biography
British soprano Alexandra Kidgell was born and educated in Southend-on-Sea, and subsequently read music at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, where she was Senior Choral Exhibitioner. She completed postgraduate studies at the Royal Academy of Music, where she studied with Elizabeth Ritchie, Audrey Hyland and Mary Hill, graduating with distinction and the Esther Hulbert Award. She was also awarded the prestigious DipRAM, the highest award available to postgraduate students, for an outstanding Final Recital. Also whilst at RAM, she won the Michael Head Prize for English Song and was a finalist in the Delius Prize. She was a vocal section finalist in the Royal Overseas League Annual Music Competition 2009, and is a recipient of the Freda Parry Scholarship for Singers.
A member of The Sixteen, Alexandra has sung with many of the UK’s leading vocal ensembles. Now increasingly in demand as an oratorio and concert soloist, Alexandra’s recent engagements include Pergolesi Stabat Mater and Salve Regina with Die Kölner Akademie (with whom she will sing Bach Cantatas in Istanbul later this year), Haydn Creation and Mozart Requiem at St Martin-in-the-Fields, Bach St John Passion with Edward Higginbottom at the Spitalfields Festival, Bach St Matthew Passion at St John’s, Smith Square, French baroque cantatas with the Saraband Consort in Austria, and cantatas by Campra and Vivaldi at the Handel House Museum. She has also performed as a member of the solo-voice ripieno choir in Bach St John Passion with the Gabrieli Consort and Paul McCreesh, and will do so again this year at the Eilat Festival in Israel, and in Germany.
On the operatic stage, Alexandra recently made her debut at the Cadogan Hall, London, playing the leading role in a new project based on the music of Purcell with the Mercurius Company (with whom she also sang live on BBC Radio 3 In Tune). For the Royal Academy of Music, Alexandra performed extracts of the Governess The Turn of the Screw, Marguerite Faust, Aminta Il re pastore, and Ellen Lakmé. She also played the part of Flora in Britten The Turn of the Screw, and the Countess in the UK première of Galuppi La Diavolessa, both for Cambridge University Opera Society.
Also committed to performing the Lieder and song repertoire, Alexandra has given numerous recitals encompassing a wide range of repertoire, working regularly with pianists Elizabeth Burgess and Peter Wilkinson. She has participated in masterclasses with Barbara Bonney, Sir Thomas Allen, Robert Tear, Elisabeth Erlingsdottir and Jan Philip Schulze. She is also a Britten Pears Young Artist.
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