Anna Leese, Lyric Soprano, 2007

Anna Leese (born 7 March 1981) is a New Zealand born soprano opera singer.

Early life

Leese was born in Napier, New Zealand. She sang in the New Zealand Secondary Schools Choir and the New Zealand Youth Choir.[1] She attended the University of Otago where she studied music, graduating in 2003.[2] This was followed by study at the Benjamin Britten International Opera School at the Royal College of Music in London.[3][1][2]

Career

Leese sang the part of Tamiri in Mozart's Il re pastore in 2006 at the Lindbury Theatre, Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.[4] Also in 2006, she was understudy for Musetta in Puccini's La Boheme at Covent Garden[4][5] followed in 2008 by performing the role at Covent Garden.[1][6] Another Covent Garden engagement was as Micaela in Carmen.[1]

She performed with José Carreras in Gateshead in 2008.[7][6] She made her North American debut as Musetta for the Canadian Opera Company in March 2009.

She has sung the role of Tatyana in Eugene Onegin three times: for the New Zealand Opera in 2009[8] for Opera Flanders in Ghent and Antwerp in 2010, and in London in 2012.[9] Other roles she has performed are Fiordiligi in Mozart's Cosi fan tutte and Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni.[10] She has appeared with Opera Köln, the Flanders Opera and Opera Holland Park.[11]

She is also was one of the artists who formed the vocal-piano ensemble The Prince Consort in Britain.[12][13]

As the Governess in the 2019 New Zealand Opera production of Benjamin Britten's The Turn of the Screw

In addition to her international career she has performed many times in New Zealand. In 2005 she performed in the Messiah in several performances around New Zealand and sang with Kiri Te Kanawa and Frederica von Stade in Wellington in 2006.[4] She toured a chamber music concert programme with pianist Terence Dennis in 2008.[14] She also sang with Andrea Bocelli at his New Zealand concert in 2008.[3][15] She then also served as Artist in Residence for the New Zealand Singing School in Napier 2011.[16] Leese with other singers and a pianist formed the Tākiri Ensemble which made its debut tour in 2015, singing a programme of lieder.[11] In 2016 Leese was soloist in Anthony Ritchie's oratorio Gallipoli to the Somme which commemorated the one hundred year anniversary of the Battle of the Somme. It was based on the book of the same name by Alexander Aitken, who was a soldier in the Otago battalion and later professor of mathematics at Edinburgh University.[17][18] The oratorio had its European premiere, with Leese as a soloist, at the Sheldonian Theatre, Oxford in June 2018.[19] In 2019 Leese and the Tākiri Ensemble performed singer-songwriter Bic Runga's first classical composition.[20] The same year she performed as the Governess in Britten's The Turn of the Screw in Auckland.[10][21]

In 2021 Leese and tenor Simon O'Neill performed together with the Dunedin Symphony Orchestra.[22]

Leese teaches voice at the University of Otago.[23][22]

Awards

Leese won the Mobil Song Quest (later the Lexus Song Quest) in 2002 and the MacDonald's Aria Scholarship at the Sydney Opera House in 2003.[1] She received a New Generation Award from the New Zealand Arts Foundation in 2010.[24]

Personal life

Leese married Italian winemaker Stefano Guidi in 2014 and the couple returned to live in New Zealand. In 2016 just before the birth of their first child Guidi was diagnosed with motor neurone disease.[3] In 2020 the couple had their second child, who was born during the Covid-19 lockdown. They live in Dunedin.[23]

A variety of rose has been named after Leese.[25]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Tansley, Rebecca (June 2008). "Scaling the heights". University of Otago Magazine. 20: 22–23 – via NDHA.
  2. 1 2 Christian, Dionne (28 August 2016). "Fundraising concert for opera singer Anna Leese whose husband has motor neurone disease". NZ Herald. Archived from the original on 24 June 2021. Retrieved 23 June 2021.
  3. 1 2 3 "Kiwi opera star's husband diagnosed with motor neuron disease". Stuff. 12 June 2016. Archived from the original on 21 October 2017. Retrieved 23 June 2021.
  4. 1 2 3 "Anna Leese upwards". New Zealand Opera News: 36. March 2006.
  5. ↑ Wilshere, Garth (April 2007). "Interview with Anna Leese". New Zealand Opera News: 4–14.
  6. 1 2 "Anna Leese makes an impression on José Carreras". New Zealand Opera News: 33–34. May 2008.
  7. ↑ "José Carreras, Sage, Gateshead". The Guardian. 20 February 2008. Archived from the original on 6 October 2014. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
  8. ↑ "Stars line up for opera on a grand scale". New Zealand Opera News: 10-–11. August 2009.
  9. ↑ "Eugene Onegin – review". The Guardian. 17 July 2012. Archived from the original on 25 December 2015. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
  10. 1 2 "Turn of the Screw star Anna Leese on life's twists". NZ Herald. 28 September 2019. Archived from the original on 24 June 2021. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
  11. 1 2 "Tākiri Ensemble". New Zealand Opera News: 57–58. July–August 2015.
  12. ↑ "The Prince Consort – review". The Guardian. 25 November 2013. Archived from the original on 26 November 2013. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
  13. ↑ "The Prince Consort named Associate Artists of Guildhall Vocal Department". www.gsmd.ac.uk. 25 April 2017. Archived from the original on 23 March 2018. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
  14. ↑ Benson, Nigel (11 August 2008). "Soprano back among friends". Otago Daily Times Online News. Archived from the original on 24 June 2021. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
  15. ↑ "Bocelli arrives in Auckland". NZ Herald. 19 August 2008. Archived from the original on 24 June 2021. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
  16. ↑ "Singing School fit for a Dame". NZ Herald. 6 January 2011. Archived from the original on 29 June 2021. Retrieved 29 June 2021.
  17. ↑ "Anna Leese talks Gallipoli to the Somme, & the effects of MND". RNZ. 29 September 2016. Archived from the original on 14 August 2020. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
  18. ↑ "Gallipoli to the Somme – Pāho". University of Otago - Pāho. Archived from the original on 4 May 2017. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
  19. ↑ "Anna Leese speaks to Niall Munro". www.torch.ox.ac.uk. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
  20. ↑ "Kiwi soprano performs Bic Runga's first classical piece". RNZ. 5 May 2019. Archived from the original on 29 July 2019. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
  21. ↑ Medlyn, Margaret (4 October 2019). "Deeply disturbing opera beautifully sung". RNZ. Archived from the original on 24 June 2021. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
  22. 1 2 Fox, Rebecca (18 February 2021). "Home-grown talent takes centre stage". Otago Daily Times Online News. Archived from the original on 17 February 2021. Retrieved 23 June 2021.
  23. 1 2 Houseman, Molly (6 April 2021). "Curator of St Paul's show revels in latest role". Otago Daily Times Online News. Archived from the original on 6 April 2021. Retrieved 23 June 2021.
  24. ↑ "New generation awards". Applause. 21: 12. November 2015 – via NDHA.
  25. ↑ "Anna Leese's singing rose". Stuff. 31 January 2009. Archived from the original on 24 June 2021. Retrieved 23 June 2021.
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