Long established on the stages of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden; English National Opera; Scottish Opera; Welsh National Opera and Opera North, Welsh mezzo-soprano Leah-Marian Jones has made guest appearances at The Metropolitan Opera, New York; Théâtre du Châtelet; Angers-Nantes Opéra and Opéra de Rennes, France.
A graduate of the Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester and the National Opera Studio, London, Leah-Marian Jones was a Company Principal at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden for eight years where she sang over thirty roles including Tisbe in La Cenerentola; Dorabella in Così fan tutte; Maddalena in Rigoletto; Mercedes in Carmen; Annina in Der Rosenkavalier; Flosshilde in Das Rheingold and Götterdämmerung.
Engagements as a freelance singer include the Title Role in Carmen; Maddalena in Rigoletto; Orestes in La Belle Helene; Sonyetka in Lady Macbeth of Mtzensk; Rossweisse in Valkyrie and Hippolyta in A Midsummer Night’s Dream for English National Opera; Meg Page in Falstaff; Dorabella in Così fan tutte; Hansel and Witch in Hänsel Und Gretel; Annina in Der Rosenkavalier; Page in Salome; Bersi in Andrea Chenier, Baba the Turk in The Rake’s Progress; Jezibaba in Rusalka; Rossweisse, Flosshilde and Norn in Wagner’s Ring and Rosa in concert performances of Silvano for Scottish Opera, Zaida in Il Turco in Italia and Polly Peachum in The Beggars Opera for the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden; Maddalena and Giovanna in Rigoletto and Zita in Gianni Schicchi for Opera North; Frederica in Luisa Miller for Chelsea Opera; Carmen in La Tragedie de Carmen for English Touring Opera and Hippolyta in A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Aldeburgh Festival. For WNO she has performed Sara in Roberto Devereux; Hedwige in Guillaume Tell; Amenofi in Mosè in Egitto; Lola in Cavalleria Rusticana; Maddalena in Rigoletto; Kabanicha in Kátya Kabanová; Marcellina in Le nozze di Figaro; Princess Marie Akrossimova/ Aide de Camp of Murat/ Mavra Kuzminichna in War and Peace; Secretary in concert performances of The Consul and Genevieve in Pelléas et Mélisande, which included performances at the 2018 Hong Kong International Arts Festival. Recent highlights have included the roles of Latifa and Old Lady in Mohammed Fairouz's newly commissioned opera, Al Wasl in Dubai with Welsh National Opera and Despina in a Welsh language touring production of Cosi Fan Tutte with Opra Cymru.
She made her American début as Junon in Platée in Berkeley, San Francisco and subsequently performed The Young Doctor in Palestrina at the Metropolitan Opera House, New York. In Europe she has sung Flosshilde in Götterdämmerung at the Théâtre du Châtelet, Paris; Meg Page in Falstaff and Flora in La Traviata for Angers-Nantes Opéra and Opéra de Rennes; Kabanicha in Katya Kabanova with Opéra National de Lorraine and Hippolyta in A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Teatro Massimo, Palermo.
Recent concerts include a performance at the Hay on Wye Literature Festival with Sir Bryn Terfel, Rebecca Evans and Trystan Llŷr Griffiths. She has performed Flosshilde and Rossweisse in various concert performances of Das Rheingold and Götterdämmerung with the Hallé Orchestra conducted by Sir Mark Elder, Elgar’s Sea Pictures with the Orchestra of Welsh National Opera at St David’s Cathedral as part of the Fishguard Festival, Madame Rivers in Adelson e Salvini with the BBC Symphony Orchestra for Opera Rara at the Barbican, London (also recorded). At the Royal Albert Hall, London, she has performed in a Gala Concert with the late Luciano Pavarotti, a programme of Verdi music at the BBC Proms; Handel’s Messiah and a televised performance of Karl Jenkins’ Mass for Peace - The Armed Man, conducted by the composer in celebration of his 60th birthday.
She has hosted her own television series on S4C and appeared as a soloist on Diva, Diva, Diva with Lesley Garret on BBC 2. Recordings include Britten’s Paul Bunyan for Chandos.
September 2024
