biography
“Annie Reilly’s courtly Hippolyta strikes a resolute moment”
American mezzo-soprano Annie Reilly recently trained at the prestigious Royal Academy Opera programme at the Royal Academy of Music in London where she studied with Jonathan Papp, Brenda Hurley, and Mary Nelson. Her full roles with Royal Academy Opera included Dorabella in Mozart’s Così fan tutte (conducted by Laurence Cummings), Hermia in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Zweite Dame in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte, and La Baronne in Massenet’s Chérubin.
Following graduation, Annie became an Alvarez Young Artist with Garsington Opera and joined Scottish Opera for their 2021/22 season where she sang Zerlina in the Sir Thomas Allen production of Don Giovanni, Hippolyta (Hermia cover) in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and in the tour of Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Gondoliers (broadcast on BBC4). She finished the season with her debut at Waterperry Opera Festival singing Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro, where she was described as “captivating and irrepressible” by Daily Info and with a performance of “great flair” by Opera Scene.
Annie returned to Scottish Opera for their 2022/23 season where she sang in the UK premiere of Osvaldo Golijov’s Ainadamar, and for their Opera Highlights Tour in Spring 2023 where role excerpts included Serse (Handel), Orfeo (Gluck), Ramiro (Mozart), Lucretia (Britten), and Iolanthe (Sullivan). She made her debut as an Emerging Artist with Longborough Festival Opera, where she played Helena in Purcell’s The Fairy Queen, including text from Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
Her 2023/24 Season includes debuts with Welsh National Opera as Niña Sola in Ainadamar, and the Royal Opera House Muscat as Hermia in A Midsummer Night’s Dream in a production from Teatro Carlo Felice Genoa. She will cover Second Lady in The Magic Flute with English National Opera and Poppea in L’incoronazione di Poppea with The Grange Festival.
In concert, she has sung as a soloist in works by Bernstein with the LA Philharmonic (Barbican Hall & Philharmonie de Paris), and the BBC Symphony Orchestra (Barbican Hall & BBC Radio 3). Her recital work includes performances led by Julius Drake, Eugene Asti, and Richard Stokes for LSO Discovery (LSO St. Luke’s), the Machynlleth Festival, and the Americana Festival (St. John’s Smith Square). She has sung in masterclasses with Christian Gerhaher, Dame Ann Murray, Joan Rogers, Richard Berkeley-Steele, and William Bolcom.
Annie is the recipient of a UK ‘Exceptional Talent’ Visa, Knights of the Round Table Award, Guildhall Trust Award, and was commended in the Isobel Jay Memorial Aria Prize. She was previously a Young Artist with Garsington Opera, Longborough Festival Opera, Nevill Holt Opera and holds a Masters of Performance (Distinction) from the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, an Advanced Diploma and Bachelor of Music (Hons) from the Royal Academy of Music, and was a scholarship student at the Cleveland Institute of Music.
This biography should not be edited without written permission from Annie Reilly.
“Annie Reilly sang Cherubino with GREAT FLAIR”