Gweneth Ann Rand

Gweneth Ann Rand trained at the University of Exeter, Goldsmith’s College and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, London. During her training she received the Maggie Teyte, Ian Fleming and Sybil Tutton Awards. She was a Vilar Young Artist at The Royal Opera House, Covent Garden and in 2001 represented England at BBC Cardiff Singer of the World. She is currently an Associate Artist at Wigmore Hall.

In the current season engagements include Mother Bailey in the UK premiere of It’s a Wonderful Life for English National Opera; her debut at the Teatro Comunale di Bolzano as Tiger Lily in Peter Pan, the dark side; performances of The Blue Woman for Britten Pears Arts; and her return to Wigmore Hall for a recital with Allyson Devenish, Elizabeth Kenny and Alice Zawadski.

Highlights in recent seasons include acclaimed performances of 4.48 Psychosis for The Royal Opera/Lyric Hammersmith, Prototype Festival in New York, Opéra national du Rhin and Philharmonie de Paris; Serena in Porgy and Bess for English National Opera; and Tippett A Child of Our Time and Vaughn Williams A Sea Symphony with the Philharmonia Orchestra at Brighton Festival.

Operatic engagements include Aida (English National Opera, Opera Holland Park, Theater Bremen, Oper Kiel, Finnish National Opera, Macedonian Opera, Opera Poznań and Oldenburgisches Staatstheater); Senta Der fliegende Holländer (London Lyric Opera at London’s Barbican Hall); Leonora La forza del destino (Oper Köln and Chelsea Opera Group); Leonora Il trovatore (Welsh National Opera); Amelia Un ballo in maschera and Margherita/Helena Mefistofele (Theater Erfurt); Tosca (Teatro Nacional de São Carlos); Gutrune Götterdämmerung (BBC Proms under Donald Runnicles); the title roles in La Gioconda and La Wally, and Santuzza Cavalleria Rusticana (Opera Holland Park); Bess Porgy and Bess (Basel Chamber Orchestra and Macedonian Philharmonic); Ariadne Ariadne auf Naxos (Orchestre de Picardie); and appearances for The Royal Opera in Elektra, Daphne and The Cunning Little Vixen.

Her varied concert and recital engagements include Schoenberg Gurrelieder (Orquesta Sinfónica de Mineria under Carlos Miguel Prieto and the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra under Markus Stenz); Tippett A Child of Our Time (NDR Hannover, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and Göteborgs Symfoniker under Robin Ticciati); Mahler Das klagende Lied (BBC Proms); the European premiere of Elliott Carter Of Rewaking and Vaughan Williams Third Symphony (both with the CBSO); Verdi Requiem (Truro Cathedral, King’s College Chapel and York Minster); Brahms Ein deutsches Requiem and Strauss Vier letzte Lieder (Canterbury Cathedral); Poulenc Gloria (Three Choirs Festival); Zemlinsky Der König Kandaules in Gran Canaria; Dvořák Stabat Mater in Madrid; and Britten War Requiem in Warsaw.

Gweneth Ann is widely known for her acclaimed interpretations of Messiaen’s song cycles Harawi (including Cheltenham Festival, Wigmore Hall, Oxford Lieder and Opera North) and Poèmes pour Mi (Gürzenich Orchester Köln, Tonhalle Orchester Zürich and BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra all under Jun Märkl). She also performed Harawi as part of the Southbank Centre’s composer centenary celebrations From the Canyons to the Stars and at the BBC Proms. Her recordings include Mélodies Passagères, The Songs of Samuel Barber (Quartz Music); Janáček The Eternal Gospel with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra (Hyperion); Messiaen Poèmes pour Mi (Sanctuary Classics); and John Metcalf’s Under Milk Wood (Ty Cerrd).