Her operatic roles have included Jezibaba in Dvorak's Rusalka (Gardener/Norwegian National Opera, Hindoyan / Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra), Fricka in Wagner's Die Walküre (Hahn / Wuppertal Symphony Orchestra), Brigitta in Korngold's Die Tote Stadt (Petrenko/Bayerische Staatstoper on DVD), Mrs Sedley in Britten's Peter Grimes (Gardner/Bayerische Staatsoper), Hedwige in Rossini's Guillaume Tell (Ettinger/Bayerische Staatsoper), Zweite Norn in Wagner's Götterdämmerung (Petrenko/Bayerische Staatsoper), Mrs Grose in Britten's The Turn of the Screw (Eschenbach/La Scala), Juno in Handel's Semele (Luks/Glyndebourne Festival), Lady de Hautdesert in Birtwistle's Gawain (Metzmacher/Salzburg Festival), Jocasta in Stravinsky’s Oedipus Rex (Gardiner/Berlin Philharmonic & London Symphony Orchestras on disc), Judith in Bartok's Bluebeard's Castle (Yankovskaya/English National Opera, Mäkelä/Oslo Filharmonien, Bihlmaier / BBC Philharmonic Orchestra), Dido in Purcell's Dido & Aeneas (Weiss/Festival d'Aix-en-Provence), Waltraute in Wagner’s Die Walküre (Rattle/Bayerische Rundfunks Symphony Orchestra on disc), and Pasqualita in Adams’ Doctor Atomic (Adams/BBC Symphony Orchestra on disc). 

 

In huge demand on the concert platform, she has performed with many of the world’s leading orchestras and conductors. The works of Gustav Mahler lie at the heart of her repertoire, particularly his Second Symphony (Rouvali/Philharmonia Orchestra on disc, Zinman/Vienna Symphony Orchestra, Hruša/Philharmonia Orchestra, Lintu/Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Petrenko/Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Vänskä / Antwerp Symphony Orchestra), Third Symphony (Vänskä/Minnesota Orchestra on disc, Mäkelä/Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Welser-Möst & Mäkelä/Cleveland Orchestra, Hindoyan/Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Märkl / Taiwanese Philharmonic Orchestra), Eighth Symphony (Bychkov/Czech Philharmonic Orchestra on disc, Mäkelä/Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra on disc, Welser-Möst/Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, K.Petrenko/Bayerisches Staatsorchester, Gardner/London Philharmonic Orchestra), Rückert Lieder (Zinman/Vienna Symphony Orchestra, Søndergård/Royal Scottish National Orchestra), Das Lied Von Der Erde (Marin/Hamburg Symphony Orchestra, Pintscher/Barcelona Symphony Orchestra), and Lieder Eines Fahrenden Gesellen (Hindoyan/Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Collon/Aurora Orchestra).

 

Other collaborations have included Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis (Gardiner/Orchestre Revolutionnaire et Romantique at the BBC Proms, Carnegie Hall and on disc), Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony (Welser-Möst/Cleveland, Royal Concertgebouw & Royal Stockholm Orchestras, Yamada/CBSO), Wagner’s Wesendonck Lieder (Madaras/Halle Orchestra, Mendez/Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Hindoyan/Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra), Elgar’s Sea Pictures (Slatkin/Irish National Symphony Orchestra), Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius (Brabbins/BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra), Mendelssohn's Elijah (Lintu / Gulbenkian Orchestra), Verdi’s Requiem (Oramo/BBC Symphony Orchestra at the First Night of the Proms, Slatkin/Orchestra National de Lyon, Rouvali/Philharmonia Orchestra at the Edinburgh International Festival), Schumann’s Das Paradies und die Peri (Gatti/Accademia Di Santa Cecilia), Schumann’s Faustszenen (Harding/Gewandhausorchester), Ravel's Schéhérezade (Oramo/BBC Symphony Orchestra), Adès’s Totentanz (Adès/Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra), Janacek's Glagolitic Mass (Kanellakis/BBC Symphony Orchestra at the First Night of the Proms), Britten's Phaedra (Brabbins/Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra), Chausson's Poeme de l'Amour et de la Mer (De Billy/London Philharmonic Orchestra), and Respighi's Il Tramonto (Petrenko/Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra). 

 

She has appeared extensively in recital with Malcolm Martineau, Julius Drake, Joseph Middleton, Alisdair Hogarth and James Baillieu for BBC Radio 3, Wigmore Hall, London's Cadogan Hall, the Concertgebouw, Leeds Lieder and the Aldeburgh Festival. Her extensive discography includes the release of her debut solo album 'A Love Letter To Liverpool' (Rubicon Classics) including You'll Never Walk Alone with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus, which as a single reached #1 in the iTunes Classical Chart, and Anthony Payne’s arrangement of Vaughan Williams’ Four Last Songs with the BBC Symphony Orchestra under Martyn Brabbins for Albion Records, which she premiered at the BBC Proms (Vänska/BBCSO) and which was nominated for a Grammy Award. 

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She has a successful cultural and artistic consultancy, working for over 15 years with global organisations across the cultural sector to foster dialogue and partnerships through culture and the arts, bring culture into spaces where it has only had hitherto limited exposure and develop creative projects from inception with artistic organisations. Her current clients include Opéra de Montréal, the London Transport Museum and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. 

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She is Patron of Streetwise Opera, Destination Opera and the Southport Bach Choir, Trustee of the Harrison Parrott Foundation, Debate Chair at the Royal Society of Arts, and commentator for the Guardian, Opera Now, London Book Review, The Stage, BBC Radio 3, BBC Radio 4, Classic FM and Times Radio. A former Barrister (1 Crown Office Row), she holds an MBA from the Global Leaders Institute, is an alumnus of the Oxford Cultural Leaders programme, and received the Royal Philharmonic Society's Enterprise Award, supporting her participation in Harvard University's Women in Leadership Programme. 

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