Kirstin Sharpin Soprano
Recipient of INDEPENDENT OPERA Postgraduate Voice Fellowship (Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama)
New Zealand born Kirstin Sharpin completed a BA in English Literature and Italian before moving to Glasgow in 2001, where she completed a BMus(Hons) and an MMus(Opera) at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama. At the RSAMD, Kirstin studied with Stephen Robertson and Patricia MacMahon, and has sung Tatyana (Eugene Onegin) and Nella (Gianni Schicchi) with the Orchestra of Scottish Opera at the Theatre Royal, Glasgow. At the Edinburgh Festival Theatre, she has sung Fiordiligi (Cosí fan tutte) and covered Donna Anna (Don Giovanni) and Armida (Rinaldo).
In concert Kirstin was the soprano soloist in Handel’s Messiah with the RSAMD in Scotland and Germany in 2007 and sang Ravel’s Shéhérazade with the RSAMD Symphony Orchestra under Stéphane Denéve. Other concert work includes performances with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra for Radio 3 and several appearances as a soloist with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra. In New Zealand, Kirstin has sung a wide range of roles for Opera Factory NZ, including singing in a small ensemble with Opera Factory’s patron, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa and covered the role of Magda (La Rondine) for British Youth Opera in 2008.
Kirstin has participated in several summer schools and masterclasses including the Britten-Pears programme at Aldeburgh where she studied with Sergei Leiferkus and Dame Anne Evans and the Samling Foundation’s programme of masterclasses.
Kirstin was awarded a Miriam Licette Scholarship at the Maggie Teyte Competition and was a semi-finalist in the Kathleen Ferrier Competition at Wigmore Hall in 2008. She holds a silver medal from the Worshipful Company of Musicians. Kirstin’s studies at the RSAMD in 2007/08 were supported by the McGlasham, Newby and Kathleen Guardian Trusts in addition to scholarships received from the Countess of Munster Musical Trust, the Sybil Tutton Awards (administered by the Musicians Benevolent Fund) and an RSAMD Postgraduate Scholarship.
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