"Best of all was the Countess, Elizabeth Llewellyn, whose rich-toned, agile sopranooffered a level of vocal quality too often missing elsewhere... Following her strongly sung Mimì at the same address last season, Llewellyn here confirmed her potential as a rising star of the U.K. soprano firmament."
Opera News - ENO's The Marriage of Figaro
Born to Jamaican parents in London, Elizabeth's singing career began with being awarded a scholarship at the age of sixteeen to study singing.
She went on to study at the Royal Northern College of Music where she was supported as a postgraduate by the Peter Moores Foundation. After completing the ENO Opera Works training programme in March 2009, she joined Glyndebourne Festival Opera as a chorus member in their productions of Rusalka, Falstaff and L'elisir d'amore, and created the role of Ludovina in the premiere of the Festival's new opera The Yellow Sofa with the Britten Sinfonia. Whilst at the National Opera Studio, she was kindly supported by the Peter Moores Foundation and the English National Opera.
Elizabeth made her ENO debut as Mimì in their revival production of La Bohème (which led to her being named as "Best newcomer in opera in 2010" by The Telegraph) to great critical acclaim. In 2011, Elizabeth caused a sensation when she returned to the ENO as the Countess in their new production of The Marriage of Figaro, directed by Fiona Shaw, a role which earned her uniformly glowing reviews, as did her recent appearance there as Micaëla in Calixto Bieito's production of Carmen. Other roles include Amelia/Simon Boccanegra (ETO); Fiordiligi/Così fan tutte & Contessa/Le Nozze di Figaro (Holland Park); Governess/The Turn of the Screw (Arcola Theatre); and Donna Elvira/Don Giovanni (cover - Glyndebourne Festival Opera, & Iford Festival Opera). Excerpt performances include: Blanche DuBois/A Streetcar Named Desire(NOS).
As well as her successful operatic recital as part of the prestigious Rosenblatt Recital series last season, Elizabeth recently made her BBC Proms debut with the John Wilson Orchestra, and performed two of Strauss' Four Last Songs on BBC Radio 3 with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and Donald Runnicles during the BBC Donald Runnicles Anniversary Weekend. She won the inaugural Voice of Black Opera Competition in 2009, including the Sir Willard White Award, and is proud to be currently supported by the ENO Harewood Artists programme.
Future engagements include a recording of Verdi with Ed Gardner, her Royal Scottish National Orchestra debut singing Mahler Symphony No.8 and Donna Elvira Don Giovanni and Dorothea Stiffelio for Der Nye Opera in Norway.
