British mezzo soprano Bethany Horak-Hallett is an Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment Rising Star alumni, and a recent Samling Artist. This season, on the concert platform she joins the Dunedin Consort directed by John Butt, the English Chamber Orchestra directed by Nicholas Kraemer, the London Handel Players, the National Symphony Orchestra, and the Irish National Symphony Chorus as guest soloist. Bethany will make her Opéra national de Paris role and house debut as Camila in the new Calixto Bieito production of Thomas Adès’ The Exterminating Angel, and will make her role debut as Cherubino in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro for Garsington Opera.

Recent highlights include her role and house debut as Dorabella in the John Cox production of Così fan Tutte at Garsington Opera, covering the role of Mercédès in the ENO revival of Carmen, covering the role of Ino in Adele Thomas’ new production of Semele for Glyndebourne Festival Opera, and winning second prize in the 2021 London Handel Festival Singing Competition. She had performances with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, made her solo recital debut at the London Handel Festival alongside her duo partner Steven Devine, and made her Wigmore Hall and Oxford International Song Festival recital debuts. She joined the Monteverdi Choir and Orchestra as soloist for their international tour of Bach’s Mass in B Minor and Handel’s L’Allegro, il Penseroso ed Moderato, making her Carnegie Hall, Alte Opera, and Château de Versailles debuts.

She joined the the Academy of Ancient Music and Voces8 for their annual performance of Handel’s Messiah, and made her BBC Prom debut under the baton of Sir John Eliot Gardiner, and her Royal Festival Hall, Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, and Kings Place solo debuts as part of the OAE Rising Stars scheme.

Bethany joined the OAE for their broadcast production of Bach’s St John Passion alongside a cast including Gerald Finley and Mark Padmore, and recorded and performed the role of Cupid in John Eccles' Semele with the Academy of Ancient Music and Cambridge Early Opera.

She won first prize in the 2019 Normandy International Music Competition Concours Corneille in association with Le Poème Harmonique, and made her Glyndebourne debut as Kitchen Boy in Dvořák’s Rusalka, also covering the role of Siren in Handel’s Rinaldo. She subsequently made her Berlin Philharmonie debut with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin in their concert performance of Dvořák’s Rusalka, conducted by Robin Ticciati.

2018 highlights include her role debut as Cherubino in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro (Merry Opera), joining Iford Arts as a Young Artist for Bernstein’s Candide, and the Glyndebourne Festival Chorus for their 2018 and 2019 seasons. Alongside pianist Paolo Rinaldo, she won the prestigious Elisabeth Schumann Lieder Competition, and also featured as a Brighton Early Music Festival Young Artist, playing Cupid in Blow’s Venus and Adonis, and Venere in Monteverdi’s Il ballo delle ingrate.

Bethany was educated at Leeds University where she gained a BA Hons in Music and MA specialising in Historically Informed Performance Technique. She recently completed a Masters in Performance with Distinction at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance with the generous support of the Noble Award.

Her opera roles include Dorabella Così fan tutte, Nerone L’Incoronazione di Poppea, Dido, Sorceress, Second Witch, Dido and Aeneas, Peaseblossom A Midsummer Night's Dream, Enchanted Lady La Liberazione di Ruggiero, The Woman Riders to the Sea, and she has recently created the role of Taa in Collision by Lewis Coenen-Rowe for Grimeborn Festival.

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