Anna Devin

Anna Devin [soprano]

Irish soprano Anna Devin is widely admired for her “impeccable Baroque style” (Bachtrack), “vocal control…artistry and musico-dramatic intelligence,” (Opera News). An alumna of the Royal Opera House’s Jette Parker Young Artist programme, the Royal Irish Academy of Music, Guildhall School of Music and Drama, and the National Opera Studio, Ms Devin is ‘an ideal interpreter of Handel’s ‘sex-kitten’ roles’ (Opera Magazine) and has gained recognition across the world for her work in the Baroque and Classical repertoire.

The 2018/19 season begins with Ms Devin’s Opernhaus Zurich debut as Rosane La Verita in cimento, followed by her return to Teatro Real, Madrid to perform the title role in La Calisto and Pamina Die Zauberflöte for Irish National Opera. Her concert appearances will include a Handel programme with the Irish Baroque Orchestra, Handel’s Messiah with the Royal Northern Sinfonia and at the Albert Hall with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the RTE Concert Orchestra in Halle, a New Year’s Eve concert with the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra, Mendelssohn’s ‘Lobgesang’ Symphony with the Irish Chamber Orchestra, Handel’s Esther with Irish Baroque Orchestra and Handel’s Athalia at the London Handel Festival. She will also make her recital debut at the West Cork Chamber Music Festival with Joseph Middelton.

Recent operatic successes have included her 2017/18 debuts at Madrid’s Teatro Real as Celia Lucio Silla and the Händel-Festspiele Karlsruhe as the title role in Semele; Tusnelda Arminio at the International Handel Festival in Göttingen; Michal Saul at the 2018 Glyndebourne Festival and Cleopatra Giulio Cesare for the Early Opera Company, in which her Cleopatra was described by Hugh Canning as: ‘one of the finest London has heard’ (Opera Magazine). She has sung Galatea Acis and Galatea for Mozartwoche Salzburg; Nannetta Falstaff and Lauretta Gianni Schicci for the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden; Susanna Le Nozze di Figaro for Welsh National Opera, Glyndebourne Tour and Scottish Opera; la bergère Louis XV/La chauve-souris L’enfant et les sortilèges for La Scala, Milan; Poppea Agrippina for Opera Collective, Ireland; Sophie Werther and Zerlina Don Giovanni for Scottish Opera and Clotilde, Faramondo for Brisbane Baroque, which earned her the Best Supporting Singer in an Opera at the 2015 Helpmann Awards, Australia. Other roles have included Governess Turn of the Screw, Countess Adele Le Comte Ory, Marie Fille du Regiment, Morgana Alcina, Gretel Hänsel und Gretel and Ilia Idomeneo.

A frequent concert performer throughout Europe and the USA, Ms Devin’s repertoire encompasses a vast range of sacred and secular works and she has appeared at the London Handel, Göttingen Handel, Lausanne Bach, Brighton Early Music and Belfast festivals, the BBC Proms and Carnegie Hall. She has worked with the Vienna Philharmonic, Hallé, RTÉ NSO, Ulster and Minnesota orchestras and Houston, Charlotte and Seattle symphonies, among others. Recent season highlights include Bach’s Christmas Oratorio with the Royal Northern Sinfonia at Sage Gateshead, a programme of Mozart Concert Arias with the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra conducted by Harry Bicket; and a concert tour performing Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater and Mozart’s Exsultate Jubilate with frequent collaborator Marc Minkowski and Les Musiciens du Louvre. Other conductors she has worked with include Sir William Christie, Laurence Cummings, Christian Curnyn, Ottavio Dantone, Ivor Bolton, Sir Colin Davis, Yannick Nézet-Séguin and Sir Antonio Pappano.

Anna Devin’s recordings include Arminio and Faramondo for Accent from the International Händel Festspiele Gottingen; Mozart in London, Il re Pastore and Mitridate, Re di Ponto with Classical Opera for Signum Classics; and ‘Arias for Benucci’ with Arcangelo for Hyperion. She was also an Associate Artist with Classical Opera, with whom she records and performs regularly.

In addition to her work on stage, Ms Devin is proud to be an Ambassador for the British Dyslexia Association. She has also been open with the public through the media and events about growing up with dyslexia, saying: “Being different is not a bad thing. Not fitting in with the crowd is a blessing as we all have our own journey and being forced to find your own path brings originality.” She is passionate about nurturing new talent and gives masterclasses at the Royal Irish Academy of Music, Dublin, as well as coaching at the Royal Academy Opera Course, London.

When not on stage, Ms Devin is a keen runner, yogi and enjoys keeping fit and relaxing with her husband, young daughter and Norwegian Forest Cat in their Bedfordshire, UK home.

Her website