INTRO
Scottish mezzo Rowan Hellier is a forward-looking artist of vocal and character-inhabiting versatility. Rowan began her career at the Berlin Staatsoper. On the operatic stage, she has appeared at the Grand Théâtre de Genève, Hamburg Staatsoper, Staatstheater Braunschweig, Salzburg Landestheater, Welsh National Opera, and the Royal Ballet and Opera.
““Rowan Hellier … was the singer that impressed me the most. She possesses a wide mezzo range, with a dark edge in the lower register and clear, easy high notes in the top of her voice, which she is capable of sustaining above the orchestra with remarkable ease. Her tone is warm and varied and she also displayed an elegant, delicate legato line …”
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In concert, Rowan has appeared with many of the world's leading orchestras: the London Philharmonic Orchestra under Vladimir Jurowski over several seasons, the Seattle Symphony conducted by Itzhak Perlman, the BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Alexander Vedernikov, the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, the Stavanger Symphony Orchestra conducted by John Butt, with conductor Nicholas Collon at both the Bregenz Festival and with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, and with the BBCSO at LSO St. Luke’s with conductor André de Ridder.
Further appearances of note include the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, at Müpa Budapest conducted by Peter Eötvös, with The King’s Consort at Château de Versailles, with Trevor Pinnock and Friends at Wigmore Hall, the Dunedin Consort on their Gramophone Award-winning Mozart Requiem recording, with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, and with Ensemble Resonanz in a live broadcast in cooperation with Elbphilharmonie Hamburg and Bachfest Leipzig. Rowan recently made her Shanghai Concert Hall debut with the renowned Kuss Quartet.
Creator, director and eclectic programme curator of new opera and song-related formats, Rowan’s projects often centre women’s stories, blurring boundaries of genre, discipline and aesthetic:
Baba Yaga: Songs and Dance of Death, a choreographed song recital, is a co-production between Beethovenfest Bonn and Oxford International Song festival. Including a new work by Elena Langer, “Nice Weather for Witches”—an OISF commission.
Rowan’s collaboration with composer Kate Whitley and Ted Hughes Award-winning poet Hollie McNish produced “Gorgeous Beasts”, performed with pianist Sholto Kynoch as part of all-female composer programme wom3n at Wigmore Hall on International Women’s Day 2022.
Costumed concert-concept She Represents, based around the New Women of 1930’s Berlin, was featured on BBC Radio 4’s Front Row with Kirsty Wark in autumn 2024. Rowan and pianist Jonathan Ware will perform this programme at Wigmore Hall on International Women’s Day 2027.