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Heather Exley - Soprano

Biography

Heather Exley is widely admired for her distinctive lyric voice, lustrous tone and warm expressive style.  On stage, Heather has performed the title roles in Handel’s Semele, Massenet’s Cendrillon and Puccini’s Suor Angelica,  Nedda (I Pagliacci), Rosario (Goyescas), Mimi (La Boheme), Concepcion (L’Heure Espagnole) Pamina (Die Zauberflote), Donna Anna (Don Giovanni), Susanna (The Marriage of Figaro).  She is an active recitalist including broadcasts for BBC and independent radio and recitals throughout the UK and has sung with choral and music societies across the UK also.

Heather graduated from Sheffield University with a Bachelor Degree in Music.  She first studied singing with Australian soprano Margaret Field and was subsequently awarded a Pearson Scholarship to study at the Royal Academy of Music with Mark Wildman.  She appeared in public master classes with the great Verdi soprano Pauline Tinsley and London Master Classes with soprano Nelly Miricioiu.  Following this she continued her vocal studies in London with Alex Ingram, Dominic Natoli, David Harper and Jacqueline Bremar.

An accomplished instrumentalist, Heather first performed with Tafelmusic specialising in the performance of Renaissance and Baroque music.  At the Brighton Festival she has given recitals of Cabaret and American song accompanied by Irish pianist Mary Dullea.  Her repertoire includes songs by 20th composers such as Judith Weir, Musgrave, David Matthews, Dring,  Maconchy and Priaulx Rainier. In a lighter vein she has appeared in a number of opera recitals with tenor, Dominic Natoli performing classical and popular repertoire from opera, music theatre and film accompanied by Alex Ingram and Roger Vignoles.   In 2009, Heather sings the role of Fiordiligi in a fully staged production of Cosi fan Tutte with orchestra.   

Reviews:

“A flexible soprano voice … can produce a rather exciting dramatic quality as well as caring for subtleties and detail in more reflective music … … a well-controlled and expressive instrument.”        Alex Ingram 

“Our Cinderella … Tenderly interpreted by Heather Exley, whose vulnerable appearance is belied by the power with which she sings her solos and expresses her impassioned love”.        The Stage (Cendrillon)

“Heather Exley made a superb Titania. Her radiant personality and beautiful tones and presence, plus measured and well articulated dialogue made this an exemplary performance.”  NODA (The Fairy Queen)

Titania, the eponymous heroine, in the mellifluous and bountiful presence of Heather Exley.
                                                                                                   The Stage (The Fairy Queen)

A very beautiful voice, far above average, a fine vocal range making many options open to her with regard to roles and casting.                                                 Janet Edwards (Music International Ltd)

 Soundclips

Mozart, Porgi amor, Le Nozze di Figaro

Dvorak, Song to the Moon, Ruskalka 

Poulenc, Domine Deus, Gloria

Repertoire

Opera roles sung and studied;

Berkeley A Dinner Engagement Susan;
Bizet Carmen Micaela;
Britten Albert Herring Emmie;
Britten arr The Beggars Opera Polly Peachum;
Donizetti L Elisir d amore Gianetta; Maria Stuarda Maria;
Dvorak Rusalka Rusalka;
Gounod Faust Marguerite;
Granados Goyescas Rosario;
Handel Semele Semele;
Humperdinck Hansel and Gretel Gretel;
Leoncavallo I Pagliacci Nedda;
Massenet Cendrillon Cendrillon;
Mozart Idomeneo Ilia; Le nozze di Figaro Susanna Countess; Cosi fan Tutte Fiordiligi; Don Giovanni Donna Anna Donna Elvira Zerlina; Die Zauberflote Pamina First Lady;
Offenbach Robinson Crusoe Edwige;
Puccini La Boheme Mimi; Gianni Schicci Lauretta;Suor Angelica Angelica; Turandot Lui;
Purcell The Fairy Queen Titania;
Ravel L Heure Espagnole Concepcion;
Rossini Le Comte Ory Isolier;
Smetana The Bartered Bride Marenka;
Strauss J Die Fledermaus Adele;
Sullivan HMS Pinafore Josephine; Trial by Jury Plaintif; The Pirates of Penzance Mabel;
Tchaikovsky Eugene Onegin Tatyana;
Verdi Falstaff Nanetta; Otello Desdemona; Simon Boccagnera Amelia;
V Williams Riders to the Sea Nora;
Weill Der Jahsager Second Boy;
Wolf Ferrari Le Donne Curiose Donna Beatrice;

Oratorio

Bach Coffee Cantata; St John Passion; St Matthew Passion; Easter Oratorio; Magnificat;
Boughton Bethlehem;
Brahms Requiem;
Bush Christmas Cantata;
Canteloube Songs of the Auvergne;
Elgar The Kingdom;
Gounod St Cecilia Mass;
Handel Acis and Galatea; Chandos Anthems III; Dixit Dominus; Hercules; Messiah; Samson; Saul;
Haydn The Creation; Nelson Mass; The Seasons; Stabat Mater;
Faure Requiem;
Haydn Stabat Mater;
Mendlessohn Elijah;
Mozart Requiem; C Minor Mass;
Pergolesi Magnificat in B;
Poulenc Gloria;
Purcell Come Ye Sons;
Rossini Stabat Mater; Petit Masse Solenelle;
Verdi Requiem;
Vivaldi Gloria;

Song and Orchestral;

Soundclips

Click on a Soundclip to listen to an excerpt.