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 Sarah Leonard
Reviews
Sarah Leonard is one of Britain’s most respected and versatile sopranos. She was born in Winchester and studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, London. She has a wide repertoire with a particular interest in contemporary music.
In the field of opera her appearances include Dr. Faustus by Giacomo Manzoni at La Scala Milan, Al Gran sole Carico d’Amore Luigi Nono at Hamburg State Opera, Berio’s Laborintus II at the Teatro Carlo Felice, Genova, What Next? by Elliot Carter, Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, To Be Sung by Pascal Dusapin, Théàtre des Amandiers, Paris, Das Madchen mit den Schwefelholzern by Helmut Lachenmann in Hamburg, Stuttgart, Paris and Vienna. In contemporary Music Theatre appearances include in Dirty Tricks by Paul Barker, London, Down By the Greenwood Side, Harrison Birtwistle, London and Angel Magick by John Harle Salisbury Festival and the BBC Proms.
She has worked with many leading conductors including Pierre Boulez in Webern’s Cantata’s 1 & 2 with the Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, and his Improvisations sur Mallarmé, Ensemble Intercontemporain. With Michael Tilson Thomas she has performed Debussy’s Le Martyre de Saint Sebastien, San Francisco Symphony, and Kreneck’s Die Nachtigall, London Symphony Orchestra, and with Peter Eötvös Ligeti’s Requiem in Holland and London.
Sarah Leonard has performed many new commissions with well known chamber ensembles including Flan Franco Donatoni, Ensemble Recherche, Four Poems by Jaan Kaplinski Harrison Birtwistle, London Sinfonietta, and Eshi, Akira Nishimura, Musikfabrik. She has performed Ligeti’s Aventures et Nouvelles Aventures over twenty times with the Ensemble Modern, Ensemble Recherche, Schoenberg Ensemble and Nieuw Ensemble, and has worked for many years with the Hilliard Ensemble singing works by Arvo Pärt, and the Michael Nyman Band, appearing on many CD’s and film soundtracks.
She is an experienced and accomplished recitalist and regularly works with Stephen Gutman and Sarah Nicolls. Recent recitals include songs by Berio and Dallapiccola in the 2004 South Bank Berio Festival, New British Songs in the BMIC’s Cutting Edge 2005 series, and Berg’s Seven Early Songs in the 2005 Warsaw Song Festival. She has a special interest in British songs and has given these recitals throughout Great Britain. In April 2006, with pianist Jonathan Powell, she gave a recital of songs by Joseph Marx, Rachmaninoff, and Sibelius in the Holywell Music Rooms, Oxford.
Sarah Leonard has made over thirty CD’s including five of English Song with pianist Malcolm Martineau, and When the Heart is Young, a collection of songs by Franz Lehàr with Andrew Ball. Other important releases include Offrandes and Nocturnal by Varèse with Ricardo Chailly and the Concertgebouw, Canti di Vita e d’amore by Luigi Nono with Ingo Metzmacher and the Bamburg Symphony Orchestra, and Ligeti’s Aventures et Nouvelles Aventures with Reinbert de Leeuw and the Schoenberg Ensemble.
Releases in 2006 include Joseph Marx Lieder with Jonathan Powell on Altarus Records, Baalkah by the Mexican composer Gabriela Ortiz for soprano and string quartet on Urtext and The Ballad Of Kastriot Rexhepi by Michael Nyman.
Recent concerts include a UK tour of James Wood’s oratorio Hildegard, Jonathan Harvey’s Song Offerings with Sinfonia 21 in Antwerp, Roger Waters’ Ça Ira at the Parco della Musica Rome and Facing Goya Suite by Michael Nyman at the Sage Gateshead with the Northern Sinfonia.
Future plans include further performances of Hildegard in the Netherlands, a concert version of Das Mädchen mit den Schwefelhölzen in Madrid, a concert of music by Holst at the English Music Festival and the European premiere of Baalkah with Xenia Ensemble at the EastWest Festival, Turin.
Management:
Andrew Rosner
e: andrew@alliedartists.co.uk
t: +44 20 7589 6243
f: +44 20 7581 5269
Representation:
General Management Worldwide
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