ANNA LEESE, soprano
Anna Leese completed a Bachelor of Music degree with First Class Honours at the University of Otago before relocating to London, and has been the recipient of many awards and prizes, also representing New Zealand in the Cardiff Singer of the World competition.
Anna has performed at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden as Tamiri( Il Re Pastore), Musetta( La bohème), Micaela( Carmen), First Lady( Die Zauberflöte) and Echo( Ariadne auf Naxos); Countess( Le Nozze di Figaro), and Fiordiligi for the Classical Opera Company; Musetta at the Royal Albert Hall; Antonia( Les contes d’ Hoffmann) for Opera Köln; Tatyana( Eugene Onegin) for Flanders Opera and Opera Holland Park; Biancofiore( Francesca di Rimini), and Musetta with the Canadian Opera Company; and Ilia( Idomeneo), Cleopatra( Giulio Cesare), Tatyana, and Majenka( The Bartered Bride) and Donna Elvira( Don Giovanni) for New Zealand Opera.
Anna regularly appears as guest artist with New Zealand’ s leading orchestras and ensembles. Her concert engagements include Mahler’ s Second Symphony with Bernard Haitink, BBC Proms, Brahms Requiem, Mendelssohn’ s Elijah, Beethoven’ s Ninth Symphony, Vaughan Williams’ Sea Symphony( Malaysian Philharmonic), Mahler’ s Second Symphony and Messiah( New Zealand Symphony Orchestra), Freia in Das Rheingold( Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra) as well as recitals at the Wigmore Hall.
In 2016 Anna’ s engagements include the role of Mary / Luck in a new work by Ross Harris( libretto by Vincent O’ Sullivan), Brass Poppies, for New Zealand Festival in both Wellington and Auckland, Nelson’ s Opera in the Park and Rotorua’ s Lakeside Concert, Strauss’ Capriccio( final scene) with Orchestra Wellington, Mozart’ s Mass in C minor with Bach Musica NZ, and Mendelssohn’ s Lobgesang( Hymn of Praise): Symphony No. 2 with the Auckland Choral Society.
Anna’ s recordings include Elgar’ s The Apostles, a recital disc with Graham Johnson, and Haydn:‘ Italian Love Songs’.
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