Kirstin Sharpin Soprano
Recipient of INDEPENDENT OPERA Postgraduate Voice Fellowship (Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama)
Born in New Zealand in 1982, Kirstin read English Literature and Italian at the University of Auckland before returning to her Scottish roots in 2001, joining the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama. There, she gained a BMus(Hons) in Performance, and graduated Master of Opera with Distinction in 2008, before continuing her studies at the Cardiff International Academy of Voice in 2008/09 with Dennis O’Neill. For the RSAMD she sang Tatyana Eugene Onegin, Nella Gianni Schicchi (both with the Orchestra of Scottish Opera, at the Theatre Royal, Glasgow, and Edinburgh Festival Theatre), Fiordiligi Cosí fan Tutte and covered Donna Anna Don Giovanni and Armida Rinaldo. Other operatic roles include Samaritana Francesca da Rimini (Zandonai - Opera Holland Park), Elettra Idomeneo (Opus Opera – concert), Angelica Suor Angelica (Beethoven Ensemble), Magda (cover) in La Rondine (British Youth Opera), Micaela Carmen (in concert), Flowermaiden Parsifal and chorus in Fidelio for the Garsington Festival.
Kirstin’s concert performances include Messiah in Scotland and Germany with Lutz Köhler, Strauss’ Vier Letzte Lieder, at the Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh, Ravel's Shéhérazade with Stéphane Denève and the RSAMD Symphony Orchestra, Berlioz’ Nuits d’été with the St Petersburg State Academic Philharmonic, Verdi’s Requiem with Phillip Thomas and several appearances with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, in excerpts from Poulenc’s La Voix Humaineand Dialogues des Carmelites, Mendelssohn’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Grieg’s Peer Gynt. In demand as a recitalist and soloist for a wide range of oratorios, Kirstin has performed in locations as diverse as the Teatro Marcello (Festival delle Nazioni) in Rome, the Mill Theatre, Thurso, in the presence of HRH The Prince of Wales, The Hub (Edinburgh Int'l Festival) and Christ's College, Cambridge.
Kirstin is an Independent Opera Post-Graduate Fellow, a Samling Scholar and has attended the Britten-Pears Young Artist Programme three times, studying with Sergei Leiferkus, Dame Anne Evans and Sir Thomas Allen. A finalist in the 2009 Bayreuth Bursary Competition and a semi-finalist in the 2008 Kathleen Ferrier Competition, Kirstin also reached the semi-finals of the 2009 and 2010 London Handel Singing Competitions and the 2009 Royal Overseas League and Montserrat Caballé International Singing Competitions.
Kirstin is a past recipient of AdAstra Foundation and Aotea Centre Performing Arts Trust Awards, Countess of Munster Trust, Miriam Licette and Sybil Tutton Scholarships (Musicians Benevolent Fund), and holds a silver medal from the Worshipful Company of Musicians. Confirmed future plans include Chausson’s Poème de l’Amour et de la Mer with the St Petersburg State Capella Orchestra, Helmwige Die Walküre for Martyn Brabbins and Ian Burnside at the St Endellion Festival and Vitellia La Clemenza di Tito in concert for Opus Opera.
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