Rebecca Outram  (soprano)

Monteverdi Vespers of 1610
Bristol Cathedral
Saturday, 20th March 2010

Rebecca Outram started her musical life as a pianist - it was only on joining the chapel choir of Keble College, Oxford that she discovered her voice and her passion for singing. On leaving Oxford Rebecca went on to study at The Guildhall School of Music and Drama, since when she has built up an impressive career in a variety of musical fields.

An experienced soloist, Rebecca's concert highlights include Monteverdi's 1610 Vespers with The King's Consort/Robert King ("outstanding"-The Observer) and Purcell's The Fairy Queen with The Gabrieli Consort/Paul McCreesh, both at the BBC Proms; Vivaldi's Gloria and Handel's Dixit Dominus with The Sixteen/Harry Christophers at the Salisbury Festival; Handel's L'Allegro with Ivor Bolton at the Lufthansa Baroque Festival at St John's Smith Square ("light-filled soprano"-The Times); Bach's Magnificat with the English Concert/James O'Donnell in Spain; Couperin's Leçons de Ténèbres with The King's Consort at the Wigmore Hall and the Nuremberg Festival; Purcell's The Fairy Queen with Accademia Bizantina/Ottavio Dantone at the Ravenna Festival; Belinda in Purcell's Dido and Aeneas with The King's Consort at the Bath Festival ("a fine Belinda "- The Independent); Haydn's Nelson Mass and Harmonie Mass in St Paul's Cathedral; Handel's Esther with the London Handel Festival/Laurence Cummings in London and Norway; Bach's B Minor Mass in Barcelona; Bach's Christmas Oratorio conducted by Sir David Willcocks; and Mozart's Coronation Mass and Dominican Vespers at the Casa da Musica in Porto.

Rebecca has made many recordings as a soloist including Purcell's The Fairy Queen with Accademia Bizantina/Ottavio Dantone (CD Arts), William and Henry Lawes' Songs and Knüpfer Sacred Music (both on Hyperion), Bach's Motets with The Hilliard Ensemble (ECM records), William Child's Psalms (ASV records), and she has recently recorded Monteverdi's 1610 Vespers with The King's Consort/Robert King as part of their complete series of Monteverdi sacred music for Hyperion records.

Recent and future highlights include a recording of Handel's Ode for the Birthday of Queen Anne for BBC Radio 3, Bach's Cantata Falsche Welt, dir trau ich nicht and Lutheran Mass in F in Westminster Abbey as part of the Lufthansa Festival of Baroque Music, performances of Handel's Messiah with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra in Birmingham Symphony Hall, Bach's B Minor Mass with the Manchester Camerata in the Bridgewater Hall, and a recording of Handel's Il Parnasso in Festa with The King's Consort for Hyperion Records and Dido and Aeneas with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment on Chandos, and Rossini's Petite Messe solennelle with the Malcolm Sargent Festival Choir.