Elizabeth Watts (born 1979) is an English operatic

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hertz, Hz to A5 in Choir, choral ...

. Watts was born in

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of the county of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. It lies by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. The population of the Norwich ...

and attended Norwich High School for Girls. She studied archaeology at

Sheffield University The University of Sheffield (informally Sheffield University or TUOS) is a public research university in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. Its history traces back to the foundation of Sheffield Medical School in 1828, Firth College in 1879 ...

and graduated with first class honours. Beginning in 2002, she studied music at the

Royal College of Music The Royal College of Music (RCM) is a conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the undergraduate to the doctoral level in all aspects of Western Music including pe ...

with Lillian Watson. She graduated in 2005 with distinction and the Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother Rose Bowl, awarded annually for outstanding achievement. From 2005 to 2007, she was a member of the Young Singers’ Programme at

English National Opera English National Opera (ENO) is a British opera company based in London, resident at the London Coliseum in St Martin's Lane. It is one of the two principal opera companies in London, along with The Royal Opera. ENO's productions are sung in E ...

. In the 10/11 season she was Pamina/''Die Zauberflöte'' for Welsh National Opera and Marzelline/''Fidelio'' for the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.

Life and career

In 2006, Watts won the Kathleen Ferrier Award. She represented England at the 2007 Cardiff Singer of the World Competition, reaching the final and winning the prestigious Rosenblatt Song Prize Competition. She was chosen as a BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artist from 2007-2009. In 2011 she won a Borletti-Buitoni Trust Award. Her earliest US appearances were in Boston with the Handel and Haydn Society of Boston in 2006 and with Cal Performances in San Francisco. She made her debut at

Santa Fe Opera Santa Fe Opera (SFO) is an American opera company, located north of Santa Fe, New Mexico. After creating the ''Opera Association of New Mexico'' in 1956, its founding director, John Crosby (conductor), John Crosby, oversaw the building of the f ...

in July 2008. Recently Watts sang Mozart Requiem with the Boston Handel & Haydn Society and Harry Christophers which will be released on CD. Watts’ other recordings include discs of Schubert Lieder and Bach Arias, both of which were chosen as Gramophone Magazine Editor's Choice. She has also released recordings of Thomas Arne's Artaxerxes, Handel's Messiah with the Huddersfield Choral Society and Brahms Requiem with the

London Philharmonic Orchestra The London Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO) is a British orchestra based in London. One of five permanent symphony orchestras in London, the LPO was founded by the conductors Thomas Beecham, Sir Thomas Beecham and Malcolm Sargent in 1932 as a riv ...

. In January 2011, Watts was appointed as an Artist in Residence at London's Southbank Centre for the 2011-12 season. In 2016 she premiered the role of The Countess in Elena Langer's opera '' Figaro Gets a Divorce'', at the Welsh National Opera.

References

External links

Homepage

Artists page
from the

Royal Opera House The Royal Opera House (ROH) is a theatre in Covent Garden, central London. The building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. The ROH is the main home of The Royal Opera, The Royal Ballet, and the Orch ...

Maxine Robertson Management page on Elizabeth Watts

BBC webpage from the 2007 Cardiff Singer of the World
{{DEFAULTSORT:Watts, Elizabeth 1979 births Alumni of the University of Sheffield Alumni of the Royal College of Music Living people English operatic sopranos 21st-century British women opera singers BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artists