Sally Matthews © Sigtryggur Ari Jóhannsson

Sally Matthews

Sally Matthews was the winner of the 1999 Kathleen Ferrier Award. She studied at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama and went on to become a member of the Royal Opera House Covent, Garden Young Artist Programme.
Recent and forthcoming engagements include the title role in Norma, Governess The Turn of the Screw, Marschallin Der Rosenkavalier and Tatyana Eugene Onegin for La Monnaie, and the title role in The Cunning Little Vixen for English National Opera and, in concert, Strauss Vier letzte Lieder with the Orchestre National de Metz and Marzena Diakun, as well as L’Orchestra Symphonique de la Monnaie and Alain Altinoglu; Brahms Ein deutsches Requiem with Philharmonie Zuidnederland and Duncan Ward; Beethoven Symphony No 9 with Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France conducted by Mikko Franck and Mahler Symphony No 4 with the London Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Robin Ticciati for the Glyndebourne Festival.
Past highlights include the title role in Rusalka for Glyndebourne Festival (released on DVD) and with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, both under Robin Ticciati, Barber Two Scenes from Anthony and Cleopatra for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Juanjo Mena and Schumann Das Paradies und die Peri with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra as well as recitals at Wigmore Hall, the Muziekgebouw, Amsterdam and Carnegie Hall, New York.
Sally has appeared regularly throughout her career at La Monnaie, Brussels, Dutch National Opera, Theater an der Wien, the Bayerische Staatsoper and Glyndebourne Festival in roles including Jenufa, Daphne, Anne Truelove, Rusalka, Ellen Orford, Madeleine Capriccio, Fiordiligi, Donna Anna, Konstanze and Marschallin.
She made her Salzburg Festival debut in 2016 singing Silvia in the world premiere of Adès The Exterminating Angel, a role repeated in her debut at the Metropolitan Opera and at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden where other roles have included Fiordiligi Così fan tutte; Sifare Mitridate; Anne Truelove The Rake’s Progress and Blanche in Poulenc’s Dialogues des Carmélites.
She sings regularly with orchestras including the Berliner Philharmoniker and Philharmonia, London Symphony, Rotterdam Philharmonic and Bavarian Radio Symphony orchestras with conductors including Sir Antonio Pappano, Bernard Haitink, Sir Simon Rattle, and Daniel Harding. Her repertoire includes Mahler Symphonies No 2, 4 and 8, Strauss Vier letzte Lieder, Schumann Das Paradies und die Peri, Brahms Ein deutsches Requiem, Messiaen Poèmes pour Mi, Mendelssohn Lobgesang and Berg Seven Early Songs.
A regular at the BBC Proms, Sally gave the European premiere of Turnage Hibiki in 2017 with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Kazushi Ono; in 2018 she performed Barber Two Scenes from Anthony and Cleopatra with the BBC Philharmonic and Juanjo Mena returning again in 2021 with the BBC Philharmonic this time singing Leonore’s aria and duet from Fidelio conducted by Ben Glassberg.