Joanna Harries

Praised for her “stylish” singing (Opera Magazine) and the “emotional force” (The Times) of her performances, mezzo-soprano Joanna Harries is a versatile and dynamic singer, particularly sought after for her interpretation of Handel and early music.

She was a young artist at the National Opera Studio and made recent debuts with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at Cadogan Hall, the London Symphony Orchestra at the Barbican, and Opera Rara and the London Philharmonic Orchestra at the Queen Elizabeth Hall.

Her opera roles include Medoro in Handel’s Orlando at Buxton International Festival with the Liberata Collective, and Lucinda in Stradella’s La Forza dell’Amor Paterno as the Barber Opera with the Musical & Amicable Society. This season sees her perform Hansel in Hansel & Gretel for Longborough Festival Opera and Suzy/Lolette/Roro in the rare Paris version of La Rondine with Opera Rara and the BBC Symphony Orchestra at the Barbican.

A keen recitalist, she is a current City Music Foundation artist, and a previous Handel House Talent artist and Britten-Pears Artist. She has brought SongPath to the London Handel Festival, Brighton Early Music Festival, Oxford International Song Festival and Beverley Early Music Festival, among others, with fellow singer Jess Dandy and guests including Adrian Butterfield (violin), Toby Carr (lute), Olwen Foulkes (recorders), Angela Hicks (soprano) and Elizabeth Kenny (lute).

As Musician in Residence at the historic North Wing of Barts Hospital, she has created a new sound installation and concert programme of eighteenth-century music and medical treatises with Ensemble Augelletti.

Her discography includes recordings with Opera Rara (La Rondine and La Princesse de Trébizonde) and the London Symphony Orchestra (Wonderland) and her debut song album Letters from Scandinavia with pianist Sholto Kynoch, hailed as "Vivid storytelling...It is meticulously researched and brilliantly executed.” (BBC Radio 3) and “an unusual and enchanting thing – not just an album but an embracing narrative experience.” (Gramophone)