Emma Kirkby | |
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| Born | Carolyn Emma Kirkby (1949-02-26)26 February 1949 (age 76) |
| Occupations | Classicalsoprano in |
| Years active | 1971 (1971)–present |
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| Website | www |
Dame Carolyn Emma Kirkby,DBE (/ˈkɜːrkbi/; born 26 February 1949) is an Englishsoprano andearly music specialist. She has sung on over 100 recordings.[1]
Kirkby was educated atHanford School,[2]Sherborne School for Girls in Dorset, andSomerville College, Oxford University. Her father wasGeoffrey John Kirkby, a Royal Navy Officer.
Kirkby did not originally intend to become a professional singer. In the late 1960s, while she was studyingclassics at Oxford, she joined theSchola Cantorum of Oxford, a student choir which, at the time, was being conducted byAndrew Parrott. After graduation, Kirkby went to work as a school teacher, but became increasingly involved in singing with the growing number of music ensembles that were being founded during theEarly music revival of the early 1970s. She married Parrott, and sang with hisTaverner Choir which he founded in 1973. Her vocal career developed throughout the 1970s, and she became noted as a soloist in performances and recordings with prominent early music performers, includingAnthony Rooley and theConsort of Musicke andChristopher Hogwood'sAcademy of Ancient Music.[3]
She taught for many years atDartington International Summer School and theGuildhall School of Music & Drama.
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Kirkby has made over 100 recordings, including madrigals of the Italian and English Renaissance, cantatas and oratorios of the Baroque, works ofMozart,Haydn andJohann Christian Bach. Some of her most noted recordings have included a 1981 recording with theGothic Voices of sequences of Hildegard of Bingen'sA Feather on the Breath of God; the Taverner Consort's 1984 recordings of Monteverdi'sSelva Morale e Spirituale and Bach'sMass in B minor;[3] and her 1980 recording of Handel'sMessiah conducted byChristopher Hogwood, which brought her international acclaim. The Messiah recording was later named one of the top 20 recordings of all time byBBC Music Magazine.[4]
Other recordings include HandelOpera Arias and Overtures 2 forHyperion, Bach wedding cantatas forDecca, BachCantatas 82a and 199 forCarus; and four projects forBIS: with London Baroque, one of Handel motets and one of Christmas music byScarlatti, Bach and others; with the Royal Academy Baroque Orchestra the first recording of the newly rediscoveredGloria by Handel; and with the Romantic Chamber Group of London,Chanson d'amour, an album of songs by the American composerAmy Beach.[citation needed]
In the 2000s, she recorded an anthology,Classical Kirkby, devised and performed withAnthony Rooley, on the BIS label, 2002; Cantatas by Cataldo Amodei, also for BIS, 2004; with Fretwork, consort songs byWilliam Byrd, forHarmonia Mundi USA, 2005.; ScarlattiStabat Mater withDaniel Taylor, forATMA, 2006;Honey from the Hive, songs of John Dowland, with Anthony Rooley, for BIS, 2006: andMusique and Sweet Poetrie, also for BIS, 2007; lute songs from Europe withJakob Lindberg.[citation needed]
Kirkby's recordings include:[5]
In 1994, Kirkby was awarded an Honorary Degree (Doctor of Music) from theUniversity of Bath.[6] In 1999 she was voted 'Artist of the Year' byClassic FM Radio listeners and in November 2000 she received the Order of the British Empire.BBC Music Magazine in April 2007 published a survey of critics to nominate "The 20 greatest sopranos", placing Kirkby at number 10.[7]
She was appointed aDame Commander of theOrder of the British Empire in the 2007Queen's Birthday Honours List. In 2010 she became President of Dartington Community Choir. On 21 January 2011 it was announced that Kirkby had been awarded theQueen's Medal for Music, an award funded by thePrivy Purse and given to an individual who has had a major influence on the musical life of the nation.[8]
In 2018, Kirkby was awarded the REMA Early Music Award in recognition of her career as an artist and mentor to young Early Music performers.[9] In 2019, she was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award at theGramophone Classical Music Awards ceremony.[10]
From 1971 to 1983, Kirkby was married to conductorAndrew Parrott. Later, lutenistAnthony Rooley, with whom she had a child, became Kirkby's long-term partner.[3] On 30 April 2015 she married conductorHoward Williams.
Kirkby is a co-president of the opera companyHampstead Garden Opera.[11]
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