2008/2009 Young Artist

KRISTEN DARRAGH, mezzo soprano

New Zealand mezzo soprano Kristen Darragh has recently graduated from the Royal Academy of Music Opera Course, where she studied with Joy Mammen and Audrey Hyland and was a recipient of the Kobler Award and a Karaviotis Scholar.

Kristen was an Emerging Artist with The NBR New Zealand Opera, where she made her debut as Fyodor in Boris Godunov, and has returned as Giovanna (cover Maddalena) in Rigoletto and Siebel in Faust.  Kristen's UK operatic experience includes Florence Pike Albert Herring (British Youth Opera); The Musico Manon Lescaut (Opera Holland Park); Baba the Turk The Rake's Progress (Dartington); Third Lady The Magic Flute  (Opera del Mar); Zita Gianni Schicchi (Opera Fringe Northern Ireland) and the Stewardess Flight (British Youth Opera). Roles for Royal Academy Opera include Cherubino Le Nozze di Figaro under the baton of Sir Colin Davis; Zita Gianni Schicchi, Masha Shostakovich's Paradise Moscow and Lucretia  The Rape of Lucretia.  Opera scenes include Orlofsky Die Fledermaus, Erika Vanessa, Nancy Albert Herring, Cesare Giulio Cesare and Octavian Der Rosenkavalier. Her concert repertoire includes Handel's Messiah, Mendelssohn's Elijah, Beethoven's Mass in C, Saint-Saens' Reqiuem, Vivalidi's Gloria and Mozart's Requiem, the latter two performed at London's St Martin-in-the-Fields. She holds a BA in English Literature from the University of Auckland and has experience in acting for both theatre and television. She was a finalist in the Royal Overseas League Competition. In May 2009 she returns to The NBR New Zealand Opera to sing Zulma and cover Isabella in L'Italiana in Algeri.