Janis Kelly (soprano)

Last updated

Janis Kelly (born 30 December 1954) is a Scottish operatic soprano and voice teacher. She is Professor and Chair of Vocal Performance at the Royal College of Music in London. [1]

Contents

Early life

Kelly was born in Glasgow, Scotland. She studied at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and the Royal College of Music. Following this, she studied under Elisabeth Grümmer in Paris. [2]

Career and reception

Operatic appearances

Kelly has performed with the English National Opera for over 30 years. Her roles at the ENO have included Marcellina in Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro and Mrs Grose in Britten's The Turn of the Screw . [3] In 2009 she starred as Régine Saint Laurent in the premiere of Prima Donna , written by Rufus Wainwright. Reviewing the performance in The Telegraph , Rupert Christiansen described Kelly as an 'amazing chameleon'. [4] She appeared as Pat Nixon in John Adams' Nixon in China at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City in 2011. The New York Times described her performance as 'wonderful'. [5]

Film and television

Kelly's recording of Verdi's La traviata was featured in the 2005 Woody Allen film Match Point . [6] Recordings by Kelly including a performance of the aria Senza Mamma from Puccini's Suor Angelica appeared on the British ITV television series Inspector Morse. She also sang the two songs for Ophelia in the Incidental Music to Tchaikovsky's Hamlet recorded for Chandos Records in 1981 with Geoffrey Simon conducting the London Symphony Orchestra.

Related Research Articles

Lesley Garrett, CBE is an English soprano singer, musician, broadcaster and media personality. She is noted for being at home in opera and "crossover music".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ana María Martínez</span> Puerto Rican soprano

Ana María Martínez is a Puerto Rican soprano.

Paul Daniel is an English conductor.

Mark Wigglesworth is a British conductor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edward Gardner (conductor)</span> English conductor

Edward Gardner is an English conductor. While still studying at the Royal Academy of Music in the late 1990s, he began his professional career as a choral conductor and repetiteur. Among other early posts, he was music director of Glyndebourne on Tour from 2004 to 2007. Gardner was music director of English National Opera from 2007 to 2015. From 2010 to 2016, he was principal guest conductor of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, and since 2013, he has been principal guest conductor of the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra. Since 2021, he has been principal conductor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra. In 2022, he also became artistic advisor of the Norwegian National Opera and Ballet, where he is scheduled to become the music director in 2024.

Prima Donna is an opera in two acts with music by Rufus Wainwright to a French language libretto by Wainwright and Bernadette Colomine. The opera premiered at the Palace Theatre, Manchester, on 10 July 2009 at the Manchester International Festival.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University College Opera</span>

University College Opera, or UCOpera, is the student opera company of University College London. The operas are staged by professional singers, directors and designers, with the orchestra and chorus drawn from the student body. Founded in 1951, UCOpera is known for its productions of rarely performed operas, including 3 world premières, and 22 British premières. On 10 March 2008 UCOpera staged the UK premiere of Édouard Lalo's Fiesque, at the Bloomsbury Theatre. 2009 saw another British première, Ernest Bloch's Macbeth. UCOpera extended its list of British premières by staging Gounod's Polyeucte at Theatre Royal Stratford East in 2018, and Smetana's Czech national opera, Libuše in 2019.

Nicholas Eliot Spence is a Scottish operatic tenor who performs in opera, oratorio and recital in both the UK and internationally.

Rupert Christiansen is an English writer, journalist and critic.

Anna Christy is an American soprano opera singer. She studied at Rice University's Shepherd School of Music and University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and made her debut in 2000 at New York City Opera as Papagena.

Elena Langer is a Russian-born British composer of opera and other contemporary classical music. Her work has been performed at the Royal Opera House, Zurich Opera, Carnegie Hall, Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts, Stanislavski and Nemirovich-Danchenko Moscow Academic Music Theatre, Shakespeare's Globe, Wigmore Hall, Opera national du Rhin, Strasbourg, and Milton Court, Barbican Centre. She studied piano and composition at the Gnessin State Musical College in Moscow and composition at the Moscow Conservatoire; in 1999 she moved to London and studied composition at the Royal College of Music (1999–2000) with Julian Anderson and the Royal Academy of Music (2001–03) with Simon Bainbridge.

Elizabeth Lorraine Llewellyn is an English opera singer who debuted with the English National Opera in 2010. She was named the "Best newcomer" in 2010 by The Daily Telegraph for her performance as Mimi in Giacomo Puccini's La bohème, and according to Mary Ann Sieghart of the BBC is "set to become one of the great stars of opera."

Yang Guang (杨光), often referred to in western order as Guang Yang, is a Chinese mezzo-soprano. She won the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition in 1997, and the 2001 Operalia Competition. She attended the summer conservatory program of the Music Academy of the West in 2001. She studied at The Juilliard School with Cynthia Hoffmann.

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).

Pamela Helen Stephen was a British classical mezzo-soprano, who sang in operas and oratorios.

John Edward BerryCBE is a British-born musician and arts administrator.

Peter Leslie Robinson is an English conductor, principally of opera. His repertoire ranges from baroque to contemporary, with a special interest in Italian opera of the 19th and early 20th centuries. His appointments have included Resident Conductor of The Australian Opera, Assistant Music Director of English National Opera and Artistic Director of British Youth Opera.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Hoare (tenor)</span> British tenor (born 1961)

Peter Hoare is a British tenor, best known for his performances on the opera stage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Soraya Mafi</span> British operatic soprano

Soraya Mafi is an operatic soprano and recording artist who has sung leading roles in the opera houses and concert halls of Europe and North America. Mafi's performances have been broadcast live on radio, television, and in cinema. She has performed at international festivals and sports events and was nominated for Young Singer of the Year at the International Opera Awards in 2019. She is an inaugural Honorary Associate Artist of the Royal Northern College of Music.

References

  1. "Professor Janis Kelly". rcm.ac.uk. Royal College of Music. Retrieved 30 May 2020.
  2. "Janis Kelly (soprano)". roh.org.uk. Royal Opera House . Retrieved 30 May 2020.
  3. "Janis Kelly". www.eno.org. English National Opera. Retrieved 31 May 2020.
  4. Christiansen, Rupert (19 June 2009). "The Manchester International Festival:'Janis Kelly is an amazing chameleon'". telegraph.co.uk. Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 29 July 2016. Retrieved 31 May 2020.
  5. Tommasini, Anthony (3 February 2011). "President and Opera, on Unexpected Stages". The New York Times . Retrieved 31 May 2020.
  6. "Janis Kelly". bfi.org.uk. British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 1 January 2020. Retrieved 31 May 2020.