum Theatre.
Maria Elisabete da Silva Duarte MatosGOIH OIH is a Portuguese soprano and politician. In January 2022 she was elected to the Portuguese Assembly of the Republic as a member of the Socialist Party, representing the Braga constituency.
Flora Perini was an Italian operatic mezzo-soprano who had a prominent opera career in Europe, South America, and the United States during the first half of the twentieth century. She sang a wide repertoire that encompassed works by verismo composers like Puccini and Mascagni, bel canto composers like Rossini and Bellini, the Italian grand operas of Verdi, the German operas of Strauss and Wagner, and the Russian operas of Rimsky-Korsakov. She sang in numerous premieres throughout her career, including creating the role of the Princess in the original 1918 Metropolitan Opera premiere of Puccini's Suor Angelica.
Marie-Louise Gilles is a German mezzo-soprano in opera and concert, a professor of voice, and an opera stage director.
Aura Twarowska is a Romanian mezzo-soprano. She was soloist of the Romanian Opera in Timișoara (1997–2010) and at the Vienna State Opera (2007–2016).
Astrid Schirmer is a German operatic soprano and an academic teacher. She sang mostly dramatic roles at major German opera houses and appeared at the Bayreuth Festival.
Carol Louise Smith was an American contralto who made an international career in opera and concert, and was an academic teacher at the Musikhochschule Zürich and at the Indiana University Bloomington.
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.
Svetlina Stoyanova is a Bulgarian operatic mezzo-soprano.
Amelia Pinto (1876–1946) was an Italian operatic soprano who first performed at the Teatro Grande in Brescia in December 1899 in La Gioconda. She developed a particular liking for Wagner, excelling in Tristan and Isolda at La Scala. She is also remembered for her interpretation of Tosca, appreciated by Puccini himself.
Christine Mielitz is a German theatre and opera director.
Ekaterina Semenchuk, is a Belarusian operatic mezzo-soprano.
Golda Schultz is a South African soprano.
Hilde Scheppan was a German operatic soprano and academic teacher. She was engaged for 20 years at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden in Berlin and made guest appearances at the Bayreuth Festival from 1937 to 1958. She performed roles in Wagner's stage works in productions by Heinz Tietjen both in Berlin and Bayreuth. After World War II, she first continued work in Berlin, but then moved to the Staatsoper Stuttgart. She taught as a professor of voice at the Hochschule für Musik Nürnberg and the Musikhochschule München.
Fausta Labia was an Italian operatic soprano who was active mainly from 1892 to 1908. She made her debut in Naples in April 1892 as Valentine in Meyerbeer's Les Huguenots. After engagements at the Royal Swedish Opera in Stockholm (1893–95) and Lisbon (1896), she returned to Italy where she performed first in Turin, Rome and Bologna. Thereafter notable performances included the title role in Mascagni's Iris at La Fenice in Venice (1900) and Sieglinde in Wagner's Die Walküre at Milan's La Scala (1901).
Deborah Humble is a Welsh born Australian dramatic mezzo-soprano noted for her operatic roles and performances on the world’s concert stages. A principal artist with Opera Australia and the Staatsoper Hamburg, Humble was a recipient of the Dame Joan Sutherland Award in 2004 and a finalist in the International Wagner Competition in 2008. The recipient of two Green Room Award nominations, she has been included in the Who's Who of Australian Women since 2009.