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The English contralto, Jess Dandy, obtained her Bachelor of Arts degree in Modern & Medieval Languages (French & German) from the University of Cambridge (2008-2012); studied at Guildhall School of Music and Drama (2012-2015); and was Artist fellow in French Language & Poetry at Guildhall School of Music & Drama (2015-2016). She studied Modern and Medieval Languages at Trinity College, Cambridge and the Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon. In 2021, she was shortlisted for a Royal Philharmonic Society Award in the category of Young Artist.
Jess Dandy is the foremost British contralto of her generation and has been praised for her instrument of velvety plangent timbre, and her artistic remarkable immediacy. Highlights of the 2024-2025 season include her return to the BBC Proms for Gustav Holst's The Cloud Messenger with the BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Sakari Oramo, L.v. Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with Boston Symphony Orchestra conducted by Ludovic Merlot at Tanglewood, Thomas Adès Totentanz with Gewandhausorchester Leipzig conducted by Thomas Adès, W.A. Mozart’s Requiem with Aalborg Symphony conducted by Sofi Jeannin, George Frideric Handel's Messiah with Tampere Philharmonic conducted by Matthew Halls, J.S. Bach's Matthäus-Passion BWV 244 with Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam conducted by Riccardo Minasi and Berlioz's Romeo and Juliet with Bergen Philharmonic and Bryn Terfel, conducted by Sir Mark Elder.
On the recital stage, Jess Dandy will return to the Oxford International Song Festival for a programme entitled Eternity in an Hour with Keval Shah, to the Wigmore Hall for a recital with Dylan Perez and to the University of York for a recital with Ben Goldscheider, Fenella Humphreys and Martin Roscoe, amongst others. She finds a natural habitat on the recital platform and enjoys working with a range of pianists, including Martin Roscoe, Dylan Perez, Malcolm Martineau, Chris Glynn, James Baillieu, Julius Drake, Gary Matthewman, Keval Shah, Ian Tindale, Sholto Kynoch, Anthony Hewitt, Gavin Roberts, Iain Burnside, Simon Lepper, Huw Watkins and Wolfram Rieger.
Jess Dandy is a multi-faceted artist with a keen interest in ecology, body psychology and spirituality. She is the co-founder of SongPath (April 2018), a mental health initiative creating musical walking trails in nature for better mental health. With composer Alex Mills, she developed the Music & Being Collective, an open laboratory space exploring music and our sense of self through interdisciplinary dialogue. She is based in Cumbria, UK. |
