Joanne Roughton-Arnold - Soprano
A lyric coloratura soprano with a flair for contemporary music, a range of over three octaves and a taste for a challenge, Joanne Roughton-Arnold began her vocal studies with Esther Salaman and Paul Hamburger while a postgraduate violinist at Trinity College of Music, before going on to become a prize-winning vocal student at Birmingham Conservatoire. She now studies with renowned operatic soprano, Nelly Miricioiu and international vocal coach, David Harper.
Her background as a professional violinist allows her to fearlessly tackle the most demanding of contemporary and standard repertoire. Her repertoire includes the stratospheric Ariel The Tempest (Thomas Adès), Zerbinetta Ariadne auf Naxos, Königin der Nacht Die Zauberflöte and Lucia Lucia di Lammermoor. Her operatic credits include Annina in La Traviata with the Chelsea Opera Group and Nelly Miricioiu (Queen Elizabeth Hall), Sarah Whitehead in Malcolm Williamson’s English Eccentrics under Lionel Friend, Fiordiligi Cosi fan tutte (Birmingham Conservatoire); Eurydice Orpheus in the Underworld, Norina Don Pasquale, Euridice Orfeo ed Euridice, Woglinde Das Rheingold (Morley Opera), Gilda Rigoletto (Porthcawl Grand Pavillion), Marguerite Faust (Theatr Elli, Llanelli), Morgana Alcina (Theatr Elli, Llanelli). In 2011 she completed her second season as a member of the ensemble at Opera Holland Park.
Recent concert performances have included highly acclaimed appearances at the Royal Academy of Music and Oxenfoord International Summer School, soloist in Dallapiccola’s Commiato with the Thallein Ensemble under Edwin Roxburgh (Birmingham Conservatoire), Bach’s Mass in B Minor (Bedford School Choral Society), Messiah (Bedford Messiah Choir) and recitals in London, Birmingham and Bedford. Her oratorio repertoire also includes Bach St Matthew Passion, Mozart Mass in C minor (soprano l), and Tippett A Child of our Time.
REVIEWS
‘Joanne Roughton-Arnold, one of Ms Miricioiu’s pupils, sounded like a possible Violetta of the future while taking the small role of Annina.’
Jim Pritchard, www.musicweb-international.com
‘Performing challenging music with Joanne Roughton-Arnold has been a powerfully rewarding experience for me. The rapturous quality of her singing, the quiet, good-natured authority she asserts and the intelligent sensitivity of her approach mark her as a musician of exceptional abilities.’
Edwin Roxburgh