Carolyn Sampson

Carolyn Sampson OBE has established an international reputation for musicianship of exceptional intelligence, imagination and stylistic versatility. Equally at home in opera, concert and recital, she brings a rare combination of technical refinement, textual insight and emotional honesty to repertoire spanning four centuries. At the heart of her career are enduring collaborations with many of the world'sleading conductors, orchestras, ensembles and recital partners.

From the music of Bach, Handel and Purcell to Haydn, Mozart, Mendelssohn, Mahler, Strauss, Poulenc, Dutilleux and beyond, Carolyn's repertoire reflects a lifelong commitment to exploration and discovery. Her operatic career has taken her to many of Europe’s leading stages and festivals, including Glyndebourne Festival, English National Opera, the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, Staatsoper Berlin and Scottish Opera, in a wide range of leading and title roles. Her performances are distinguished by an instinctive gift for storytelling and a deep engagement with text, qualities that have fostered longstanding relationships with ensembles including Bach Collegium Japan, the Monteverdi Choir and Orchestra, the Academy of Ancient Music and The Sixteen, alongside regular invitations from many of Europe's and North America's leading symphony orchestras. She is also a frequent guest at the BBC Proms, Wigmore Hall and many of the world's leading festivals.

Highlights of the 2026/27 season include returns to the Philadelphia Orchestra with Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France under Maxim Emelyanychev, Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal with Kent Nagano, and a US tour of Bach's St Matthew Passion with the Monteverdi Choir under Masaaki Suzuki. She also returns to the Scottish Chamber Orchestra for several programmes, including her role debut in Poulenc's La voix humaine, and makes her debut at the Oregon Bach Festival.

Alongside her orchestral work, recital remains central to Carolyn's artistic life. She enjoys a longstanding partnership with pianist Joseph Middleton, with whom she continues to devise imaginative programmes and champion repertoire from across the song canon. Their latest BIS recording, Star Falling, due for release in early 2027, centres on Messiaen's Chants de terre et de ciel within a programme that journeys from plainchant to the present day.

Carolyn's extensive discography of more than one hundred recordings reflects the remarkable diversity of her musical interests and has earned numerous international awards and critical acclaim. In 2024 she was appointed OBE in the King's New Year Honours for services to music, elected an Honorary Member of the Royal Academy of Music and named Gramophone Artist of the Year.