
Rebecca Afonwy-Jones
MEZZO-SOPRANO
"Rebecca Afonwy-Jones dealt with Olga's tricky tessitura with great assurance, and skilfully managed to make dramatic sense of her ballroom conversion to über-coquette"Opera Magazine
Representation: General Management
Photo: Tim Dunk
Biography
Overview
Rebecca studied at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama and at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. Rebecca also participated on the emerging artist programme for Scottish Opera and was an associate artist with Welsh National Opera, a relationship that continues into the coming seasons. Rebecca has also appeared regularly with Opera North and maintains a busy concert diary in repertoire that stretches from Handel to Judith Weir.
Full Biography
Welsh mezzo-soprano Rebecca Afonwy-Jones studied at the Guildhall School of Music, London, and graduated from the Alexander Gibson Opera School at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland with distinction.
She was a Scottish Opera Emerging Artist and sang the title role in its touring production of Carmen, and Fox The Cunning Little Vixen. Further roles also include Cherubino Le Nozze di Figaro, Maria Akhrossimova War & Peace, La Muse/Nicklausse Les Contes d’Hoffmann and Komponist Ariadne auf Naxos (Rostov on Don, Russia).
Concert engagements include Vaughan Williams Serenade to Music at BBC Proms (Runnicles), Mahler Kindertotenlieder with RCS, Verdi Requiem at the Usher Hall, Edinburgh & Ronald Corp’s The Wayfarer at the Royal Festival Hall. Rebecca also appeared as a Samling Artist at The Sage. Further concert engagements include Haydn Nelson Mass for St Alban’s Choral Society, Mahler 2nd Symphony at Bridgewater Hall, Manchester Messiah at the Usher Hall, Verdi Requiem at St David’s Cathedral Festival and also with City of Glasgow Chorus, Mozart Mass in C Minor for Nottingham Festival Chorus, Ravel’s Shéhérazade for the Sinfonia of Leeds with Anthony Kraus and Handel Solomon for the Oxford Bach Choir with Nicholas Cleobury. Concerts further include Dream of Gerontius (Hertford & Nottingham), Elijah (Aberdeen), Gala Concert at Bath International Festival, Beethoven Mass in C (St Alban’s).
Following her company & role début as Countess Geschwitz Lulu, Rebecca was an Associate Artist at Welsh National Opera where highlights included Sara, Duchess of Nottingham (cover) Roberto Devereux and Anna Kennedy Maria Stuarda (UK and on tour to the Royal Opera Muscat, Oman). Further roles with WNO included Judith Weir Sleeping Mat–Ballad (special commission), Flora La Traviata, 4th Naked Virgin/Sick Woman Moses und Aron (with performances at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden), Fenena (cover) Nabucco, Amenofi (cover) Mosé in Egitto, Beggar Woman Sweeney Todd and Lola Cavalleria Rusticana. Rebecca also sang Louhi Swanhunter for Opera North, Olga Eugene Onegin for Grange Park Opera and Kunstgewerblerin/cover Geschwitz Lulu for Teatro Communale, Bolzano.
Rebecca’s recent engagements have included her debut with Festival Opera New Zealand as Suzuki Madama Butterfly, Mozart Requiem with the Norwegian Wind Ensemble, St John Passion with the Bournemouth Symphony Chorus, Kerstin in Joseph Phibbs’s new chamber opera Juliana at Cheltenham Music Festival, Requiem Reflections at the North Wales International Music Festival, Flora La Traviata for WNO, Mozart Requiem with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Elgar Sea Pictures with Wrexham Symphony Orchestra and Wellgunde Das Rheingold for Longborough Festival Opera.
Engagements in the 2019/2020 season include Orlofsky Die Fledermaus for West Green Opera, Handel’s Israel in Egypt at the 2019 Three Choirs Festival, Rosina Il Barbiere di Siviglia for Opera Project, Sea Pictures at St Asaph’s Cathedral, Lieder eines Fahrenden Gesellen with the Ludlow Orchestra, Christmas Oratorio with the Norwegian Wind Ensemble and Mahler 8th Symphony at Bridgewater Hall, Manchester.
Promoters please note: if you wish to include this biography in a concert programme etc, please contact Hazard Chase to make sure you receive the most up to date version.
Email: Elin Jones
News
Reviews
Discography & Repertoire
Artist Manager
John McHugh
(Cambridge)
john.mchugh@hazardchase.co.uk
01223 706024
Associate Artist Manager
Elin Jones
(Cambridge)
elin.jones@hazardchase.co.uk
01223 706026