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The Australian-born Swedish soprano, Natalie Jones, graduated with a Bachelor of Music from The University of Melbourne (Honours in Performance) in 1991, and was a member of the Victoria State Opera Young Artist Program. She was awarded the Wenkart Singing Scholarship in 1993 and won the Herald-Sun Aria in 1997; following a period of study with Janice Chapman in London, Natalie returned to Australia and has become one of this country’s most accomplished and popular sopranos.Her voice teachers include also Raymond Connell and Irmagard Hartmann.
Natalie Jones is one of Australia's most accomplished and popular sopranos, now based in Sweden (Uppsala). A singer of immense versatility, she has received critical acclaim for the brilliance and clarity of her voice, as well as her compelling stage presence. She has had resounding success with many of the coquettish, vampish roles, such as Zerbinetta, Musetta and Blonde and is equally at home portraying heroines such as Gilda, Manon and Juliette. Recent times have seen her voice develop into the more lyric roles of Violetta, Thais, Donna Anna and Konstanze. Beyond these speciality roles, she has a wide breadth of expertise from Baroque to contemporary repertoire, across the genres and into operetta and music theatre.
As a principal artist with Opera Australia, Natalie Jones she has achieved renown for her interpretation of many of the major lyric-colaratura heroines: Juliette in Romeo et Juliette, the title role in Manon, Konstanze and Blonde in W.A. Mozart's The Abduction from the Seraglio, Musetta in La bohéme (for which she was nominated for a Helpmann Award), Gilda in Rigoletto, Adina in L’Elisir d’Amore, Susanna in W.A. Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro, Queen of Night in W.A. Mozart's The Magic Flute, Zerbinetta in Ariadne auf Naxos, Eurydice & Cupid in Orpheus in the Underworld, Josephine in H.M.S. Pinafore, Casilda in The Gondoliers, Hero in The Love of the Nightingale (Richard Mills), Oscar in Un Ballo in Maschera and Morgana in George Frideric Handel's Alcina.
Natalie Jones has also been a frequent guest artist with other leading companies in Australia and abroad – for State Opera of South Australia, she sang Woglinde in their acclaimed 2004 production of Der Ring des Nibelungen (recorded and subsequently released by Melba Recordings) and Donna Anna in W.A. Mozart's Don Giovanni; for West Australian Opera she sang Adele in Die Fledermaus and the title role in Patience; for Opera Queensland she has performed Adina in L'elisir d'amore and Queen of Night; for the Vienna Volksoper she sang Queen of Night and she has performed both Gilda and Queen of Night for National Australian Tours with OzOpera.
Natalie Jones toured Japan as Christine in Ken Hill’s Original Phantom of the Opera and she created the role of Bubba in the world premiere production of Richard Mills' Summer of the Seventeenth Doll for the Melbourne International Festival of the Arts, a role she then repeated for Opera Australia which screened nationally on ABC television. In addition to her work on the operatic stage, she has also performed extensively throughout Australia and New Zealand as a soloist on the concert platform.
In 2007, Natalie Jones sang Morgana in Alcinaa, Blonde in The Abduction from the Seraglio and Casilda in The Gondoliers with Opera Australia and appeared in concert with The Queensland Symphony Orchestra. 2008 saw her debut as Oscar in Un Ballo in Maschera with the national company. In 2010, she sang Gilda in Rigoletto in Opera Australia’s Melbourne Spring Season and appeared in concert with the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra.
Competitions/Awards include: 1997 Herald Sun Aria Singing Scholarship awarded by Herald Sun Aria Board of Trustees, Melbourne; 2000: Goethe Institut German Language Scholarship awarded by the Goethe Institut Sydney; 2002 Bayreuth Scholarship awarded by Opera Foundation Australia; 2003 Nominated for Best Female in a Supporting Role at the Helpmann Awards for Zerbinetta in Ariadne auf Naxos for Opera Australia; 2005: Greenroom Award for Musetta in La Boheme for Opera Australia; 2003: Nominated for Opera Performer of the Year at the 'MO' Australian Entertainment Awards for Zerbinetta in Ariadne auf Naxos for Opera Australia. |
