Olivia Blackburn (Soprano)

Born: London, England

The English soprano, Olivia Blackburn, received her education in London, first studying German and French, then vocal music at the Trinity College of Music. Since then she has won numerous prizes and competitions, among them the Peter Pears Singing Competition, the Lawrence Singing Bursary and an award from the Ian Fleming Trust.

Olivia Blackburn has sung at the For the Cologne Opera she has performed in Orfeo, Faust, A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Rape Of Lucretia and Die Zauberflöte. Olivia has also appeared as a guest in several other German opera houses and at Spoleto Festival in Die Zauberflöte. For the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden she has performed in Prokofiev's The Fiery Angel.

In addition Olivia Blackburn has performed in a large number of oratorios by Händel, J.S. Bach, Haydn, Mozart, Johannes Brahms and Antonio Vivaldi. In concert and recital Olivia has appeared at the South Bank, Fairfield Halls, St. George's Hanover Square, and further afield at the Nottingham, Wexford (Festival), Beaune and Spoleto Festivals, as well as performances in Dublin, Paris and Stuttgart. She has performed with the Philharmonia Orchestra, London Baroque, Scottish Early Music Consort, and the Northern Sinfonia.

Recent engagements have included concerts in Vienna and Prague, with the Prague Chamber Orchestra for Austrian Television, and an evening of Spanish chamber music in the Purcell Room with the Kandinsky String Quartet.

Olivia Blackburn now also teaches language and performance classes at Birmingham Conservatoire.

Source: ASV Website; Liner notes to the CD ‘J.S. Bach: Messe in h~moll’ conducted by Jörg Straube (Thorofon, 1990)
Contributed by Aryeh Oron (April 2002, July 2004)

Recordings of Bach Cantatas & Other Vocal Works

Conductor

As

Works

Jörg Straube

Soprano

BWV 232

Günther Theuring

Soprano

J.D. Zelenka: Magnificat in D major, ZWV 108 ?

Links to other Sites

ASV: Olivia Blackburn
Sanctuary Classics - Artist Biographies: Olivia Blackburn

Olivia Blackburn (Birmingham Conservatoire)