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Sally Harrison trained at the Royal Northern College of Music and at the National Opera Studio. For English National Opera her roles have included Micaëla Carmen, Giannetta The Elixir of Love, Romilda Xerxes, Despina Così fan tutte, Pamina The Magic Flute, Yum-Yum The Mikado, Berta The Barber of Seville and Flowermaiden Parsifal. Her other operatic engagements have included Lucia Lucia di Lammermoor for Stowe Opera, Poppea Agrippina at the Buxton Festival, Galatea Acis and Galatea for the English Bach Festival, Fiordiligi Così fan tutte and Musetta La bohème at the Theatre Royal, Waterford, Despina Così fan tutte and Polly Peachum The Threepenny Opera for Scottish Opera, Countess Almaviva Le nozze di Figaro for OTC, Dublin, Musetta La bohème for the Opera Society of Hong Kong, Daphne conducted by Nicholas Braithwaite and Yum-Yum The Mikado for La Fenice, Venice.
Sally Harrison’s
concert engagements have included St John Passion at Birmingham Symphony
Hall, Esther at the Greenwich Festival, Messiah with the Bournemouth
Sinfonietta, Mozart Mass in C Minor at the Harrogate Festival, Carmina
Burana at the Hallé Proms, Four Last Songs with the Sussex Symphony
Orchestra and Watford Philharmonic Society, Vaughan Williams A Sea Symphony
at the Frome Festival, as well as in Herrnhut and Pegau and Verdi Requiem
in Rochester Cathedral. A specialist in the music of Hans Werner Henze,
she has sung Minette The English Cat in Berlin, Gütersloh, London
and at the Montepulciano Festival, Cantata della fiaba estrema with
the Scharoun Ensemble of Berlin, Novae de infinito laudes with the London
Sinfonietta and Whispers of Heavenly Death with the Ensemble Modern
of Frankfurt.
Her recordings include Mercédès Carmen for Chandos and
Sultana Rose-in-Bloom The Rose of Persia for cpo and broadcasts include
Friday Night is Music Night for BBC Radio 2.
Current engagements include Pat Nixon Nixon in China for the Greek National Opera, La Musica L’Orfeo and La Folie Platée for the English Bach Festival, Marcellina Le nozze di Figaro for the Classical Opera Company, Mozart Mass in C Minor at the Parco di Musica, Rome, Poulenc Gloria in Chichester Cathedral, Rossini Petite Messe Solennelle in Bury St Edmunds Cathedral, Richard Strauss’ Four Last Songs with the Wimbledon Symphony Orchestra and A Sea Symphony with the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, as well as a wide range of concerts throughout the UK.
“In
the name-part Sally Harrison displayed a clear tone, firm line and smooth
coloratura technique.”
Lucia: Lucia di Lammermoor / Stowe Opera / Opera
“…her
sheer purity of tone and accuracy of pitch were spellbinding.”
Being Beauteous / English Chamber Orchestra c. Jeffrey Tate / The Times
“Sally
Harrison as Minette sang not only the most beautiful coloraturas, but
also played the young innocent with charm.”
Minette: The English Cat / Hebbeltheater, Berlin / Akadmie der Künste
“The
vibrancy of the other voices - notably Yvette Bonner's Euridice, Sally
Harrison's La Musica, Della Jones's La Messaggiera and Catherine King's
La Speranza - added to a memorable night.”
La Musica: L’Orfeo / English Bach Festival Trust / The Financial
Times
“Sally
Harrison was a glorious Fiordiligi, fickle and remorseful with a beautiful
singing voice.”
Fiordiligi: Così fan tutte / Co Opera Ireland / Munster Express
“Sally
Harrison was a delicious Countess, full of life and delivering a gorgeous
‘Dove Sono’…”
Countess Almaviva: Le nozze di Figaro / OTC, Dublin / Sunday Tribune
“Sally
Harrison was a sparky Musetta and she flirted with style and sexiness.
Her Quando m’en vo was glorious in its waltzy flirtation and she
sizzled in the quarrel quartet....”
Musetta: La bohème / Co Opera Ireland / Munster Express
“…the
delicately sung Yum-Yum of Sally Harrison…”
Yum–Yum: The Mikado / Teatro La Fenice / Il Gazettino
“Sally
Harrison, as the Sultana Rose-in-Bloom, has the most ornate musical
passages. Initially, her voice sounds dark and mezzoish, but she rises
(in both senses) to the requirements of Sullivan’s coloratura.”
Sultana Rose-in-Bloom: The Rose of Persia / cpo CDs / International
Record Review