Imogen Garner, mezzo-soprano
“A mature and committed artist, musically and technically sophisticated, a precise, moving performance as Orfeo”
– Stephen Barlow, Artistic director and conductor, Buxton Festival.
“Imogen was a delightfully melodramatic Marcellina”
– Middlesborough Gazette review of Marriage of Figaro.
“A brilliantly judged Mrs Grose”
– A review of Imogen’s performance in Turn of the Screw by Fraser Wilson, Classical Sheffield.
“Imogen Garner kept us smiling with her singing and acting”
– Wales On Line, reviewing Swansea City Opera’s Marriage of Figaro
“Imogen made a strong impression”
– Gareth Jones, In Suffolk reviewing Marriage of Figaro.
Mezzo soprano Imogen Garner is increasingly in demand as an operatic and concert performer. Most recently she covered Paulina in The Winter’s Tale at English National Opera. In 2016 she covered Lulu’s mother in Berg’s Lulu and sang the role of the Mother in a workshop performance of Nico Muhly’s Marnie at ENO. In previous years Imogen has covered 2 roles in Martinu’s Julietta and has sung excerpts of the lead role in a new Opera written by James Ellis and Louis de Bernieres at the Hay Festival on behalf of ENO. She joined the Extra Chorus of ENO in The Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk and The Mastersingers of Nuremburg.
Imogen will shortly be returning to the Buxton Festival for her fourth year to cover Florence Pike in Britten’s Albert Herring. She has previously covered Orfeo in Orfeo, Alisa in Lucia di Lammermoor and Irene in Tamerlano. In 2015 she sang the roles of Elise, La Glaneuse and La Premiere in Charpentier’s Louise at the Festival and she has sung the mezzo soprano solos in the BBC Radio 4 Morning Service broadcasts for the past three years.
Imogen has performed very regularly with Heritage Opera singing the following roles Third Lady in The Magic Flute, Giovanna in Rigoletto, Kate Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly, Annina in La Traviata and Marcellina in The Marriage of Figaro.
In 2014 Imogen toured with Swansea City Opera and Young Opera Venture singing Marcellina in The Marriage of Figaro. She returned to Scottish Opera to join the Chorus in a concert performance of Turandot. She has previously performed Madama Butterfly and Lucia di Lammermoor with SO. Imogen sang Lucia in Cavalleria Rusticana for Opera Seria at the RNCM and in 2013 she played Mrs Grose in The Turn of the Screw for Steel Opera and Martha in The Flying Dutchman for Focus Opera.
Imogen sings regularly with Choral Societies all over the UK and has performed alongside the Manchester Camerata. She is an accomplished recitalist and has performed widely in the North including at the Bridgewater Hall. A graduate of Economics from Sheffield University, Imogen studied as a postgraduate at the RNCM.
Operatic Repertoire:
Paulina, The Winter’s Tale (Ryan Wigglesworth)
Marnie’s Mother, Marnie (Nico Muhly)
Lulu’s Mother, Lulu (Berg)
Second Lady--Third Lady, The Magic Flute (Mozart)
Giovanna, Rigoletto (Verdi)
Kate Pinkerton, Madama Butterfly (Puccini)
Irene, Tamerlano (Handel)
Alisa, Lucia di Lammermoor (Donizetti)
Elise--La Premiere--La Glaneuse, Louise (Charpentier)
Annina, La Traviata (Verdi)
Marcellina, Le Nozze di Figaro (Mozart)
Lucia, Cavalleria Rusticana (Mascagni)
Orfeo, Orfeo ed Euridice (Gluck)
Mrs Grose, The Turn of the Screw (Britten)
Martha, Der Fliegende Hollander (Wagner)
Despina, Cosi fan tutte (Mozart)
Dido, Dido and Aeneas (Purcell)
Zulma, L’Italiana in Algeri (Rossini)
Dorabella, Cosi fan tutte (Mozart)
Mercedes, Carmen (Bizet)
Mallika, Lakme (Delibes)
Ottone, The Coronation of Poppea (Monteverdi)
Hansel, Hansel and Gretel (Humperdinck)
Concert Repertoire:
Bach, Christmas Oratorio
Beethoven, The Choral Symphony & Mass in C
Brusa, Missa pro Defunctis
Dvorak, Stabat Mater
Elgar, The Dream of Gerontius
Handel, Dettingem Te Deum, Judas Maccabeus & Messiah
Haydn, Missa in E flat Major, Missa brevis in F, Mass ‘In time of War,’ Nelson Mass & Missa Cellenis
Mendelssohn, Saint Paul, Hymn of Praise, Elijah & Come, let us sing
Mozart, Coronation Mass, Requiem
Pergolesi, The Magnificat & Stabat Mater
Purcell, Come ye sons of Art
Rossini, Petite Messe Solonnelle
Scarlatti, Miserere
Vivaldi, Gloria
Recital:
Elgar, The Sea Pictures
Schumann, Frauenliebe und leben
Brahms, Zigeunerlieder
Berlioz, Les nuits d’Ete
Appearances with North Wales Opera Studio:
December 2018, Cavalleria Rusticana (Zelatrice), St Giles Church (Wrexham, UK)
Appearances with North Wales Opera Company:
September 2019, Suor Angelica (Zia Principessa), Stiwt Theatre (Rhosllannerchrugog, UK), St George's Concert Room (Liverpool, UK).