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The Australian lyric-coloratura soprano, Chloe Lankshear, studied at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, University of Sydney (2017-2020). During her studies, she was a member of the Luminescence Chamber Singers and a featured soloist at the Canberra International Music Festival. She also participated in the 2017 Yvonne Kenny Master-class.
Early in her career, Chloe Lankshear featured in Pinchgut Opera’s recordings and films as well as their touring concert series and opera productions. She is an accomplished soprano who enjoys a varied career of performative mediums from operatic productions to classical contemporary recitals and commission premieres. She has performed with State Opera South Australia and Pinchgut Opera, and has been a featured soloist with Australian Brandenburg Orchestra, Bach Akademie Australia (Director: Madeleine Easton), The Australian Chamber Orchestra, Canberra Symphony Orchestra, and the Song Company.
Chloe Lankshear's debut lead operatic role was as Galatea in Ensemble Polypheme’s production of Acis and Galatea, directed by Australian soprano and founder of Pacific Opera, Christine Douglas. In 2020, she was an artist in Pinchgut Opera’s Film A Delicate Fire, as well as their mini series of recorded madrigals, and also recorded a ‘Behind Doors’ concert with classical guitarist Heathcliffe Auchinachie at Phoenix Central Park Studio. She went on to be a featured artist with The Australian Brandenburg Orchestra and with Pinchgut Opera in their December seasons.
In 2021 Chloe Lankshear premiered Paul Stanhope's Requiem (which she recorded in 2022) at City Recital Hall, as well as Pinchgut Opera's program of Monteverdi's Vespers and recording with classical guitarist Heathcliffe Auchinachie at Phoenix Central Park Studio. She was also a featured artist with ACO for their program Baroque Revelry. In July 2021 she was named Pinchgut Opera’s inaugural Taryn Fiebig Scholar for 2021-2023 and appeared in their production of Platee as Clarine at the conclusion of 2021. In 2022, she was a featured artist at Bendigo Chamber Festival and Bermagui’s Four Winds Festival in the lead role of Galatea for their production of George Frideric Handel's Acis and Galatea. She also made her solo debut with Maestro Anthony Hunt with the Canberra Symphony Orchestra (CSO), and Maestro Brett Weymark with Sydney Philharmonia Choirs for W.A. Mozart's Requiem, as well as collaborations with other Sydney-based groups including Muffat Collective and Castalia Vocal Consort. In November Chloe was a finalist at the Bel Canto awards and was awarded the Decca prize by Richard Bonynge. She performed as Nerine in Pinchgut Opera’s 2022 December production of Médée, and performances with Sydney Symphony Orchestra and Canberra Symphony Orchestra in 2023.
2023 brought a variety of programs including a return to the Canberra Symphony Orchestra for their chamber series, premiering a new work by Connor D’Netto alongside Debussy’s cycle Ariettes oubliées, as well as their June performance of J.S. Bach's Johannes-Passion BWV 245. Chloe Lankshear made her Sydney Symphony Orchestra debut performing as a soprano soloist for J.S. Bach's Magnificat in D major BWV 243, and concluded her position as Pinchgut Opera’s Inaugural Taryn Fiebig Scholar in their May production of Giovanni Legrenzi's Giustino.
Chloe Lankshear has sung in various chamber music festivals around Australia, but has appeared regularly at the internationally acclaimed Adelaide Festival four times, her first engagement being the 2018 Glyndebourne-premiered production of Australian composer Brett Dean's opera Hamlet. With a natural feeling for modern music, she has performed world premiers of works by Australian composers such as Paul Stanhope, Elliot Gyger, and Alice Chance, and the Australian premiers of works by Michael FInnissy, Howard Skempton, and Sciarrino. In 2024, she appeared with Sydney Chamber Opera and the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra in their concert performance of Mary Finsterer's opera Antarctica.
Chloe Lankshear moved to Germany in 2023 and quickly established a freelance solo career with performances in Hamburg, Hannover, Lübeck, and greater Schleswig-Holstein. At the end of 2023 she won her position in the NDR Vokalensemble, Hamburg, with chief director Klaas Stok, and has appeared in their season concerts and festival performances. In 2024 Lankshear made her Elbphilharmonie Concert Hall solo debut in a program of Italian Baroque music with Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin. The concert was broadcast live by the NDR and her duet movement in Antonio Vivaldi's Magnificat, trio movement Antonio Lotti's Dixit Dominus, and solo aria in the German premier of Antonio Caldara's Gloria are featured on the concert broadcaster ARTE.
Chloe Lankshear returned to Australia in 2025 for The Australian Chamber Orchestra's National Tour of 'Cocteau's Circle' directed CIRCA's AD Yaron Lifschitz. She appeared alongside UK's top Operatic/Cabaret Baritone Le Gateau Chocolat for a program of 1920s Parisian music centered around Jean Cocteau's forming of Les Six, their contemporaries, and his close friendship with Edith Piaf. Lankshear received universal critical acclaim for her performances garnering praises. 'Cocteau's Circle' saw her perform once more on the Sydney Opera House concert hall stage, and make her solo debut in Melbourne's historic Hamer Hall, and Brisbane's QPAC concert hall.
Lankshear is returning to the Elbphilharmonie Concert Hall in 2026 with the NDR Vokalensemble and Concerto Köln as a featured soloist in their live-broadcasted concert performances of J.S. Bach's Johannes-Passion BWV 245. |
