Sarah Connolly

Mezzo-soprano Sarah Connolly studied at the Royal College of Music. She was made a CBE in the 2010 New Year Honours.

In opera, her recent appearances have included Purcell’s Dido at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden and at La Scala, Milan; Komponist (Ariadne auf Naxos) and Clairon (Capriccio) at the Metropolitan Opera, New York; the title role in ‘Giulio Cesare’ and Brangäne (Tristan und Isolde) at the Glyndebourne Festival; Sesto (La clemenza di Tito) at the Festival d'Aix-en-Provence; Gluck’s Orfeo and the title role in ‘The Rape of Lucretia’ at the Bayerische Staatsoper, Munich and Nerone (L’Incoronazione di Poppea) at the Gran Teatro del Liceu in Barcelona and at the Maggio Musicale in Florence. 

She has also sung the title role in ‘Maria Stuarda’ and Romeo (I Capuleti e i Montecchi) for Opera North; Komponist for the Welsh National Opera and Octavian (Der Rosenkavalier) for Scottish Opera.  A favourite at the English National Opera, her roles there have included Octavian; Handel's Agrippina, Xerxes, Ariodante and Ruggiero (Alcina) and Didon (The Trojans).

Her future engagements include leading roles at the Paris Opera; the Gran Teatro del Liceu in Barcelona; the Glyndebourne Festival, the English National Opera and the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.

She has appeared in recital in London and New York and her many concert engagements include appearances at the Aldeburgh, Edinburgh, Lucerne, Salzburg and Tanglewood Festivals and at the BBC Proms where, in 2009, she was a memorable guest soloist at the Last Night.  She Much in demand for the great lyric mezzo repertory, her recent appearances have included the Boston Symphony Orchestra with Sir Colin Davis; the Leipzig Gewandhausorchester with Chailly; the Concertgebouw Orchestra with Harding; L’Orchestre des Champs-Élysées with Herreweghe; the London Philharmonic Orchestra with Jurowski, the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment with Rattle and the Hallé Orchestra with Elder.

She is a prolific recording artist, twice nominated for a Grammy Award.