Carolyn Sampson

Equally at home on the concert and opera stages, Carolyn Sampson has enjoyed notable successes in the UK as well as throughout Europe and the US.

On the opera stage her roles have included the title role in Semele and Pamina inThe Magic Flute for English National Opera, various roles in Purcell’s The Fairy Queen for Glyndebourne Festival Opera (released on DVD) and both Anne Truelove The Rake’s Progress and Mélisande Pelléas et Mélisande in Sir David McVicar’s productions for Scottish Opera. Internationally she has appeared at Opéra de Paris, Opéra de Lille, Opéra de Montpellier and Opéra National du Rhin. She also sang the title role in Lully’s Psyché for the Boston Early Music Festival, which was released on CD and was subsequently nominated for a Grammy in 2008.

Carolyn’s numerous concert engagements in the UK have included regular appearances at the BBC Proms, and with orchestras including the BBC Philharmonic, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Britten Sinfonia, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, English Concert, Hallé, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, The Sixteen, and Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra.

In Europe her many appearances have included concerts with Bergen Philharmonic, Freiburger Barockorchester, Gürzenich Orchestra, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Salzburg Mozarteum Orchestra, Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Vienna Symphony Orchestra.

In the US Carolyn has featured as soloist with the Boston, Cincinnati, Detroit, and San Francisco Symphonies, the Orchestra of St Luke's, the Philadelphia Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra with whom she has recorded both Mahler 4 and Mahler 8 (Soprano 1 and 3) with Osmo Vanskaa as part of their Mahler collection with BIS records. She is a regular guest at the Mostly Mozart Festival. In October 2013 she made her Carnegie Hall recital debut to a sold-out audience in the Weill Recital Hall, and has given recitals at the Lincoln Center, New York, and San Francisco Performances.

Carolyn works with conductors such as Sir Mark Elder, Harry Bicket, Ivor Bolton, Riccardo Chailly, Harry Christophers, Philippe Herreweghe, Louis Langrée, Andris Nelsons, Yannick Nezet-Seguin, Trevor Pinnock, Masaaki Suzuki and Donald Runnicles.

A consummate recitalist, Carolyn Sampson appears regularly at the Wigmore Hall where she was a “featured artist” in the 14/15 season. She has given recitals at the Oxford and Leeds Lieder, Saintes and Aldeburgh Festivals as well as at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Barcelona, Freiburg, Oper Frankfurt, Pierre Boulez Saal Berlin, Vienna Konzerthaus, and a recital tour of Japan.

Carolyn has developed a partnership with the pianist Joseph Middleton over recent years. Her debut song recital disc with Joseph, 'Fleurs', was released early in 2015 featuring songs by composers from Purcell to Britten, and was nominated in the solo vocal category of the Gramophone Awards. Since then they have gone on to release several further recordings for the BIS label, including the upcoming 'Elysium' an album of songs by Schubert. 

Alongside her longstanding relationship with the BIS label she has released multi award-winning discs for Decca, Harmonia Mundi, and Hyperion, receiving accolades including the Choc de l'Année Classica, Gramophone Magazine Editor’s Choice, BBC Music Magazine’s “Record of the Month”, an ECHO Award, and a Diapason D’or. Her recording with Ex Cathedra for Hyperion, 'A French Baroque Diva' won the recital award in the 2015 Gramophone Awards. Carolyn was also nominated for Artist of the Year in the 2017 Gramophone Awards, and her recording of Mozart’s Mass in C minor and Exsultate Jubilate with Masaaki Suzuki and Bach Collegium Japan won the Choral Award. Their subsequent recording together of Bach St Matthew Passion also won the Choral Award in the 2020 Gramophone Awards. The past seasons have seen the release of many acclaimed recordings, notably Carolyn's first solo orchestra CD, Canteloube 'Chants d'Auvergne' with Tapiola Sinfonietta and Pascal Rophé and the acclaimed album Trennung: Songs of Separation with Kristian Bezuidenhout, both under the BIS label. 

Plans for this season and beyond include recitals at the Wigmore Hall, Oxford Lieder, the Amsterdam Concergebow and Tokyo's Oji Hall, performances with Yomimuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra (Beethoven 9), Finnish Baroque Orchestra, the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra (St John Passion), Barcelona Symphony Orchestra, Bach Collegium Japan, performances with Les Violons du Roy in Quebec and Strauss' Four Last Songs with Residentie Orkest and Jun Maerkl. Among her many performance engagements, 2022/23 also sees the release of further highly anticipated recordings.

In 23/24 Carolyn will make her debut at Berlin Staatsoper as well as releasing what will be her 100th Recording as a feature solo artist.