Sarah-Jane Brandon

"One of tomorrow's great divas..."

Michael Church, The Independent

Since winning the 2009 Kathleen Ferrier Award, soprano Sarah-Jane Brandon has established herself as one of the leading lyric sopranos of her generation, and is now developing into the jugendlich-dramatischer repertoire.

In the 26/27 season, Sarah-Jane takes on prominent roles at Theater Bremen, where she is currently a member of the ensemble — as Patricia in Innocence, Erste Dame in Die Zauberflöte, Agathe in Der Freischütz (role debut), and Circe in Der Engel von Bremen.

Recent engagements include her debut at the Bayerische Staatsoper as Antonia in Les contes d'Hoffmann; Donna Anna in Don Giovanni and Peri in Das Paradies und die Peri in a new production for the Teatro Massimo, Palermo; the Governess in The Turn of the Screw at the Opéra national de Lorraine; and the Contessa in Le nozze di Figaro for the Staatsoper Stuttgart in a new production and for the Semperoper Dresden. For Theater Bremen she has sung Cio-Cio-San in Madama Butterfly, Desdemona in Otello, and soprano soloist in Britten's War Requiem, alongside her role debuts as Elisabetta di Valois in Don Carlo, Ariadne in Ariadne auf Naxos, Lady Macbeth in Macbeth, Vitellia in La clemenza di Tito, and Elsa in Lohengrin.

On the concert platform, recent appearances include Haydn's Creation at the BBC Proms with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra; Haydn's Nelson Mass with the Staatskapelle Dresden and the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra; Mozart's Mass in C minor with Rai Torino; 1st Soprano in Mahler's Symphony No. 8 in Dresden; Mendelssohn's Psalm 42 at the Leipzig Bachfest with the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie; Strauss' Vier letzte Lieder; and 2nd Soprano in Mahler's Symphony No. 8 with the Bremen Philharmonic under Marko Letonja.

She has enjoyed particular success in the role of the Contessa in Le nozze di Figaro, performed in new productions for the Semperoper Dresden and Savonlinna Opera Festival, as well as for Glyndebourne, English National Opera, Palm Beach Opera, Opéra de Dijon, Opéra-Théâtre de Saint-Étienne, Cape Town Opera, and the National Theatre of Bahrain on tour for the Aix-en-Provence Festival.

Further operatic appearances include the title role of Jenůfa for Greek National Opera, Opéra de Dijon and Opéra Caen; Micaëla in Carmen for the Deutsche Oper Berlin and Teatro São Carlos, Lisbon; Pamina in a new production of Die Zauberflöte for the Opéra de Nice; Donna Clara in Der Zwerg for the Teatro São Carlos, Lisbon; Erste Dame in Die Zauberflöte at the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma; Giulietta in I Capuleti e i Montecchi for the Buxton Festival; and Desdemona in Otello for Cape Town Opera. She made her debut at the Teatro Real, Madrid in Handel's L'Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato with the Mark Morris Dance Group, conducted by Jane Glover — a production filmed and released on DVD.

Recital appearances include her debut recital at Wigmore Hall with James Baillieu; Trinity College Cambridge and the Leeds Lieder Festival with Malcolm Martineau; the Musée d'Orsay and Birmingham's Barber Institute with Simon Lepper; and the Buxton, Hay-on-Wye, Chester and Oxford Lieder Festivals with Gary Matthewman. She has recorded Poulenc with Graham Johnson and Wolf lieder with Sholto Kynoch.

With her impressive range of performances and role interpretations, Sarah-Jane Brandon continues to solidify her status as a leading artist of her generation.