I am a soprano, specialising in the gnarly edges of contemporary classical music. Most of what I sing is brand-new — much of it written especially for me — but I began my career singing early music and I still keep that in that mix. I am happiest singing music written before 1759 and after 1958. As a writer and speaker, I advocate for change within the industry, offering a performer's perspective on topics such as collaboration, failure and audience development. I am artistic director of eavesdropping, a platform in East London for the sharing of new music and new ways of thinking about music, co-director of all that dust, a little independent label for new music, and programme director of VOICEBOX, a new initiative for contemporary vocal performance. I was recently awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Southampton. 

The 2024-25 season includes performances at Bludenzer Tage, Donaueschinger Musiktage, TRANSIT in Leuven, Rainy Days in Luxembourg, Archipel in Geneva and Aldeburgh Festival. Premieres include new works written for me by Carola Bauckholt, Kristine Tjøgersen and lin korobkova (with violinist Hannah Weirich) and Pascale Criton (for voice and electronics). Very close to my heart is my new project exploring the lament (co-produced by Aldeburgh and Klangspuren) which seeks out the cracks between genres and traditions to create 'a ritual of letting go'. Mark Knoop and I continue to tour one of our best-beloved pieces, Øyvind Torvund's Plans for Future Operas: look out for performances in Oldenburg and Stavanger. I was very happy to be invited to contribute an essay to the latest Sounds Now publication, on the topic of 'Engaging': their very beautiful booklet can now be read or ordered online. Though the pilot year of VOICEBOX has concluded (watch the little overview here), I will be teaching at Darmstadt Summer Course and at the Académie Voix Nouvelles at Royaumont.