Grace Durham

Mezzo-soprano

INTRODUCTION

Winner of the First Prize at the 10^th International Competition for Baroque Opera Pietro Antonio Cesti Competition and the Grand Prix of the 2019 Concours international d’interprétation de la Mélodie Française de Toulouse, Grace Durham was born in London.

Her engagements have included Mercédès Carmen and Second Maid Elektra at the Théâtre du Capitole, Toulouse, Kuchtík Rusalka for Garsington Opera at Wormsley (also at the Ednburgh International Festival), Rosina Il barbiere di Siviglia for Lyric Opera, Dublin, Giovanna Rigoletto for Zurich Opera, Chausson Poème de l’Amour et de la Mer with the Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz at the 2021 Festival Murten Classics, Ravel Shéhérazade with the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra and Job’s Wife in Gregor Joseph Werner’s Job with Les Talens Lyriques at the Haydneum in Budapest. With Les Talens Lyriques, she also appeared in From Purcell in Love (Innsbrucker Festwochen der Alten Musik) and Plaisir d’amour ne dure qu’un moment (Staatsoper Berlin, Festival AntiquaBZ)

With Collectif Lovemusic, she appeared in Talking Music, the première performances of Philip Venables’ Numbers 81-85 and Numbers 96-100 at the Festival Musica, Strasbourg, and the Festival d’Automne, Paris, and the world première of Michelle Agnes Magalhaes Anatomy of the World.

Recent and current engagements include Priestess Iphigénie en Tauride at the Opéra national de Lorraine, Second Lady Die Zauberflöte for Zurich Opera, Angelina La cenerentola for Nevill Holt Opera, Sadoc in Traetta’s Rex Salomon at the Innsbrucker Festwochen der Alten Musik, Marguerite La Damnation de Faust with City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the world première of Michelle Agnes Magalhaes’ Après la Tempête, a songbook for Shakespeare with L’Itinéraire at Festival Messiaen, Mendelssohn Ein Sommernachstraum with the Jenaer Philharmonie at Festival Murten Classics, Mozart Requiem on tour with Orchestre de Picardie, Scarlatti Stabat Mater with Ensemble Le Caravansérail and Vaughan Williams Serenade to Music with the Nash Ensemble at the Wigmore Hall.

Grace Durham began her studies as a linguist, graduating with a First-Class Honours Degree in French and Italian from Clare College, Cambridge. The recipient of an Independent Opera Voice Scholarship, she continued her training as a singer at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and the National Opera Studio. She continues her studies with Valérie Guillorit.

As a member of the Junges Ensemble at the Semperoper Dresden, her roles included Mercédès Carmen, Lucienne Die tote Stadt, Cherubino Le nozze di Figaro, Second Lady Die Zauberflöte, Flora Bervoix La traviata and Clare in the German première of Philip Venables’ 4.48 Psychosis.

Her recital engagements have included the Opéra national de Bordeaux, the Opéra de Lille, the Opéra de Montpellier, the Musée d’Orsay, the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, and, with the Académie-Orsay Royaumont, at London’s Wigmore Hall, and her recordings include Aimer à loisir, singing songs by Chausson, Fauré and Ravel, with Edward Liddall on B Records.

Please note that this biography is not to be used for programmes. Current information is available on request.

REVIEWS

Sadoc: Rex Salomon / Innsbrucker Festwochen der Alten Musik 2023

“Grace Durham displays a sumptuous timbre. Her voice seems to have taken on even more roundness and radiance. The contest that elected her the big winner of 2019 was not wrong.”

Baroque News

“There are no reservations about Grace Durham’s Sadoc, a technically impeccable mezzo-soprano, absolutely in command of the music and the elaborate decorations in the da capos. Her richly textured voice projects superbly.”

Opera in Casa

Angelina: La cenerentola / Nevill Holt Opera 2023

“Notable especially for her coloratura, by no means easy, Grace Durham, full of character, certainly dazzled. She exuded innocence, honesty and all those qualities which the Prince intuitively and unexpectedly spots in her.”

Classical Music Daily

“Grace Durham brings real heart to the role of Angelina as she reveals a highly distinguished and moving mezzo-soprano.”

Music OMH

“Grace Durham, in the title role, was entirely endearing; her expressive eyes and sad little sighs complemented singing that pulled off the unlikely feat of being both tender and brilliant.”

The Spectator

“Cenerentola herself is sung with warmth, dignity and considerable technical aplomb by Grace Durham.”

The Stage

Kuchtík: Rusalka / Garsington Opera at Wormsley 2022

“…a lush mezzo, Grace Durham, a name to watch…”

Opera

“John Findon and Grace Durham are a characterful duo in the kitchen…”

The Telegraph

“…there is a fine double act between Grace Durham’s cheeky cook and Dominick Felix’s put-upon gamekeeper, both giving characterful cameos.”
Wales Arts Reviews

Giovanna: Rigoletto / Zurich Opera 2022

“Grace Durham was a spirited, strong-voiced Giovanna.”

I Hear Voices

Recital with Edward Liddall / La Bibliothèque La Grange-Fleuret 2022

“Is it impossible, then, to sing French as it is spoken? Of course not – and it is a British artist who proves it, alining herself with a long tradition of French singer-speakers in a way that many native Francopohones would envy.”

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Recital with Edward Liddall / Musée d’Orsay 2022

“One of the great joys of a music lover’s life is to discover at the start of a career, new talent. In addition to her opulent and supple voice, perfectly projected and controlled, she also displays other major qualities such as charisma and intelligent use of text…this recital is a peak of the season and the revelation of a radiant artistic personality.”

ODB – Opéra

“Haydn’s cantata Arianna a Naxos allowed Grace Durham’s talent as a true actress to bloom…but it was in La dame de Monte-Carl, another opera in miniature, that all her qualities truly came together: French that the French themselves would envy, a natural theatricality that brought every line of Cocteau’s text to life, and a superbly rich vocal timbre.”

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Mercédès: Carmen / Théâtre du Capitole, Toulouse 2022

“As Mercédès, Grace Durham with her tangy, well-projected mezzo has an ease on igh that enables her fully to take her party in the ensembles and finales.”

Olyrix

International Cesti Competition for Baroque Opera 2019

“In fact, nothing seems beyond her: she has a secure grasp of breath control, vocal flexibility, clarity of attack, quality of projection, energy and expressivity. Her vocal timbre is very attractive and her stage presence entirely convincing…the icing on the cake was the accompanied recitative preceding the aria – it was absolutely perfect, showing her to be a true actress…There is little doubt that one day Durham will be dazzling us with vocal fireworks in the manner of Hallenberg or Genaux.”

Baroquiades

“The jury’s winner was mezzo-soprano Grace Durham from Great Britain, who was the final performer of the main concert, and sang again after the prizes were awarded. She chose not Handel but Johann Adolph Hasse’s Cleofide and from this opera presented the title character’s aria ‘Son qual misera colomba.’ She began with an extended recitative before putting the great flexibility of her warmly flowing mezzo-soprano to the test in breakneck runs. The variations and ornaments she added further allow us to imageine that this singer has a great career ahead of her.”

Online Musik Magazine

“we agree wholeheartedly with the jury’s verdict. The winner was the British mezzo-soprano Grace Durham, whose voice is rich and technically secure. More than with the Melani aria – in this case Acrimante’s ’Se d’amor la cruda sfinge’ – her extremely well deserved victory came with her second aria, ‘Son qual misera colomba’ from Hasse’s Cleofide, a score replete with obstacles not only in terms of coloratura but also, and especially, for the variety of colours it requires. All this goes to show that in competitions – at least in those as unarguably serious as the Cesti – the winners are those who dare to put themselves completely on the line.”

Le Salon Musical

Cherubino: Le nozze di Figaro / Semperoper Dresden

“Grace Durham’s Cherubino came up trumps.”

Seen and Heard International

From Purcell with Love / Les Talens Lyriques at the Innsbrucker Festwochen der Alten Musik

“Traditionally sung by light voices, Grace Durham surprises us with her full-voiced performance, with a rich, round and supple mezzo that gives weight to every note and every word. The text comes across clearly, as if spoken, and we rediscover this music in a new light.”

Baroque News

“Purcell’s dramatic and emotional genius, conveying pain through the vowel sounds, the nuances, the emphasis of the consonants and the precision of the coloratura – his ability to convey the varieties of love through his musical expression.”

Tiroler Tageszeitung

Rosina: Il barbiere di Siviglia / Lyric Opera, Dublin

“Grace Durham was a pert Rosina.”

Opera

Clare: 4.48 Psychosis / Semperoper Dresden

“Grace Durham provides one of the most strongly emotional moments of the evening with a song in the style of Purcell.”

Concerti.de

“The six excellent singers act and sing their challenging roles within the complex, multi-layered structure of the piece with intense passion and high-class vocalism.”

Deutschlandfunk

Songs of Richard Strauss / Semper Matinée, Semperoper Dresden

“The young mezzo-soprano Grace Durham performed her songs with dramatic commitment and a powerful voice.”

OnlineMerker