Valda Wislon will perform for the Sydney Opera House Ladies Committee luncheon on Friday, 2nd August, 2019.
The Australian born soprano who is based in Germany has gained international attention on both the opera and concert stages. Valda joined the Saarländisches Staatstheater in Saarbrücken (Germany) in the fall of 2017.
Australian born soprano Valda Wilson, who is based in Germany, has established an international reputation for performances ‘full of inner conviction with a voice which soars effortlessly, without strain of any kind, flawlessly accurate yet meltingly smooth, to unexpectedly high notes’ (Nicholas Routley) and for ‘amazing versatility and virtuosity’ (Piers Lane, AFCM 2016). Valda was chosen by Richard Bonynge to be the only featured singer at the Westminster Abbey memorial service for Dame Joan Sutherland with the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, under Sir Antonio Pappano. She maintains a busy schedule of operatic performances alongside recital and concert appearances.
Highlights of Valda’s 2016/17 season included her debut in the title role of Handel’sTheodora for Pinchgut Opera, Lucy in Charody’s circus opera The Carnival, both in Sydney; role debut as Vitellia in La Clemenza di Tito for Theater Ulm; soprano soloist in Beethoven’s Symphony No.9 with the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra under Marko Letonja and in Orff’s Carmina Burana with the Münchner Symphoniker at the Schlossfestspiele Regensburg and Linzer Dom. Valda will join the soloist ensemble of the Saarländische Staatstheater in Saarbrücken as a principal soprano for the 2017-19 seasons.
Recent operatic highlights included the critically acclaimed role debuts as Contessa d’Almaviva Le nozze di Figaro, Hanna Glawari Die Lustige Witwe, Anna in Boeildieu’s La Dame Blanche, Julia de Weert in Künneke’s Der Vetter aus Dingsda, Alice Ford Falstaff,Helena in Britten’s Midsummer Night’s Dream, Mrs Naidoo in Glass’s Satyagraha, Iole in Handel’s Hercules and Romilda Xerxes (all at Oldenburgisches Staatstheater), Laodice in Hasse’s Il Siroe (London Handel Festival), title role Handel’s Rodelinda (Sydney), First Woodsprite Rusalka (Teatro di San Carlo, Naples), Donna Anna Don Giovanni (Bamberg),Fiordiligi Cosi fan tutte and Rosina Il barbiere di Siviglia (Verbier Festival). As a Young Artist at the Dresden Semperoper, Valda Wilson made celebrated debuts in the title role of Hartmann’s Simplicius Simplicissimus, in the world premiere of Srnka’s Jakub Flügelbuntand as Pamina Die Zauberflöte, a role she subsequently performed at Oper Klosterneuburg and the Salzburg Festival.
Concert highlights included Liszt Missa Solennis ‘Graner Messe’ with the Royal Flemish Philharmonic and Mozart Mass in C minor with the Orchestre des Champs Elysées both under Philippe Herreweghe, Beethoven’s Fantasy Opus 80 under Charles Dutoit at the Verbier Festival, Carmina Burana at Salzburg’s Grosses Festspielhaus, Mendelssohn’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Mozart concert arias with the Hallé Orchestra under Markus Stenz, concert arias with the Camerata Salzburg under Theodor Guschlbauer in the Salzburg Mozarteum and Bachianas Brasileiras No.5 with the London Cello Orchestra touring Switzerland and South Korea.
Valda Wilson particularly enjoys chamber music collaborations. Recent highlights include performances with the famous Auryn Quartet of the Reimann arrangements of Schumann Opus 107 and Mendlessohn …oder soll es Tod bedeuten? at the Romanischer Sommer Festival in Köln, and of programmes featuring Haydn and Boccherini at the Musiktage Mondsee Festival in Austria. Other notable chamber music performances include a programme of Fauré and Schubert with the Freies Ensemble Dresden as part of the Dresden Philharmonic’s chamber music series, and multiple performances as the featured soprano with various international ensembles at the Australian Festival of Chamber Music in 2015 and again in 2016.
Valda Wilson initially trained at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music before winning Opera Foundation Australia’s scholarship to the National Opera Studio London. She was then invited to join the Junges Ensemble at the venerable Dresden Semperoper for two years and subsequently returned regularly as a guest artist. Valda won the prestigious Stella Maris International Singing Competition and was a member of the Young Artist Programs at the Salzburg and Verbier Festivals. She has been a fulltime member of the ensemble at the Oldenburg State Theatre and joins the ensemble of the Saarländische Staatstheater in Saarbrücken as a principal soprano for the 2017-19 seasons.