Biography
“Subtle”…“elegant”…“engaging.”
Just some reviewers’ descriptions of the soprano Joanne Dexter.
Over the years she has worked with a colourful array of performers from celebrated baritones Bryn Terfel and Sir Thomas Allen to comic legend Ken Dodd and Strictly Come Dancing judge Craig Revel Horwood.
From an early age Joanne seemed destined to become a singer. She was raised in a musical family and later trained at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, now renamed the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.
Now, as a professional soprano, Joanne is able to cross the musical genres with apparent ease. As a member of Opera North she has performed across the spectrum of operatic challenges – from Mozart to Puccini and from Verdi to Britten.
Her Concert Platform and Oratorio repertoire is extensive, whether it be the baroque of Bach or Handel, the emotion of Dvorak’s Stabat Mater or the searing drama of Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd.
As a concert performer her love for the musicals and her take on some of pop music’s greatest hits gives her the opportunity to demonstrate a lighter side. Internationally, she has performed in Japan, Italy, Germany, Spain and France and is frequently seen and heard on BBC TV and radio.
Factfile
- Born:
- Otley, West Yorkshire
- Trained:
- Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, University of Perugia, Italy.
- Qualifications:
- B.A. in Music. Pg Dip. ALCM.
- Awards:
- Sybil Tutton Scholarship. Winner of the “Ye Cronies” Opera Competition.
- She says:
- “Music is part of who I am. I can’t imagine my life without it.”
- They say:
- “Simply stunning.”
- Interests:
- Painting in oils and raising my sons.
- Favourite Aria:
- Dove sono (The Marriage of Figaro, Mozart)
- Favourite Oratorio:
- Rejoice Greatly (Messiah, Handel)
- From the musicals:
- Can That Boy Foxtrot (Follies, Sondheim)
- Keynote Performances:
-
- Sea Symphony (Vaughan Williams) at Durham Cathedral.
- Canterbury Pilgrims (Sir George Dyson) at Eton College.
- Stabat Mater (Dvorak) at Chester Cathedral.
- Messiah (Handel) at Dortmund Cathedral, Huddersfield Town Hall, Beverley Minster.
- Musetta (La Boheme, Puccini) English Touring Opera.
- The inaugural Leeds Lieder+ Festival
- Woodbird (Siegfried, Wagner) Opera North, the Sage. (Conductor, Richard Farnes)