2018 Concert Series Messiah | Page 14

Marlena Devoe soprano Deborah Humble mezzo-soprano
Winner of the Leonard Ingrams Award and the
Joan Sutherland and Richard Bonynge Bel Canto
Award, New Zealand born Samoan soprano
Marlena Devoe also won the Richard Bonynge
Award and the Tait Memorial Trust Prize. She was
a 2018 Alvarez Young Artist at Garsington Opera,
where she made her debut as Alice Ford (Falstaff). Mezzo-Soprano Deborah Humble is one of
Australia’s most successful international artists.
Marlena Devoe completed her MA in Advanced
Vocal Studies with Distinction at the Wales
International Academy of Voice, studying
with Nuccia Focile and Dennis O’Neill.  Prior to
her studies in Cardiff, she received a Bachelor
of Arts degree in Italian and German from the
University of Auckland.
In Masterclasses, she has worked with Rebecca
Evans, Dame Della Jones, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa,
Nelly Miricioiu, Ann Murray DBE, Virginia Zeani,
Richard Bonynge and David Gowland. Concert
engagements have included performances
alongside Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Andrea Bocelli,
Jonathan Lemalu and Simon O’Neill.
She attended the Georg Solti Accademia
di Bel Canto, which led to an invitation to
sing Adina (L’elisir d’amore) at the Verbier Festival
conducted by Jésus Lopez-Cobos and directed
by Sir Thomas Allen. Her operatic engagements
have further included Mimì (La bohème) for Lyric
Opera, Dublin, Lauretta (Gianni Schicchi) for
Singapore Lyric Opera, Gilda (Rigoletto) for
Opera Project and Violetta (La traviata) for
Clonter Opera. Marlena is a recurring artist
with the Auckland Opera Studio and has
performed several roles with the company,
including Lucia (Lucia di Lammermoor),
Amina (La Sonnambula) and Servilia (La
Clemenza di Tito).
Marlena made her debut with New Zealand
Opera in September, performing the role
of Mimì in La bohème, and is looking forward to
performing with Auckland Choral again for their
100th performance of Messiah.
Sponsored by Don Currey
Since 2004, she has sung as a Principal Mezzo
with the State Opera of Hamburg. Her many
roles for the company included Hansel (Hansel
and Gretel), Suzuki (Madame Butterfly) and Olga
(Eugene Onegin).
But it was for her Wagner roles in Hamburg’s
Ring Cycle that she received international
acclaim. Deborah began with Erda in Das
Rheingold in 2008 and went on to sing
Schwertleite in Die Walküre, Erda in Siegfried and
both 1 st Norn and Waltraute in Götterdämmerung,
recording these roles for the Oehms record label.
Other engagements have included appearances
with Edinburgh Festival, Festival d’Aix-en-
Provence, Salzburg Easter Festival, Hong Kong
Philharmonic Orchestra, Seattle Symphony,
Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra and the
Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris and all the major
Australian symphony orchestras.
Since 2015, Deborah Humble has appeared in
Strauss’ Elektra and Honegger’s Jeanne d’Arc au
Boucher in Hamburg, Beethoven’s Symphony
No. 9 in Hong Kong, Siegfried in Boston,
Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 in Singapore,
Parsifal and Verdi’s Requiem in the UK, Elgar’s
Bluebeard’s Castle in Melbourne and Tristan
und Isolde in Mexico City. In 2017/2018, she
makes major appearances in Lille, London and
throughout Australia and New Zealand.
© Patrick Togher Artists’ Management 2018
Sponsored by Garnet Tregonning