• Source: Margaret Medlyn

Margaret Medlyn (born 7 October 1955) is a New Zealand opera singer and voice teacher. In 2012, Medlyn was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to opera.




Early life and education


Medlyn was born in Falmouth, Cornwall, England, on 7 October 1955, and emigrated with her family to New Zealand in the early 1960s when she was five. She grew up in West Auckland and was educated at Henderson High School. Medlyn studied music at the University of Auckland, earning a Bachelor of Music degree. She became a naturalised New Zealand citizen in 1978.
Medlyn's sister, Helen Medlyn, is also an opera singer.




Career


Medlyn made her operatic debut in London, singing Octavian in Der Rosenkavalier with Opera Viva, and then spending four years with Kent Opera. Although she started out as a mezzo-soprano, her voice gradually moved upwards and she began to perform as a soprano. Medlyn has performed with the Royal Opera at Covent Garden, the English National Opera, the Vienna State Opera and Opera Australia, and the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, the Sydney Symphony and the Malaysian Philharmonic. Her roles have included Salome in Salome, Leonore in Il trovatore, Kundry in Parsifal, Aida and Amneris in Aida, the title roles in Tosca and Turandot, and Isolde in Tristan und Isolde. Her performance of Grandmother Kostelnicka in Janáček's Jenůfa was considered notable.
Medlyn joined the New Zealand School of Music in 2007, and was head of voice at Victoria University of Wellington. She has also taught at the New Zealand Opera School. Medlyn completed a PhD titled Embodying Voice: Singing Verdi, singing Wagner at Victoria University of Wellington in 2016, which was later published by Routledge. She is a national recording artist for Radio New Zealand, recording a number of recitals and releasing four CDs.
Medlyn is a vice patron of the Orpheus Choir in Wellington.




Honours and awards


In the 2012 Queen's Birthday and Diamond Jubilee Honours, Medlyn was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to opera.




Selected works


Burning Bright featuring the work of four New Zealand women composers, Kiwi Pacific label (1999)
In a strange land: the songs of Richard Fuchs, for Rollover Productions (2011)
From Garden to Grave Jenny Macleod's settings of text by Katherine Mansfield, Waiteate Music Press (2011)
Sojourn, Cages for the Wind, Stephan Prock’s setting of poems by Alistair Te Ariki Campbell
Medlyn, Margaret (2019). Embodying Voice: Singing Verdi, Singing Wagner. Routledge. ISBN 9781138585546.




References






External links


Radio New Zealand interview "Margaret Medlyn's Embodying Voice", February 2019
Rotary Club talk by Margaret Medlyn, October 2018

Kata Kunci Pencarian:

• Margaret Medlyn
• Elizabeth Hudson
• 2nd Helpmann Awards
• Helen Medlyn
• Chris Drummond
• Richard Fuchs
• Bianca Andrew
• Gareth Farr
• New Zealand Opera
• Helpmann Award for Best Female Performer in an Opera