"...she is all crystalline tone and spine-tingling high notes."
Tim Ashley, The Guardian
Tim Ashley, The Guardian
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Winner of the Susan Chilcott Award 2016, Lancashire-born soprano Soraya Mafi makes debuts in 18/19 with Seattle Opera (Flora, The Turn of the Screw), Opéra national du Rhin, Opéra National de Lorraine and Opéra Royal Versailles (Cintia, La Divisione del Mondo) and returns to Grange Park Opera to make her role début as Gretel, Hansel and Gretel. Concert performances include Mozart concert arias with The Academy of Ancient Music, Mozart Mass in C Minor at Westminster Hall with The Southbank Sinfonia and Mozart Requiem at King's Place with Hugo Ticciaiti. Recitals include performances at The Wigmore Hall with Ian Tindale, The Ludlow English Song Festival with Iain Burnside and The Cheltenham Festival with Malcolm Martineau.
In the 2017/18 season, Soraya débuted at Garsington Opera, singing her first Nanetta Falstaff under Richard Farnes, she made her role début as Cleopatra for English Touring Opera and returned to English National Opera for her role début as Tytania in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. She also appeared on recordings with Classical Opera as Fortuna in Mozart’s Il Sogno Di Scipione (nominated for a Gramaphone Award), with The BBC Concert Orchestra as Teresa in Gilbert’s The Mountebanks ('Album of the Week', Hugh Canning, The Sunday Times) and with Malcolm Martineau as part of the recital disc series ‘Decades’ (Gramaphone Editor's Choice, October 2018) Soraya is a Harewood Artist of The English National Opera where she has sung Mabel The Pirates of Penzance, Karolka Jenufa and Papagena The Magic Flute. Other roles have included Suor Genoveva Suor Angelica (Opera North), Johanna Barker Sweeney Todd (Welsh National Opera), Aminta Il Re Pastore (Theatre du Chatelet), Despina Cosi fan Tutte (West Green House Opera) Soeur Constance Dialogues des Carmelites (Grange Park Opera) and First Niece Peter Grimes (Grange Park Opera) |
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Recent concert performances include Bach's B minor Mass and Weihnachts Oratorium with The Scottish Chamber Orchestra, tour of Viennese Concerts with The Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra and The Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Mozart Coronation Mass and Requiem at Chapelles de Versailles with Jean-Christophe Spinosi and Ensemble Mattheus, L'enfant et les Sortilèges with The Seattle Symphony Orchestra, Les Illuminations and Messiah at The Royal Festival Hall, Karl Jenkins’ The Armed Man and Handel's Messiah with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Mozart’s Goose of Cairo with the London Mozart Players conducted by David Parry.
She as appeared in recital for the Buxton Festival, the Royal Opera House Crush Room, The Wigmore Hall, The Ludlow English Song Weekend, Absolute Classics Festival and at Middle Temple Hall with Graham Johnson, Iain Burnside, Simon Lepper and Ian Tindale.
During her time at RCM, Soraya performed the roles of Virtu in James Conway's production of L'incoronazione di Poppea, Le Feu and Le Rossignol in James Bonas' production of L'Enfant et les Sortileges and the title role in Arianna in Creta for The London Handel Festival conducted by Laurence Cummings. Soraya created the role of Cheryl in Iain Burnside's new music theatre piece Journeying Boys.
Soraya is winner of the Maggie Teyte Award 2014, The Peter Hulse Orchestral Song Award 2015, The Sybill Tutton Award (Help Musicians UK) and The Elsie Thurston Prize. Soraya won 2nd place at the 2015 Kathleen Ferrier Awards and is supported by a Bruce Tollis Fellowship at ENO.
Soraya is an Associate Artist of Classical Opera and has appeared both in concert and recording with the company.
Soraya received a distinction from The Royal College of Music International Opera school under the tutelage of Janis Kelly and studied for undergraduate at the Royal Northern College of Music with Sandra Dugdale. During her time at RCM, Soraya performed the roles of Virtu in James Conway's production of L'incoronazione di Poppea, Le Feu and Le Rossignol in James Bonas' production of L'Enfant et les Sortileges and the title role in Arianna in Creta for The London Handel Festival conducted by Laurence Cummings. Soraya created the role of Cheryl in Iain Burnside's new music theatre piece Journeying Boys.
She as appeared in recital for the Buxton Festival, the Royal Opera House Crush Room, The Wigmore Hall, The Ludlow English Song Weekend, Absolute Classics Festival and at Middle Temple Hall with Graham Johnson, Iain Burnside, Simon Lepper and Ian Tindale.
During her time at RCM, Soraya performed the roles of Virtu in James Conway's production of L'incoronazione di Poppea, Le Feu and Le Rossignol in James Bonas' production of L'Enfant et les Sortileges and the title role in Arianna in Creta for The London Handel Festival conducted by Laurence Cummings. Soraya created the role of Cheryl in Iain Burnside's new music theatre piece Journeying Boys.
Soraya is winner of the Maggie Teyte Award 2014, The Peter Hulse Orchestral Song Award 2015, The Sybill Tutton Award (Help Musicians UK) and The Elsie Thurston Prize. Soraya won 2nd place at the 2015 Kathleen Ferrier Awards and is supported by a Bruce Tollis Fellowship at ENO.
Soraya is an Associate Artist of Classical Opera and has appeared both in concert and recording with the company.
Soraya received a distinction from The Royal College of Music International Opera school under the tutelage of Janis Kelly and studied for undergraduate at the Royal Northern College of Music with Sandra Dugdale. During her time at RCM, Soraya performed the roles of Virtu in James Conway's production of L'incoronazione di Poppea, Le Feu and Le Rossignol in James Bonas' production of L'Enfant et les Sortileges and the title role in Arianna in Creta for The London Handel Festival conducted by Laurence Cummings. Soraya created the role of Cheryl in Iain Burnside's new music theatre piece Journeying Boys.