Louise Alder (born 25 November 1986) is a British

lyric soprano A lyric soprano is a type of operatic soprano voice that has a warm quality with a bright, full timbre that can be heard over an orchestra. The lyric soprano voice generally has a higher tessitura than a soubrette and usually plays ingenues and ot ...

. She won the Dame Joan Sutherland Audience Prize at the 2017

BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition (known as Cardiff Singer of the World from 1983–2001 and BBC Singer of the World in Cardiff in 2003) is a competition for classical singers held every two years. The competition was started by BBC ...

and the Young Singer award at the 2017

International Opera Awards The International Opera Awards is an annual awards ceremony honouring excellence in opera around the world. Origins The International Opera Awards was founded in 2013 by Harry Hyman, a UK businessman, philanthropist and supporter of opera, and ...

. Her debut album of Strauss Lieder titled 'Through Life and Love' with pianist Joseph Middleton, was released in July 2017 with Orchid Classics.

Early life

Louise Alder was born in London and grew up in a family of musicians, playing the violin from an early age. Her father is a singer and her mother a violinist. She was a member of the

London Schools Symphony Orchestra The London Schools Symphony Orchestra (LSSO) is a youth orchestra with musicians drawn from students in London schools, and featuring professional conductors and soloists. It was founded in 1951. Its founder and original director was the late Dr ...

and also danced as a child.

Career

Alder was educated at Lady Margaret School in Parsons Green, Fulham, London, followed by the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

, graduating with First Class Honours to join the

Royal College of Music The Royal College of Music is a conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the undergraduate to the doctoral level in all aspects of Western Music including performanc ...

's International Opera School where she was the inaugural Kiri Te Kanawa scholar. Alder received her first career break jumping in as Sophie in

Der Rosenkavalier (''The Knight of the Rose'' or ''The Rose-Bearer''), Op. 59, is a comic opera in three acts by Richard Strauss to an original German libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal. It is loosely adapted from the novel ''Les amours du chevalier de Faublas'' ...

for

Glyndebourne Festival Opera Glyndebourne Festival Opera is an annual opera festival held at Glyndebourne, an English country house near Lewes, in East Sussex, England. History Under the supervision of the Christie family, the festival has been held annually since 1934, ...

at the

BBC Proms The BBC Proms or Proms, formally named the Henry Wood Promenade Concerts Presented by the BBC, is an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events held annually, predominantly in the Royal Albert Hal ...

in 2014, where critics noted she was 'a sparkling Sophie who won all hearts' (Barry Millington, Evening Standard) and that she 'confirmed that she's ready for top billing' (Kimon Daltas, The Arts Desk). Since then Der Rosenkavalier has become something of a calling card for her, performing it at Oper Frankfurt (2016), Welsh National Opera (2017) and Glyndebourne Festival Opera (2018). She has been a member of the solo ensemble at

Oper Frankfurt The Oper Frankfurt (Frankfurt Opera) is a German opera company based in Frankfurt. Opera in Frankfurt am Main has a long tradition, with many world premieres such as Franz Shrek's ''Der ferne Klang'' in 1912, '' Fennimore und Gerda'' by Frede ...

since 2014, when she jumped in again to sing Gretel in a new production of Hänsel und Gretel directed by Keith Warner and conducted by

Sebastian Weigle Sebastian Weigle (born 1961, in East Berlin) is a German conductor and horn player. He is currently ''Generalmusikdirektor'' of the Oper Frankfurt and principal conductor of the Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra. Biography Weigle is a nephew of ...

to notable acclaim. Other highlights there have included Susanna (Le Nozze di Figaro), Gilda (Rigoletto), Vixen (Cunning Little Vixen), Sophie (Werther), Sophie (Der Rosenkavalier) and Cleopatra (Giulio Cesare in Egitto). Elsewhere she has sung with

The Royal Opera The Royal Opera is a British opera company based in central London, resident at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden. Along with the English National Opera, it is one of the two principal opera companies in London. Founded in 1946 as the Cove ...

Garsington Garsington is a village and civil parish about southeast of Oxford in Oxfordshire. "A History of the County of Oxfordshire" provides a detailed history of the parish from 1082. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 1,689. The v ...

and

Welsh National Opera Welsh National Opera (WNO) ( cy, Opera Cenedlaethol Cymru) is an opera company based in Cardiff, Wales; it gave its first performances in 1946. It began as a mainly amateur body and transformed into an all-professional ensemble by 1973. In its ...

. She performs recitals regularly at the

Wigmore Hall Wigmore Hall is a concert hall located at 36 Wigmore Street, London. Originally called Bechstein Hall, it specialises in performances of chamber music, early music, vocal music and song recitals. It is widely regarded as one of the world's leadi ...

with pianists Gary Matthewman, Joseph Middleton and James Baillieu and in concert halls all over the world, working with conductors such as

Ivor Bolton Ivor Bolton Ivor Bolton (born 17 May 1958) is an English conductor and harpsichordist. Early life and education Bolton was born in Blackrod, Greater Manchester, England. He studied at Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School, Blackburn and Clare Co ...

Sir Mark Elder Sir Mark Philip Elder (born 2 June 1947) is a British conductor. He is currently music director of the Hallé Orchestra in Manchester, England. Life and career Elder was born in Hexham, Northumberland, the son of a dentist. He played the ...

Robin Ticciati Robin Ticciati (born 16 April 1983, in London) is a British conductor of Italian ancestry. Biography Ticciati's paternal grandfather, Niso Ticciati, was a composer, arranger, cellist, and keyboardist. His father is a barrister, and his mother ...

Lorenzo Viotti Lorenzo Viotti (born 15 March 1990) is a Swiss conductor. He is currently chief conductor of the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra, the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra, and Dutch National Opera. Biography Born in Lausanne the son of conductor Ma ...

Jakub Hrůša Jakub Hrůša (born 23 July 1981 in Brno), is a Czech conductor. Education Hrůša is the son of the architect Petr Hrůša. Hrůša studied piano and trombone, and developed an interest in conducting, during his years at Gymnázium třída K ...

, Christoph Rousset,

Richard Egarr Richard Egarr (born 7 August 1963) is a British conductor and keyboard player. Biography Born in Lincoln, Egarr received his early musical training as a choirboy at York Minster and at Chetham's School of Music. He was an organ scholar at Clar ...

, Sir Richard Armstrong,

Harry Bicket Harry Alexander Clarence Bicket (born 1961) is a British conductor, harpsichordist and organist. He is particularly associated with the baroque and classical repertoire. Bicket was educated at Radley College, Christ Church, Oxford, where he ...

t and Johannes Debus. A passionate Handel singer, Alder sang the title role in Semele on tour with

Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment (OAE) is a British period instrument orchestra. The OAE is a resident orchestra of the Southbank Centre, London, associate orchestra at Glyndebourne Festival Opera Artistic Associate at Kings Place, and h ...

in 2017, Atalanta in a new production of Xerxes at

also in 2017, the title role in

Theodora Theodora is a given name of Greek origin, meaning "God's gift". Theodora may also refer to: Historical figures known as Theodora Byzantine empresses * Theodora (wife of Justinian I) ( 500 – 548), saint by the Orthodox Church * Theodora o ...

at the BBC Proms in 2018 and Romilda (Xerxes) at Oper Frankfurt in January 2019. In December 2018 she sang Gretel (Hänsel und Gretel) at

Bayerische Staatsoper The Bayerische Staatsoper is a German opera company based in Munich. Its main venue is the Nationaltheater München, and its orchestra the Bayerische Staatsorchester. History The parent ensemble of the company was founded in 1653, under Ele ...

and in March 2019, the title role in La Calisto at

Teatro Real The Teatro Real (Royal Theatre) is an opera house in Madrid, Spain. Located at the Plaza de Oriente, opposite the Royal Palace, and known colloquially as ''El Real'', it is considered the top institution of the performing and musical arts in the ...

, Madrid. Future debuts include

Canadian Opera Company The Canadian Opera Company (COC) is an opera company in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is the largest opera company in Canada and one of the largest producers of opera in North America. The COC performs in its own opera house, the Four Seasons Cent ...

English National Opera English National Opera (ENO) is an opera company based in London, resident at the London Coliseum in St Martin's Lane. It is one of the two principal opera companies in London, along with The Royal Opera. ENO's productions are sung in English ...

and the

Royal Opera House The Royal Opera House (ROH) is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. It is the home of The Royal Ope ...

. Her TV appearances have included a performance of Beethoven's

Fidelio ''Fidelio'' (; ), originally titled ' (''Leonore, or The Triumph of Marital Love''), Op. 72, is Ludwig van Beethoven's only opera. The German libretto was originally prepared by Joseph Sonnleithner from the French of Jean-Nicolas Bouilly, wi ...

at the 2017

on BBC 4,

BBC Cardiff Singer of the World BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition (known as Cardiff Singer of the World from 1983–2001 and BBC Singer of the World in Cardiff in 2003) is a competition for classical singers held every two years. The competition was started by BBC W ...

2017, Stars von Morgen 2017 on

Arte Arte (; (), sometimes stylized in lowercase or uppercase in its logo) is a European public service channel dedicated to culture. It is made up of three separate companies: the Strasbourg-based European Economic Interest Grouping ARTE, plu ...

, title role in

L'incoronazione di Poppea ''L'incoronazione di Poppea'' ( SV 308, ''The Coronation of Poppaea'') is an Italian opera by Claudio Monteverdi. It was Monteverdi's last opera, with a libretto by Giovanni Francesco Busenello, and was first performed at the Teatro Santi Giovanni ...

with the Academy of Ancient Music at the Enescu Festival live on Romanian

TVR2 TVR 2 (, spelled out as ''Televiziunea Română 2'', "Romanian Television 2") is the second channel of the public broadcaster TVR. The channel was launched on May 2, 1968, but it was suspended from January 20, 1985, until February 19, 1990. Fr ...

, and at the Coronation Gala at Buckingham Palace in 2013 in front of her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and the Royal Family, on

BBC 1 BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...

. She can be heard regularly on BBC Radio 3 and Classic FM.

Awards

2017 – Dame Joan Sutherland Audience Prize *

2017 – Young Singer *

John Christie Award 2014 * Glyndebourne on Tour Donald Albert Anderson Award 2013 *

Tagore Gold Medal 2013 *

Kathleen Ferrier Award The Kathleen Ferrier Award is a prestigious contest for Opera singers held each April in London, England. The first competition was held in 1956. According to the ''Telegraph'', the competition has a record of "spotting winners". Originally conc ...

2013 – Second Prize * Maggie Teyte French Song Competition 2013 – First Prize and Miriam Licette Award

Recordings

*''Through Life and Love'', solo recital of

Strauss Strauss, Strauß or Straus is a common Germanic surname. Outside Germany and Austria ''Strauß'' is always spelled ''Strauss'' (the letter " ß" is not used in the German-speaking part of Switzerland). In classical music, "Strauss" usually re ...

songs with pianist Joseph Middleton, released in July 2017 by Orchid Classics. *''

The Rape of Lucretia ''The Rape of Lucretia'' (Op. 37) is an opera in two acts by Benjamin Britten, written for Kathleen Ferrier, who performed the title role. Ronald Duncan based his English libretto on André Obey's play '. Performance history The opera was fi ...

,''

, DVD, Opus Arte. *'' L'Orontea,''

, Oehms Classics. *'' Der Graf von Luxemburg,''

, Eun Sun Kim, Oehms Classics. *'' The Great War Symphony,'' Patrick Hawes, Classic FM.

References

External links

*
Askonas Holt website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alder, Louise 1986 births Living people Singers from London English operatic sopranos Alumni of the University of Edinburgh People educated at Lady Margaret School 21st-century British women opera singers