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Soprano Laurie Ashworth was born in Wigan, Lancashire in 1983. Laurie commenced her studies in 2002 at the Royal Northern College of Music under the tutelage of Caroline Crawshaw, with whom she continues to study. She graduated with first class honors in 2006 and was awarded the RNCM Gold Medal, the college’s highest accolade for performance. Awards from The Arts and Humanities Research Council and The Countess of Munster Musical Trust enabled Laurie to complete her Masters in Vocal Performance at the Royal College of Music, where she studied with Patricia Rozario and Janis Kelly, graduating with distinction in 2008. In 2010 following an acclaimed performance of Jonathan Dove’s song Full Fathom Five, Laurie was awarded the Song Prize at the Kathleen Ferrier Awards. In the same year she was a finalist and runner-up in BBC Radio 2’s The Kiri Prize; a nationwide search by Dame Kiri Te Kanawa and the BBC to find a new operatic star. This led to numerous appearances on BBC Radio 2’s Friday Night is Music Night. Laurie is an experienced recitalist and a highly sought-after concert artist with an extensive repertoire. She has performed at many of the UK's major venues, and in the summer of 2012 she made her BBC Proms debut in the world premiere of Bob Chilcott’s The Angry Planet. |
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Operatic roles have included Lucy in Menotti's The Telephone for Wexford Festival Opera, Serpetta in La finta giardiniera for Ticino Musica in Switzerland, Barbarina in Le nozze di Figaro for Opera Project, First Witch in Dido and Aeneas for Opéra de Dijon, and Spirit in Dido and Aeneas for Grange Park Opera. Laurie's recordings and broadcasts include the premiere recording of Bob Chilcott's Requiem for Hyperion Records, a selection of Christmas music by Bob Chilcott for release later in 2013 under the Naxos label, songs by Malcolm Arnold for remembrance CD Bright Jewels and Der Hölle Rache from Die Zauberflöte for Granada TV’s The Worst Witch. Future engagements include the role of Susanna in a semi-staged performance of Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro for Rottingdean Arts, a recital at the Wigmore Hall in 2014 with pianist William Vann, and the premiere recording of Bob Chilcott's St. John Passion for Signum Records, due for release in Autumn 2014. |
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| Bach | Mass in b, Cantata no. 61, Cantata no. 11, Magnificat, St. John Passion St. Matthew Passion, Christmas Oratorio |
| Beethoven | Mass in C |
| Brahms | Requiem |
| Carter | Te Deum |
| Charpentier | Messe de Minuit, Te Deum |
| Chilcott | Requiem (première recording for Hyperion Records ltd) The Angry Planet (world première at the BBC Proms 2012) |
| Fauré | Requiem |
| Finzi | In Terra Pax |
| Gounod | Messe de Sainte Cecile |
| Handel | Messiah, Samson, Silete Venti, Israel in Egypt |
| Haydn, J | The Creation |
| Haydn, M | Requiem |
| Jenkins | The Armed Man |
| Mendelssohn | Elijah, Hear My Prayer |
| Mozart | Requiem, Missa in c, Vesperae solennes de confessore, Exsultate Jubilate |
| Orff | Carmina Burana |
| Purcell | Dido and Aeneas (roles performed: Dido, Spirit and Ensemble) |
| Rameau | Quam Dilecta |
| Rose | Ocean World (role performed: Plankton, Royal Albert Hall 2007) |
| Rutter | Requiem, Mass of the Children, Magnificat |
| Schubert | Mass in G, Mass in Eb |
| Tippett | A Child of Our Time |
| Vaughan-Williams | Dona Nobis Pacem, Hodie, Benedicite |
| Verdi | Requiem |
| Vivaldi | Gloria, Magnificat, Beatus Vir |
BBC Proms on BBC Radio 3 - Chilcott 'The Angry Planet' (world premiere 2012)
Requiem - Chilcott (Premiere recording for Hyperion Records 2011)
Friday Night is Music Night (numerous solo appearances since Autumn 2010)
Rusalka - Dvorak (Grange Park Opera 2008)
Bright Jewels - Malcolm Arnold (a remembrance CD released Autumn 2007)
Der Holle Rache - Mozart (ITV programme, The Worst Witch 2005)
| Barber | Hermit Songs |
| Bernstein | I hate music! |
| Britten | On this Island, Winter Words, The Poet's Echo |
| Bush | Five Spring Songs, Three Elizabethan Songs |
| Debussy | Quatre Chansons de Jeunesse |
| Dove | Five Am'rous Sighs |
| Emmanuel | Trois Odelettes Anacréontiques (for voice, flute and piano) |
| Howells | In Green Ways |
| Messiaen | Chants de Terre et de Ciel, Trois mélodies |
| Moeran | Four English Lyrics |
| Mozart | Exsultate Jubilate |
| Poulenc | Deux poèmes de Louis Aragon |
| Roussel | Deux poèmes de Ronsard (for voice and flute) |
| Strauss | Drei lieder der Ophelia |
| Vierne | Les Angelus (for voice and organ) |
| May 20th | A special performance of 'Abide with me' to celebrate Wigan Athletic's incredible achievement in the 2013 FA Cup final |
| The Parade of the FA Cup, Wigan town centre |
| May 26th | Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro (Mozart) |
| Rottingdean Arts, East Sussex |
| June 7th | A selection of Vera Lynn songs with the BBC Concert Orchestra and the Hertfordshire Chorus for the BBC Radio 3 programme 'The Home Front' |
| Queen Elizabeth Hall, London |
| June 29th | Coronation Mass (Mozart), Coronation Ode (Elgar) |
| Holmes Chapel, Cheshire | Holmes Chapel Singers and orchestra c. Philip Crookall |
| July 6th | B minor Mass (Bach) |
| Kendal Parish Church, Kendal |
| July 7th | Carmina Burana (Orff) |
| The Sage, Gateshead |
| July 13th | B minor Mass (Bach) |
| Lancaster Roman Catholic Cathedral |
| August 10th | Requiem (Chilcott) |
| St. Cuthbert's Church, Edinburgh (start time 17.30) |
| September 10th | Lunchtime concert promoted by The Worshipful Company of Musicians and the City Music Society |
| Bishopsgate Hall, London |
| September 28th | Recital with pianist John Gough |
| Wigan Music Society |
| November 2nd | Requiem (Mozart) Requiem (Chilcott) |
| St. Andrew's Church, Cheam | St. Cecilia Chorus |
| November 9th | Cantata No 51 (Bach) |
| Frodsham, Cheshire | Frodsham and District Choral Society |
| November 16th | Gloria (Vivaldi) Gloria (Rutter) Exsultate Jubilate (Mozart) |
| Bingham, Nottinghamshire | Bingham and District Choral Society |
| November 23rd | Requiem (Verdi) |
| Victoria Hall, Bolton |
| December 14th | Messiah (Handel) |
| Beverley Minster, East Riding of Yorkshire |
| December 21st | Messiah (Handel) |
| Wetherby Choral Society |
| February 3rd 2014 | Recital with William Vann |
| The Wigmore Hall, London |
| April 5th 2014 | Requiem (Chilcott) Requiem (Rutter) |
| Angmering Chorale, Arundel |
| April 12th 2014 | Mass in C (Beethoven) Requiem (Chilcott) Benedicite (Vaughan-Williams) |
| Billingshurst Choral Society |
| April 13th 2014 | St. John Passion (Chilcott) |
| Wells Cathedral |
| December 6th 2014 | Messiah (Handel) |
| Nottingham Harmonic Society |
"The other principal soloist was soprano Laurie Ashworth. She impressed me in Chilcott’s Requiem, both live and on CD, and here again she made an extremely favourable impression. She has a warm, attractive tone and the notes and words are delivered very clearly. Her singing in the touching meditation, ‘Christ, my Beloved’ was quite beautiful and she was no less engaging later on in another meditation, ‘Jesus, my leman’."
- Seen and Heard International
"Laurie Ashworth's aria was heart-breakingly ravishing."
Wexford Festival Opera 2011, 'The Telephone'
"Laurie Ashworth gave a solid, daffily oblivious, cheerily chirping turn as Lucy."
- Opera TodayThe Kathleen Ferrier Award 2010
"With Laurie Ashworth one came to realise that her safe, clean efficiency was only the start: Jonathan Dove's unaccompanied 'Full Fathom Five' was the most memorable item of the evening, and Philine's show-stopper from 'Mignon' did just that - on a high." "...a delectable Strauss soprano in the making."
- Opera Now"...her unaccompanied performance of Jonathan Dove’s Full Fathom Five was a quite outstanding feat of imaginative energy."
- The TimesHandel's 'Messiah' Stratford-Upon-Avon 2008
"...Laurie Ashworth's singing of I know that my redeemer liveth was as near to perfect as possible."
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"The other principal soloist was soprano Laurie Ashworth. She impressed me in Chilcott’s Requiem, both live and on CD, and here again she made an extremely favourable impression. She has a warm, attractive tone and the notes and words are delivered very clearly. Her singing in the touching meditation, ‘Christ, my Beloved’ was quite beautiful and she was no less engaging later on in another meditation, ‘Jesus, my leman’."
- Seen and Heard International
"Laurie Ashworth's aria was heart-breakingly ravishing."
Wexford Festival Opera 2011, 'The Telephone'
"Laurie Ashworth gave a solid, daffily oblivious, cheerily chirping turn as Lucy."
- Opera TodayThe Kathleen Ferrier Award 2010
"With Laurie Ashworth one came to realise that her safe, clean efficiency was only the start: Jonathan Dove's unaccompanied 'Full Fathom Five' was the most memorable item of the evening, and Philine's show-stopper from 'Mignon' did just that - on a high." "...a delectable Strauss soprano in the making."
- Opera Now"...her unaccompanied performance of Jonathan Dove’s Full Fathom Five was a quite outstanding feat of imaginative energy."
- The TimesHandel's 'Messiah' Stratford-Upon-Avon 2008
"...Laurie Ashworth's singing of I know that my redeemer liveth was as near to perfect as possible."
