ABOUT
“There is little doubt that one day, Durham will be dazzling us with vocal fireworks in the manner of Ann Hallenberg or Vivica Genaux”
Baroquiades
Born in London and based in Paris, mezzo-soprano Grace Durham is a versatile and creative artist known for her performances in baroque, French romantic and contemporary repertoire. She is the winner of several international competitions, including First Prize at the 10th International Cesti Competition for Baroque Opera and the Grand Prix of the Toulouse International French Song Competition.
Highlights of her 2025/26 season include her role and house début as Ariodante at the Royal Ballet and Opera, Covent Garden; her house début as Tisbe La Cenerentola for English National Opera; a contemporary recital for voice, piano and electronics at the Opéra National du Rhin, Strasbourg; and Aeneas in an all-female reimagining of Dido and Aeneas with Ensemble Les Surprises, on tour throughout France at venues including Opéra National de Bordeaux and Atelier Lyrique de Tourcoing.
On the operatic stage, her repertoire includes Zaida Il turco in Italia (Glyndebourne), The Presenter in Tippett’s New Year (Birmingham Opera Company), Zweite Dame Die Zauberflöte and Giovanna Rigoletto (Opernhaus Zürich), Angelina La Cenerentola (Nevill Holt Opera), Rosina Il barbiere di Siviglia (Lyric Opera Ireland), Kuchtík Rusalka (Garsington Opera/Edinburgh International Festival), Mercédès Carmen and Zweite Magd Elektra (Opéra National du Capitole, Toulouse) and Prêtresse/Femme Grecque Iphigénie en Tauride (Opéra National de Lorraine). As a member of the Junges Ensemble at the Semperoper Dresden from 2017 to 2019, Grace also sang the roles of Cherubino Le nozze di Figaro, Flora Bervoix La traviata, Lucienne Die tote Stadt and Clare in the German première of Philip Venables’ 4.48 Psychosis.
“Grace Durham brings real heart to the role of Angelina as she reveals a highly distinguished and moving mezzo-soprano.”
MusicOMH
“…nothing seems beyond her; she has a secure grasp of breath control, vocal flexibility, clarity of attack, quality of projection, energy and expressivity.”
Baroquiades
A passionate concert artist, Grace has a particular affinity for French repertoire; she made her role début as Marguerite La damnation de Faust in concert with the CBSO under Kazuki Yamada in 2024, and her repertoire also includes Ravel Shéhérazade (Rudolfinum, Prague) and Chausson Poème de l’amour et de la mer (Murten Classics Festival, Switzerland). As a recitalist, she was a member of the 2020/21 Académie Orsay-Royaumont with pianist Edward Liddall, giving recitals at venues including Opéra de Lille, Opéra de Montpellier, Opéra National du Capitole, Toulouse, Musée d’Orsay and London’s Wigmore Hall. Equally at home in early music, she has collaborated with Christophe Rousset and Les Talens Lyriques on two solo recital programmes (Staatsoper Berlin, Innsbrucker Festwochen der Alten Musik, Festival Antiqua Bolzano) as well as world première performances and recordings of two oratorios, Gregor Werner’s Job and Traetta’s Rex Salomon (Haydneum Festival Budapest, Innsbrucker Festwochen der Alten Musik).
Grace also works closely with several contemporary composers; as a member of the Strasbourg-based collective lovemusic, she has given world and French premières of works by Philip Venables (Numbers), Michelle Agnes Magalhaes (The Word) and Luxa M. Schüttler (Ich bin dein Boy), and has performed at festivals such as Klangwerkstatt Berlin, Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival and Musiques Démesurées, Clermont-Ferrand, as well as the Festival Messiaen, where she created the role of Miranda in Michelle Agnes Magalhaes’ Après la tempête : a songbook for Shakespeare with Ensemble Itinéraire.
Grace is a former Young Artist of the Semperoper Dresden and the National Opera Studio, is a graduate of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, and holds a first-class honours degree in French and Italian from Clare College, Cambridge.
