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The English-born soprano, Harriet Fraser, studied at The Hewett School in Norwich and Medicine at at University College London (UCL) in London, where she obtained her MBBS degree in Pharmacology, Medicine (1988-1994). She then went on to train as a family doctor. Her passion for music began in childhood. She completed a post-graduate singing diploma at Trinity College London while working part-time as a family doctor in London. Continued working as a singer and doctor in London until she moved to Los Angeles in 2008. Some years ago, she set medicine aside, turned to singing full-time, and quickly became prominent in her native England, gaining a wide following for her concert, stage and recital performances, performing a wide breadth of repertoire, from Baroque to Contemporary.
Now a resident of Los Angeles, California, Harriet Fraser performs regularly as an oratorio and recital soloist, including recent performances of Felix Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Haydn’s Creation, Antonio Vivaldi’s Magnicifat, W.A. Mozart’s Requiem, George Frideric Handel’s Messiah and J.S. Bach’s Magnificat (BWV 243) at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, under conductor Grant Gershon. G.F. Handel’s Messiah she also took to the Forbidden City Concert Hall in Beijing, China. Before moving to Los Angeles, she performed all the major oratorio roles in the UK, including performances at the Three Choirs Festival, Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, Bridgewater Hall in Manchester and performed with the City of London Sinfonia.
Now a contracted performer with the Los Angeles Master Chorale, as chorister and soloist, Harriet Fraser has worked under conductors Grant Gershon, Esa-Pekka Salonen and Gustavo Dudamel. A review from her performance of Ravel with the Chorale, at the Walt Disney Concert Hall mentions "Fraser was magnificent in her moving interpretation." Harriet performed in the World Premiere of John Adams’s The Gospel According to the Other Mary at Walt Disney Concert Hall in June 2012 conducted by Dudamel with a subsequent international tour to London, Lucerne, Paris and New York in March 2013. Also a regular performer with the Millenium Consort Singers under Martin Neary, she was featured in their October 2013 performance as soloist in Benjamin Britten’s Wedding Anthem.
Harriet Fraser'ss USA Operatic Debut, performing the role of Drolla in Richard Wagner’s first opera Die Feen, for Lyric Opera Los Angeles at the Pasadena Playhouse, was part of the Ring Festival LA. Harriet performed Diana (and Jove as Diana) in Cavalli’s La Calisto in London, described as "an eloquent and idiomatic performance, beautifully sung and compellingly acted" by Catherine Bott, acclaimed singer and presenter of BBC’s Early Music Show. Harriet performed in W.A. Mozart’s Don Giovanni at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in 2012, a production designed by Frank Gehry and conducted by Gustavo Dudamel.
Harriet Fraser has performed at the world renowned Bregenz Festival in Austria where she played the role of Allure in Benedict Mason’s Playing Away directed by David Pountney. In that same year Harriet appeared in the landmark production of B. Britten’s Death in Venice at the 60th Aldeburgh Festival, a widely critically acclaimed production which she subsequently performed at the Bregenz Festival in Austria.
Harriet Fraser'ss many solo recital appearances include world premieres of song cycles by renowned composers Roxanna Panufnik and Richard Blackford at the Cheltenham International Contemporary Music Festival, with pianist William Hancox, some of which they also performed on BBC Radio 4’s Front Row. A subsequent South Bank debut at the Purcell Room met with great critical acclaim. She is due to feature on a new Warner Classics CD of this work in early 2015. |
