Elizabeth Watts - Biography

Elizabeth Watts received support from BBT between 2011 and 2015. This page was last updated October 2018.
For an up to date biography go to www.maxinerobertson.com.

Elizabeth Watts won the 2006 Kathleen Ferrier Award, the Rosenblatt Recital Song Prize at BBC Cardiff Singer of the World 2007 and the same year, the Outstanding Young Artist Award at the Cannes MIDEM Classique Awards. She is a former BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artist and recipient of the 2011 Borletti-Buitoni Trust Award.

Elizabeth performs with leading opera houses including The Royal Opera Covent Garden, Welsh National Opera, Santa Fe Opera and Theater an der Wien, singing roles including Mozart’s Countess and Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro, Donna Elvira and Zerlina in Don Giovanni, Pamina in Die Zauberflöte, Marzelline in Beethoven’s Fidelio and Almirena in Handel’s Rinaldo.

In concert she sings with orchestras including the London Symphony, London Philharmonic, BBC Symphony, Philharmonia, Netherlands Philharmonic and Scottish Chamber Orchestras, Rundfunk Sinfonieorchester Berlin and Academy of Ancient Music, working with conductors Sir Simon Rattle, Marin Alsop, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Richard Egarr and Sakari Oramo singing works such as Mahler’s Symphonies 2 and 4, Vaughan Williams’ Symphony No 3, Brahms’ German Requiem, Bach Passions and Haydn’s Creation.

In recital Elizabeth performs regularly at Wigmore Hall, London and further afield including the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam and Musée d’Orsay, Paris with pianists Simon Lepper, Roger Vignoles, Julius Drake and Malcolm Martineau.

Critically acclaimed recordings include: Schubert Lieder (Sony), Bach Cantatas (Harmonia Mundi), Strauss Lieder (Hyperion), Mozart Arias with the SCO (Linn) and works by Scarlatti with The English Concerton the BBT-supported Con eco d’amore (Harmonia Mundi).

Elizabeth was a chorister at Norwich Cathedral and studied archaeology at Sheffield University before studying singing at the Royal College of Music in London.

Last updated: October 2018

Having the support of the BBT has been invaluable. Not only have I been able to push forward my technique with lessons in Amsterdam, and artistry by seeing some of the best coaches there are, but I am also moving forward with plans for my own projects and ideas. It’s an amazing feeling to know I have the Trust behind me every step of the way.

Photographs by Marco Borggreve