Sarah Connolly
English mezzo-soprano Sarah Connolly made her Royal Opera debut in 2009 as Dido (Dido and Aeneas) and has since sung Fricka (Der Ring des Nibelungen), Brangäne (Tristan und Isolde) and Jocaste (Oedipe) for The Royal Opera. She returns in the 2018/19 Season to sing Fricka (Der Ring des Nibelungen).

Connolly was born in Yorkshire and studied piano and singing at the Royal College of Music. She was a member of the BBC Singers for several years before beginning her operatic career with Glyndebourne Chorus 1992–3. She now sings for the world’s major opera houses. Engagements with English National Opera include Countess Geschwitz (Lulu), Medea, Octavian (Der Rosenkavalier), Dido (The Trojans at Carthage), Lucretia (The Rape of Lucretia) and Handel roles including Agrippina, Serse and Ariodante. Engagements elsewhere include Purcell’s Dido for La Scala, Milan, Brangäne, Phèdre (Hippolyte et Aricie), Giulio Cesare and Gertrude (Hamlet, world premiere) for Glyndebourne Festival, Phèdre for Paris Opéra, Composer (Ariadne auf Naxos) and Clairon (Capriccio) for the Metropolitan Opera, New York, Sesto (La clemenza di Tito) and Ariodante for Aix-en-Provence Festival, Lucretia and Orfeo for Bavarian State Opera, Brangäne for Festspielhaus Baden-Baden, Fricka for Bayreuth Festival and Ariodante for Dutch National Opera and Vienna State Opera.

Connolly has sung in recital in London, New York, Paris, Amsterdam, Stuttgart and at the Aldeburgh, Edinburgh and Schwarzenberg festivals, among others. In concert she has appeared at the BBC Proms, the Lucerne, Salzburg, Tanglewood and Three Choirs festivals, and with leading orchestras around the world. She is a prolific recording artist and has twice been nominated for a Grammy Award.