Soprano – Judith Howarth

One of the most sought-after sopranos in Europe, Judith Howarth has consolidated a strong public following and critical appraisal for her work.  She first came to public attention when she joined the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, as a Principal.  During nine seasons there she sang many roles including Oscar, Un Ballo in Maschera; Musetta, La Bohème; Liu, Turandot; Gilda, Rigoletto; Morgana, Alcina; Norina, Don Pasquale; Cressida, Troilus and Cressida; and Marguerite, Les Huguenots. Subsequent engagements world-wide include title roles in the major opera houses of Cincinnati, Toulouse, Washington, Minnesota, English National Opera, Glyndebourne and Berlin. Recent engagements include Madama Butterfly in Helsinki, Philip Glass' 1000 Airplanes on the Roof with Rednote Ensemble, Elgar's Caractacus at the Three Choirs Festival with Sir Andrew Davis, Glagolitic Mass and Dvorak's Te Deum with CBSO at Symphony Hall, Birmingham and Verdi's Requiem at the Royal Albert Hall. 

On the concert platform, Judith has toured with Plàcido Domingo to Seattle, Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand, Brussels and Amsterdam, and has performed Strauss’s Four Last Songs in Vienna with Sir Simon Rattle. Her festival appearances include Aix-en-Provence, The Proms, Tanglewood, Edinburgh and Salzburg. She has worked with many distinguished conductors including Georges Prêtre, Bernard Haitink, Sir Colin Davis, Sir Georg Solti, Giuseppe Sinopoli, Claudio Abbado, Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Daniel Barenboim, Sir Charles Mackerras, and Seiji Ozawa.

Judith has appeared on television all over the world, and has a discography of more than 30 recordings including Troilus and Cressida, conducted by Richard Hickox, which won Gramophone Magazine’s Opera of the Year. More recently she has sung Gilda for ENO, Brahms’ Ein deutsches Requiem in Florence (Stefan Anton Reck), a repeat of her critically acclaimed Madame Mao, Nixon in China for Greek National Opera, Britten’s War Requiem and Mahler’s 8th Symphony at the Three Choirs Festival, Parasha in Stravinsky’s Mavra in Athens and Mendelssohn’s Lobgesang with the Bergen Philharmonic. Other appearances have included Vaughan Williams’ Sea Symphony in Gloucester Cathedral. Judith also made a return to Finnish National Opera for Elisabetta, Don Carlo, further performances of Madama Butterfly for Welsh National Opera, Desdemona, Otello (Act 3) in a Verdi Concert at Bridgewater Hall with the Hallé Orchestra (Mark Elder), Shakespeare in Concert with Vlaamse Opera (Dmitri Jurowski) including excerpts from Verdi’s Otello, a series of bel canto concerts based on the works of Sir Walter Scott for Scottish Opera, Elgar's Spirit of England in Chester Cathedral and 1st Soprano (Magna Peccatrix) in Mahler's 8th Symphony with the Philharmonia at the Royal Festival Hall (Salonen). Further engagements include Mrs Julian, Owen Wingrave for Opéra National de Lorraine; Nancy, The Glagolitic Mass with Bergen Philharmonic (Gardner); Ellen Orford in the Icelandic premiere of Peter Grimes at the Reykjavik Arts Festival with the Icelandic Symphony Orchestra and also for the Deutsche Oper, Berlin (Runnicles) and for ENO (Gardner); Elijah with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra (Petrenko), Brahms Requiem in Aberdeen, Katerina The Greek Passion for Graz Opera, 1st Soprano Mahler 8th Symphony with the London Philharmonic Orchestra (Vladimir Jurowski) at the Royal Festival Hall and the title role in  Madama Butterfly for Welsh National Opera. 

Recent and future engagements include Rosalinde, Die Fledermaus for Welsh National Opera, Opera Gala at the Great Hall, Swansea, Mahler's 8th Symphony at Ely Cathedral, Elgar's King Olaf with Sir Andrew Davis at the Three Choirs Festival, and concerts in China, Vancouver and elsewhere in Europe. Judith returns to ENO to sing Venus in their new production of Orpheus in the Underworld, and in Mahler's Symphony No. 2 (Resurrection) at Salisbury Cathedral. She is also booked to do masterclasses in China.

Aberdeen Bach Choir
Scottish Registered Charity Number SC008609