Amy J Payne - Mezzo-Soprano

 

The 2024/2025 season sees Amy return to English Touring Opera as BOBYLIKHA in Rimsky-Korsakov’s The Snowmaiden and as MEZZO SOLO in Do not take my story for a Fairytale by Robin Norton-Hale. She also returns to Scottish Opera and Opera Holland Park this season as OLGA in The Merry Widow.

Her season highlights in 2023/2024 included ARNALTA The Coronation of Poppea and MOTHER GOOSE & COVER BABA THE TURK The Rake's Progress for English Touring Opera; KATISHA The Mikado for Charles Court Opera; DAME CARRUTHERS The Yeomen of the Guard for Opera Holland Park.

Amy trained at The Guildhall School of Music and Drama where she was awarded the English Song Prize. She is also a Samling Scholar and holds a Bachelor Honours degree in French and German from King’s College, London, where she was a choral scholar.

In 2022 Amy sang Elgar’s Sea Pictures with the Opera North Youth Orchestra in their inaugural concert and in 2020 she made her debut for Leeds Lieder in Janacek’s The Diary of One who Disappeared with tenor Nicky Spence, accompanied by Joseph Middleton.

Concert highlights from the current season include Gai Paris! with violinist Susannah Simmons for Opera North at Howard Assembly Room and as part of Kirklees Concert Series. Alongside composer and performer Anna Pool, Amy has devised a cabaret performance of music by female songwriters Frau, that’s what I call music!, which was programmed at Spitalfields Festival, Leeds Lit fest and by English Touring Opera in 2024.

She has collaborated with composers creating new work for the voice including Anne Chmelewsky (The Looking Glass, Pygmalion 2.0), Laura Bowler (Women Conduct), Luca Tieppo (Suggestions of Love) and Daniel Saleeb (The Promise). In Spring 24, she toured nationally in a new opera for KS2 children, The Great Stink (Sharyar/Khalil) for ETO.

On the oratorio platform Amy’s repertoire includes: Magnificat (CPE & JS Bach), Missa Solemnis (Beethoven), Stabat Mater (Dvorak), Requiem (VERDI), Requiem (Duruflé & Mozart), Vespers (Rachmaninoff), Petite Messe Solennelle (Rossini), Gloria (Vivaldi) and Messiah (Handel), including several staged versions of the latter.