Sally Burgess

The lady is superb, whether she turns her artistry to opera, jazz or Sondheim “. A view that sums up the remarkable career of this accomplished mezzo soprano who offers a versatility and diversity of styles unsurpassed by any other British singer today.

Sally Burgess has made some of the most exciting operatic roles her own - the Sunday Times describing her as “ the greatest exponent of Carmen I have ever seen” a role she debuted for English National Opera’s new production by David Poutney and then went on to perform for the Metropolitan Opera, the Opéra National de Paris, Bastille, the Bavarian State Opera, Munich, the Bregenz Festival and in Zurich, Berlin, New Zealand and Portland. Her Azucena Il Trovatore excited similar reviews - the Guardian considered her performance for Opera North “ great singing by a remarkable artist “ and her Amneris Aida for Opera North was described as ... “ rarely can a performance have been so completely dominated “ ( a role also performed for Scottish Opera and in Strasbourg, Nancy, Lausanne and Wiesbaden ). Other operatic successes include Hanna Glawari The Merry Widow for the Metropolitan Opera; Kabanicha Katya Kabanova for the Bavarian State Opera Munich and Opera North, UK; Fricka The Ring in Geneva, Marseille and for Scottish Opera; Mistrees Quickly Falstaff for Scottish Opera; Ottavia in David Alden’s new production of L’Incoronazione di Poppea for Welsh National Opera also recorded for BBC TV; Dalila Samson et Dalila for Nantes Opera; Judith Bluebeard’s Castle in Bordeaux , for English National Opera, Opera North in Utah, Seattle, Houston and Portugal; title role in Gluck’s Orfeo for Opera North; Dulcinée Don Quixote for English National Opera where she also enjoyed success as Widow Begbick The Rise and Fall of Mahagonny and Herodias Salome; Mère Marie Dialogues des Carmelites for Welsh National Opera; Pantalis/Martha Mefistofele for De Nederlandse Opera; and the world premiere of On London Fields on stage in London

Sally has enjoyed equal success on the concert platform where she has performed with all the UK’s leading orchestras including the RLPO ( Elgar’s Dream of Gerontius; Handel’s Messiah and Pierrot Lunaire ( also in New York with Jane Glover ); Canteloube’s Songs of the Auvergne; and the premiere and subsequent performances of Paul McCartney’s Liverpool Oratorio ); BBC National Orchestra of Wales ( Verdi’s Requiem and Bluebeard’ s Castle and subsequent audio recording with Mark Elder); City of London Sinfonia with Richard Hickox ( Elgar’s Sea Pictures ). In the US she has sung Judith with the Houston Symphony Orchestra and Seattle Symphony Orchestra; Alexander Nevsky with the San Diego Symphony and North Carolina Symphony; and Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony and Mozart’s Requiem with the Seattle Symphony. In recital she has performed at the Purcell Room, the Wigmore Hall, venues throughout the UK and on tour in New Zealand with pianist Rosemary Barnes where she also performed with the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra. She recently premiered songs by Eisler with David Blake, a world authority on Eisler.

Sally was nominated for “Best Actress in a Musical” at the Olivier Awards for her performance in the RSC / Opera North co-production of Showboat in London’s West End, a musical she has also recorded for TER alongside West Side Story and The King and I. Her performances of Gershwin songs for the BBC London Proms broadcast live on TV; an evening at Highgrove House in the presence of HRH Prince of Wales; and performances with the BBC Concert Orchestra of On the Town and Cabaret at the Royal Festival Hall, London have further expanded her reputation as an artist of limitless talents who can offer repertoire from the range of classics of Gershwin, Cole Porter, Richard Rodgers and Kern to works by contemporary writers such as Sondheim and Bernstein together with songs written specially for her.

Sally Burgess Sings Jazz recorded for TER,The Other Me recorded for Timbre Records and Happy Talk documenting the music of Richard Rodgers have established her as a cross-over and jazz artist par excellence. She regularly performs with her own Jazz trio lead by her husband Neal Thornton and has performed cabaret jazz evenings for the Edinburgh, Aldeburgh, Harrogate, Worcester, Buxton and Newcastle Festivals and at jazz venues such as London’s Pizza on the Park. She has also travelled the world over performing similar evenings for the Spier Festival in Cape Town and in Christchurch, New Zealand. She has presented her own one woman show Sally Burgess’ Women at the Lyric Hammersmith and Sophisticated Ladies at the Purcell Room. She premiered a new Harold Arlen show at the Barbican on London’s South Bank in November 2003 and offered further Richard Evenings in the UK and Barcelona following the very successful UK tour Something Wonderful in 2002. Happy Talk documents this Richard Rodgers celebration and is available on CD at www.aormamanegmentuk.com.

Future performances will include performances as Herodias Salome for Welsh National Opera ( and on disc released later this year by Chandos ); the Witch Hansel and Gretel for Glyndebourne; Verdi’s Requiem and the Dream of Gerontius in concert in the UK; and a tour of the music of Leonard Bernstein in the UK and Germany.

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Introduction:
Tony Benn

Singers
Rosemary Ashe
Sally Burgess
Charlie Dore
Johnnie Fiori
Fiona MacDonald
The Manchester
Lesbian & Gay Chorus
Nasrin Parvaz
Annette Reis-Dunne
Andrea Roberts
Peter Straker

Writers
Stella Duffy
Leslie Forbes
David Harsent
Ben Mellor
Shelley Silas
Lemn Sissay

Actors
Janie Dee
Sam Ellis
John Guerrasio
Loveday Smith
Will Strange
Two’s Company
Rupert Wickham
Dan Willis
Chris and Olly

Musicians
Julian Littman (MD)
Neal Thornton

Directors
London: Caroline Clegg
Nepal: Hazel Roy

Special Guests
Mende Nazer
Julie Nicholson


Trafalgar Studios



www.feelgoodtheatre.co.uk

Event sponsors & supporters:
The Stage Door Foundation
Dave Kirkwood Studio
J. S. Dutton

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