Bianca Andrew is an operatic
mezzo-soprano
A mezzo-soprano (, ), or mezzo ( ), is a type of classical music, classical female singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the soprano and the contralto voice types. The mezzo-soprano's vocal range usually extends from the A bel ...
from New Zealand who has appeared in internationally, based at the
Oper Frankfurt
The Oper Frankfurt (Frankfurt Opera) is a German opera company based in Frankfurt.
Opera in Frankfurt am Main has a long tradition, with many world premieres such as Franz Schreker's ''Der ferne Klang'' in 1912, ''Fennimore and Gerda, Fennimore ...
.
Life and career
Andrew was born in Wellington.
She attended Marsden School, graduating in 2007.
She studied at the
New Zealand School of Music
The New Zealand School of Music—Te Kōkī (NZSM) at Victoria University of Wellington is located in Wellington, New Zealand. It provides a tertiary teaching faculty with programmes in classical and jazz performance, music studies, composition, ...
with
Margaret Medlyn
Margaret Medlyn (born 7 October 1955) is a New Zealand opera singer and voice teacher. In 2012, Medlyn was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to opera.
Early life and education
Medlyn was born in Falmouth, Co ...
, where she graduated in 2011 with distinction.
She became an emerging artist at the
New Zealand Opera in 2013. Supported by a grant from the
Kiri Te Kanawa Foundation in 2014, she studied further at the
Guildhall School of Music and Drama
The Guildhall School of Music and Drama is a music school, music and drama school located in the City of London, England. Established in 1880, the school offers undergraduate and postgraduate training in all aspects of classical music and jazz al ...
in London with
Yvonne Kenny where she graduated with a master's degree in 2017.
She won the Song Prize of the
Kathleen Ferrier Award
The Kathleen Ferrier Award is a prestigious contest for opera singers held each April in London, England. The first competition was held in 1956. According to the ''Telegraph'', the competition has a record of "spotting winners".
Originally con ...
s at
Wigmore Hall
The Wigmore Hall is a concert hall at 36 Wigmore Street, in west London. It was designed by Thomas Edward Collcutt and opened in 1901 as the Bechstein Hall; it is considered to have particularly good building acoustics, acoustics. It specialis ...
in 2016.
Andrew appeared as Bernardo in Goldschmidt's ''
Beatrice Cenci
Beatrice Cenci ( , ; 6 February 157711 September 1599) was an Italian noblewoman imprisoned and repeatedly raped by her own father. She killed him, and was tried for murder. Despite outpourings of public sympathy, Cenci was beheaded in 1599 ...
'' at the
Bregenzer Festspiele
Bregenzer Festspiele (; Bregenz Festival) is a performing arts festival which is held every July and August in Bregenz in Vorarlberg (Austria).
It features a large floating stage which is situated on Lake Constance.
History
The Festival becam ...
, and as Flamel in Offenbach's ''
Fantasio'' at the
Garsington Opera
Garsington Opera is an annual summer opera festival founded in 1989 by Leonard Ingrams. The Philharmonia Orchestra and The English Concert are its two resident orchestras. For 21 years it was held in the gardens of Ingrams's home at Garsingto ...
.
Andrew became a member of the ensemble of the
Oper Frankfurt
The Oper Frankfurt (Frankfurt Opera) is a German opera company based in Frankfurt.
Opera in Frankfurt am Main has a long tradition, with many world premieres such as Franz Schreker's ''Der ferne Klang'' in 1912, ''Fennimore and Gerda, Fennimore ...
, where her roles included a title role in Humperdinck's ''
Hänsel und Gretel
"Hansel and Gretel" (; ) is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm and published in 1812 as part of ''Grimms' Fairy Tales'' (KHM 15).
Hansel and Gretel are siblings who are abandoned in a forest and fall into the hands of a witch ...
'', as Cherubino in Mozart's ''
Le nozze di Figaro
''The Marriage of Figaro'' (, ), K. 492, is a ''commedia per musica'' (opera buffa) in four acts composed in 1786 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with an Italian libretto written by Lorenzo Da Ponte. It premiered at the Burgtheater in Vienna ...
'', and Mercédès in Bizet's ''
Carmen
''Carmen'' () is an opera in four acts by the French composer Georges Bizet. The libretto was written by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée. The opera was first performed by the O ...
''.
In 2023, she created the leading role of Aurelia von Tümmler in the world premiere of ''
Blühen'', a chamber opera by
Vito Žuraj based on a short story by
Thomas Mann
Paul Thomas Mann ( , ; ; 6 June 1875 – 12 August 1955) was a German novelist, short story writer, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, and the 1929 Nobel Prize in Literature laureate. His highly symbolic and ironic epic novels and novell ...
, molded into a libretto by
Händl Klaus. It was given by
Oper Frankfurt
The Oper Frankfurt (Frankfurt Opera) is a German opera company based in Frankfurt.
Opera in Frankfurt am Main has a long tradition, with many world premieres such as Franz Schreker's ''Der ferne Klang'' in 1912, ''Fennimore and Gerda, Fennimore ...
at the
Bockenheimer Depot
The Bockenheimer Depot is a former tram depot and main workshop of the Straßenbahn Frankfurt am Main, built around 1900. It is located in the Bockenheim quarter of Frankfurt. A listed monument, it now serves as a theatre venue of the Städti ...
, directed by
Brigitte Fassbaender
Brigitte Fassbaender (; born 3 July 1939), is a German mezzo-soprano opera singer and a stage director. From 1999 to 2012 she was Theater manager, intendant (managing director) of the Tyrolean State Theatre in Innsbruck, Austria. She holds the ti ...
.
References
External links
*
*
Bianca Andrew / Mezzosopranooperabase.com
* Joerg, Karl-Werner
(in German) frankfurt-live.com 23 November 2021
{{DEFAULTSORT:Andrew, Bianca
Living people
Alumni of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama
New Zealand women opera singers
Operatic mezzo-sopranos
1989 births