Olivia is a mezzo soprano from Loughborough, who is now based in Birmingham for her studies. She sings in a variety of styles including classical, contemporary and jazz, and is currently in her 3rd year of study at Birmingham Conservatoire where she is training to be an operatic singer. She started her classical vocal training at the age of 15 under the tuition of Caroline Sharpe, and sang under the tuition of Louise Crane for her BMus course.
Olivia thoroughly enjoys singing in a variety of choirs and ensembles. Since the start of her studies in Birmingham she has been part of Birmingham Conservatoire Camerata, and since 2015 has been part of the conservatoire’s esteemed Chamber Choir and has been involved in their album recordings. When she is in Loughborough, Olivia sings in a number of local choirs, an acoustic cover band, and performs as a regular guest soloist for the Dante Alighieri Italian Society.
Her first operatic engagement was performing in the conservatoire’s annual Opera Scenes production in the chorus, including scenes from The Magic Flute, Parcifal and La Bohème. In March 2016, she made her operatic debut in the conservatoire’s Spring Opera as La Chatte in Ravel’s L’enfant et les sortilèges. Olivia sang the role of Hänsel in a concert performance of Humperdinck's 'Hänsel und Gretel' for Flat White Opera in July 2016, and later the same month sang in an opera masterclass ran by ENO soprano Mary Bevan in aid of Help Musicians UK 'SongCycle' fundraising. In June 2017, she performed the role of Polly Peachum in the conservatoire's summer production of Britten/Gay's 'The Beggar's Opera'.
Over the past academic year, Olivia has become more involved and interested in contemporary classical music. This became more of an interest during her involvement in a rare performance of Steve Reich's 'Drumming' as a vocalist. Recently, she sang as a member of the contemporary chamber choir Via Nova, performing Howard Skempton's 'The Flight of Song' and Morton Feldman's challenging and atmospheric 'Rothko Chapel' in Birmingham Conservatoire's Adrian Boult Hall. In June 2016 she sang Verdi's Requiem in the Birmingham Conservatoire Chorus for a BBC Radio 3 recording under the baton of Barry Wordsworth.
