Below are details of some of the Artists who have visited or are confirmed to visit the Academy this term

Dame Josephine Barstow


Dame Josephine Barstow is acknowledged as a singing actress of the first rank. Her distinguished career has included acclaimed performances of Salome. Tosca, the Lady Macbeths of Verdi and Shostakovich and an enormous range of rôles from Mozart to Janáček, including leading rôles in the operas of Benjamin Britten, in particular those of Queen Elizabeth in Gloriana and Ellen Orford in Peter Grimes. She has also sung for all the major American opera companies, including the Metropolitan, New York, San Francisco, Chicago and Houston. She was made a Commander of the British Empire in 1985 and in the same year was presented with the Fidelio, Medal on behalf of the International Opera Directors Association, only the sixth such medal to be given. In 1995 she was created a Dame of the British Empire.

Susan Bullock


The English soprano, Susan Bullock, is a graduate of the Royal Holloway College London University, The Royal Academy of Music and the National Opera Studio. Her enormous potential was recognised early in her career when she was awarded First Prize in the restigious Kathleen Ferrier Award in 1984. She was immediately offered the opportunity to sing principal roles with English National Opera.

Graham Clarke


Born in Lancashire, Graham Clark began his operatic career with Scottish Opera in 1975 and was a Company Principal at ENO (1978-85). He has performed with all of the leading UK, European and North American opera houses and in particular at the Bayreuth Festival, where he has performed over a hundred times and at the Metropolitan Opera, New York. He is especially associated with the works of Wagner and has performedLoge and Mime/ Der Ring des Nibelungen over 275 times.

Rebecca Evans


Rebecca Evans (born Aug 1963) is a Welsh soprano from the village of Pontrhydyfen near Neath, Wales.
She has performed regularly at the Welsh National Opera; the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden and Bayerische Staatsoper, Munich. She has also established a major operatic career in America where she has sung Susanna (Le Nozze di Figaro) for the Santa Fe Opera; Adele (Die Fledermaus) for the Chicago Lyric Opera; Zerlina (Don Giovanni), Ann Trulove (The Rake’s Progress) and Adina (L'elisir d'amore) for San Francisco Opera; and both Susanna and Zerlina for the Metropolitan Opera, New York. As a concert singer, she has appeared at the BBC Proms and the Edinburgh Festival; at a Gala Concert to celebrate the opening of the Welsh Assembly in the presence of the Queen and the Prince of Wales; and in Bremen with Andrea Bocelli and the London Philharmonic Orchestra.

Nuccia Focile


Nuccia Focile's versatility as an artist is renowned. Well known for her interpretation of Mozart's heroines, her repertoire also focuses on Puccini, Verdi and bel canto as well as Tchaikovsky and Janacek. Ms Focile has appeared at many of the world's leading opera houses including Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Metropolitan Opera, Bayerische Staatsoper, La Scala, Paris Opera, Philadelphia Opera, Hamburg Staatsoper, Teatro Massimo Palermo, Houston Grand Opera, Dallas Opera, La Fenice, Seattle Opera, Opera de Monte Carlo as well as at the Saito Kinen Festival, and in gala concerts in Costa Rica.

Della Jones


The Welsh mezzo-soprano, Della Jones, studied at the Royal College of Music, where she won the Kathleen Ferrier Memorial Scholarship, and later in Geneva. Della Jones made her professional debut in 1970, as Feodor and Olga. Her career took off when she joined the English National Opera in 1977, performing there many of the standard mezzo roles as well as contemporary music. She joined the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden in 1983. Since then she has performed regularly with all the major British companies, and began appearing abroad notably in France, Italy, and the USA.

Dame Kiri te Kanawa


Kiri Te Kanawa gained legendary status almost overnight after her sensational debut as the Countess in Le Nozze di Figaro at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden in 1971. From then, she moved rapidly into the front rank of international opera, and has become one of the most famous sopranos in the world. At the time of her operatic debut she was already an experienced concert and recording artist, and equally at home in front of the cameras as on stage. Continuing to develop as a recitalist, she is now a much sought-after singer in a wide variety of musical contexts.

Nelly Miricioiu


The Romanian-born soprano Nelly Miricioiu is one of the most versatile artists of our day. She is known as "An incomparable singing actress"! She made her Covent Garden debut in 1982 as Nedda in I Pagliacci, and in 1983 made her triumphant La Scala debut as Lucia di Lammermoor. Since that time she has appeared in all the major opera houses of the world. She has worked with some of the most prestigious conductors and directors, as Tosca (with Jose Carreras, Jose Cura, Neil Schicoff), Mimi (with Placido Domingo), Violetta (with Franco Bonisolli, Roberto Alagna,Renato Bruson, Alfredo Kraus) and opposite many other leading artists of the day.

Ann Murray DBE

Ann Murray was born in Dublin and studied with Frederick Cox at the Royal Manchester College of Music.

She has appeared with the world’s great orchestras and conductors and in the major concert halls. Her discography reflects not only her broad concert and recital repertoire but also her great operatic roles.

Her operatic engagements have taken her to Hamburg, Dresden, Brussels, Paris, Berlin, Cologne, Zurich, Amsterdam, Chicago, the Metropolitan Opera, New York, La Scala Milan, the Vienna State Opera, the Salzburg Festival and, notably, has established close links with the Bavarian State Opera, English National Opera and with the Royal Opera, Covent Garden.

She is an Honorary Doctor of Music at the National University of Ireland, a Kammersängerin of the Bavarian State Opera and an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Academy of Music. In the 2002 Golden Jubilee Queen’s Birthday Honours she was appointed an honorary Dame Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire.