Sophie Grimmer

Biography

Sophie Grimmer graduated with a first class honours degree from the University of York and studied singing at the Royal College of Music (Countess of Munster/London Sinfonietta Education scholarships) winning the Concerto Prize (Messiaen’s Poèmes pour Mi), Great Elm Vocal Competition and Miriam Licette Overseas Award to study French song with Régine Crespin. She then continued her operatic training with a full scholarship on the Dramatic Integration Programme (now Opera as Theatre) at Banff Arts Centre, Canada.

Her solo career, here and abroad, has involved work in opera and on the concert platform. She has performed leading roles including Mimi and Minerva in Monteverdi’s Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria, the title role in Bizet’s Carmen, Hannah in Birtwistle’s Yan Tan Tethera and Dido in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas at venues such as English National Opera, Aldeburgh Festival, Banff Arts Centre (Canada), Covent Garden Festival, Riverside Studios and Shakespeare’s Globe. She was worked under directors such as David Freeman, Stephen Pimlott, Stephen Langridge, Tim Carroll, Carlos Wagner, Loveday Ingram and Simon Callow.

In concert, she has performed with ensembles such as the Brodsky Quartet (CD), the Lindsay String Quartet, Sinfonia ViVa, Richard Alston Dance Company and L’Ensemble 2e2m (France) at venues including the Queen Elizabeth Hall, Purcell Room, Wigmore Hall, London Handel Festival, Festival Musica Strasbourg and Festival Agora (IRCAM, Paris). Sophie has performed several world premieres including works by Mark-Anthony Turnage, Judith Weir, Daryl Runswick and Colin Riley. Sophie also performs lead singing roles in theatre and film. These include Complicite’s Out of a House Walked a Man (Royal National Theatre, dir. Simon McBurney) and Strange Poetry (Walt Disney Concert Hall, LA Philharmonic, dir. Simon McBurney, cond. Esa-Pekka Salonen); Oedipus Plays (Royal National Theatre/Epidaurus Theatre, Greece, dir. Sir Peter Hall); and Do I Love You? (National Film Theatre/Channel 4).