BIOGRAPHY

"Whatever she sings is

imbued with a palette of fresh colour

and her deliveries exude a penetrating insight,

which makes her riveting to listen to."

~ Gillian Wills

Valda Wilson is one of the most versatile, exciting and musically curious sopranos of her generation. In the 2018-19 and 2019-20 European seasons, Valda debuted to critical acclaim as Violetta (La Traviata), Elisabeth de Valois (Don Carlos), Marschallin (Der Rosenkavalier), Marguerite (Faust) and Sylva Varescu (The Gypsy Princess). She thrilled and delighted audiences as Contessa d'Almaviva (Le nozze di Figaro) and reprising her signature role of Hanna Glawari (The Merry Widow). As with many artists, this season began with the COVID-cancellation of Valda’s Japanese debut at the New National Theatre Tokyo as Helena (A Midsummer Night’s Dream), but she is excited to be in Germany where she will debut as Leonora (Il trovatore), Helmwige (Die Walküre), Micaela (Carmen) and Josepha Vogelhuber (Im weissen Rössl  by Benatzky), and perform Beethoven's dramatic concert aria ‘Ah perfido!’ in a series of Beethoven concerts with Bremer Philharmoniker under John Nelson.

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Her extensive opera and concert repertoire ranges from Bach and Handel, through Mozart and Beethoven, to Bellini, Verdi, Massenet, Gounod, Strauss, Mahler, Shostakovich and contemporary composers such as Miroslav Srnka, Hans Werner Henze, Philip Glass, Michael Obst and Australians Graeme Koehne, Paul Stanhope and Brett Dean.  Valda has worked with the orchestras of Covent Garden, the Semperoper Dresden, Strasbourg Philharmonique, Bremer Philharmoniker,  deFilharmonie Antwerp, Teatro di San Carlo Naples, Orchestre des Champs-Elysees, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande and the Hallé, and such notable conductors as Richard Bonynge, Sir Antonio Pappano, Christian Thielemann, Charles Dutoit, John Fiore, Fabio Luisi, Philippe Herreweghe, Theodor Guschlbauer, Marko Letonja, Marcus Bosch and Sébastien Rouland.

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Valda is a keen explorer of chamber music. She has been the featured vocalist on many occasions in chamber music recitals with both the Sächsische Staatskapelle and the Dresdner Philharmonie.  She is an audience favourite at the Australian Festival of Chamber Music and has performed in recital and in radio broadcasts with such renowned ensembles as the Auryn Quartet, the Goldner Quartet, Tinalley Quartet, Orava Quartet, Freies Ensemble Dresden, Ensemble Mediterrain and Ensemble Liaison in Germany and Australia. Valda is featured on numerous CD recordings and in Ralf Pleger’s four part TV documentary Sängerkrieg auf hoher See about the prestigious Stella Maris International Singing Competition, which she won.

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Full biography in English  PDF

Biographie auf deutsch PDF

Biographie en français PDF

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Operatic repertoire PDF

Concert and chamber music PDF

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ENGAGEMENTS

Recordings