Christine Rice

Christine Rice is one of the leading British mezzo sopranos of her generation, and was appointed MBE in the 2023 New Year’s Honours for services to opera.

Christine Rice’s operatic appearances have taken her to The Metropolitan Opera, New York; the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden; the Opéra national de Paris; Bayerische Staatsoper, Munich; Deutsche Oper, Berlin; Madrid’s Teatro Real; the Opernhaus Zürich and the Glyndebourne and Salzburg festivals.

Her wide ranging repertoire includes the roles of Brangäne (Tristan und Isolde), Fricka and Erda (Das Rheingold); Ježibaba (Rusalka); Judith (Duke Bluebeard’s Castle); the title role in Carmen; Concepcion (L’heure espagnole); Giulietta (Les contes d’Hoffmann); Marguerite (La damnation de Faust); Hänsel (Hänsel und Gretel); the title roles in Gloriana and The Rape of Lucretia; Dorabella (Così fan tutte) and Donna Elvira (Don Giovanni); Penelope (Il Ritorno d’Ulisse) and Irene (Theodora), Ruggiero (Alcina) and the title role in Ariodante.

She created the roles of Miranda and Blanca in the world premieres of Thomas Adès’ The Tempest and The Exterminating Angel, and Ariadne in Birtwistle’s The Minotaur.

Christine also has a very busy concert career, appearing throughout the UK, Europe, North America and at the BBC Proms and Edinburgh International and Aldeburgh festivals working with conductors that include Sir Antonio Pappano, Sir Mark Elder, Sir Simon Rattle, Sir Andrew Davis, Edward Gardner, Fabio Luisi, and Yannick Nézet-Séguin.