Amanda Roocroft soprano

Amanda Roocroft has secured an international reputation as one of Britain's most exciting singers, in opera, concert, and in recital. She graduated from the Royal Northern College of Music and studies with Barbara Robotham.

In concert she has appeared with leading orchestras throughout Europe and North America with conductors including Sir Simon Rattle, Zubin Mehta, Mariss Jansons, Ivor Bolton, Sir John Eliot Gardiner (with whom she has also sung and recorded Fiordiligi on compact disc and video with Deutsche Grammophon Archiv), Daniele Gatti, Sir Neville Marriner, Sir Andrew Davis, Sir Charles Mackerras, and Bernard Haitink.

Highlights of recent seasons include her New York Philharmonic debut, regular appearances at the BBC Proms in London, and at the Edinburgh International Festival, a European tour with the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester, a tour of Japan (Countess/Le Nozze di Figaro and Beethoven 9) with the Bayerische Staatsoper and Zubin Mehta, Elisabetta/Don Carlos in Amsterdam conducted by Riccardo Chailly and directed by Willy Eecker, Ellen Orford/Peter Grimes with Sir Simon Rattle and Trevor Nunn in Salzburg and in concert with the Berlin Philharmonic, Tatiana/Eugene Onegin for Welsh National Opera, and the title role in Jenufa in Berlin and Barcelona. Her Butterfly at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden in October 2003 was received with great critical acclaim: “I have heard several unforgettable performances of this role. This was up there with them.” (The Sunday Telegraph).

Recital engagements have included London’s Wigmore Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, the Musikverein in Vienna, New York’s Lincoln Center, La Monnaie in Brussels, as well as appearances in Munich, Frankfurt, Paris, Valencia and Lisbon.

Amanda Roocroft enjoys a close relationship with the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, the Glyndebourne Festival, and the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich, and her roles in these houses have included Fiordiligi/Cosi fan Tutte, Countess/Le Nozze di Figaro, Donna Elvira/Don Giovanni, Desdemona/Otello, Amelia/Simon Boccanegra, Mimi/La Boheme, Eva/Die Meistersinger, the title roles in Madama Butterfly, Katya and Jenufa, Genevre/Ariodante, Cleopatra/Giulio Cesare, Jenifer/The Midsummer Marriage, and Tatiana/Eugene Onegin.

Future engagements include Jenufa for English National Opera and Butterfly for Welsh National Opera.

May 2006