Hailed as “a knockout performer” by The Times, Singaporean-British mezzo Fleur Barron is a passionate interpreter of opera, symphonic works, and chamber music ranging from the Baroque to the contemporary. She is currently Artistic Partner of the Orquesta Sinfonica del Principado de Asturias in Oviedo, for which she will curate and perform multiple projects across several seasons. The artist is mentored by Barbara Hannigan.
The 2024/25 season sees Fleur Barron emerge as an exciting, leading voice in Mahlerian repertoire across a series of important symphonic debuts: Das Lied von der Erde with Daniel Harding and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra on tour across Germany, with Harding and the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra in Stockholm and on tour to Spain, with Kent Nagano and the Hamburg Staatsorchester at the Elbphilharmonie, and at the Oregon Bach Festival; Mahler’s Des Knaben Wunderhorn with Nathalie Stutzmann and the Atlanta Symphony; Mahler Second Symphony with the Orquesta de Valencia; Rückert Lieder with PhilZuid; and the Kindertotenlieder at Het Concertgebouw’s Mahler Festival with Julius Drake. Other orchestral engagements include Peter Lieberson’s Neruda Songs with the Hawai’i Symphony Orchestra, Saariaho’s Adriana Songs with the Turku Philharmonic Orchestra, and orchestrated Schubert songs with the Orquesta Sinfonica del Principado de Asturias. She takes on three new opera roles: Concepción in Ravel’s L’Heure Espagnole with the Barcelona Symphony Orchestra under Ludovic Morlot, as well as a studio recording; Comrade Chin/Shu Fang in Huang Ruo’s M. Butterfly at the Barbican Centre directed by James Robinson; and Galatea in Handel’s Aci, Galatea e Polifemo with La Nuova Musica at Wigmore Hall.
The season heralds the commercial release of Fleur Barron’s debut orchestral disc with the Barcelona Symphony and Ludvoic Morlot, featuring Ravel’s Shéhérazade and Trois Poèmes de Mallarmé. A celebrated recitalist, this season she undertakes a six-city North American recital tour with pianist Kunal Lahiry, including a Carnegie Hall debut, as well as further American tour dates with the Parker Quartet in a program of Brahms, Mahler, and Anthony Cheung. She also joins her frequent collaborator Julius Drake for concerts in London, Amsterdam, Stuttgart, Madrid, Manchester, and Oviedo. Beyond the performance stage, Fleur Barron conducts masterclasses at academic institutions such as Harvard, Sibelius Academy Helsinki, Royal Northern College of Music, Boston University, and the Manhattan School of Music.
Fleur Barron began the 2023/24 season with a return to the London Symphony Orchestra, where she received critical acclaim in season-opening concerts at the Barbican Centre in works by Vivier and Stravinsky under the baton of Barbara Hannigan. The autumn of 2023 saw the release on Pentatone Records of her performance in the title role in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas with La Nuova Musica, and she joined the Barcelona Symphony Orchestra and conductor Ludovic Morlot for performances of Shéhérazade and Montsalvatge’s Cinco Canciones Negras at L’Auditori Barcelona and on tour to Hamburg and Stockholm. Further orchestral engagements included Mahler’s Third Symphony with the Czech Philharmonic and Semyon Bychkov, Mahler’s Second Symphony and Das Lied von der Erde with Orquesta Sinfónica del Principado de Asturias, and Freya Waley-Cohen’s Spell Book with the Manchester Collective at the Barbican. She brought two operatic titles into her repertoire during the season: Penelope in Monteverdi’s Il Ritorno d’Ulisse in Patria on tour with baroque ensemble I Gemelli; and multiple roles in Sir George Benjamin’s two-person opera Into the Little Hill with the Staatsoper Berlin at the Boulez Saal. On the recital platform, Fleur Barron teamed up with regular partner Julius Drake for a series of concerts in the United States and throughout Europe, returned to the 92nd Street Y with Myra Huang, and made multiple appearances at the Wigmore Hall with string ensembles O/Modernt and 12 Ensemble. She also curated OSPA’s East-West Fest in April 2024, featuring symphonic programs, chamber music, late-night concerts, and a broad community engagement over two weekends in Oviedo and Gijón.
Highlights of recent seasons include the title role of Kaija Saariaho’s opera Adriana Mater with the San Francisco Symphony, Ottavia in L’Incoronazione di Poppea at the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, la Zelatrice in Suor Angelica with the Berlin Philharmonic under Kirill Petrenko, Tchaikovsky’s Olga and Paulina at Garsington Opera and Opera de Toulon, the title role of Carmen for Arizona Opera, and other appearances with Opéra de Monte-Carlo, La Monnaie, Opéra National de Montpellier, Opéra National du Rhin, and Cape Town Opera. A vibrant concert schedule brought her together with the Munich Philharmonic under Barbara Hannigan, the BBC Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Malaysian Philharmonic, Orchestre de Paris, Göteborgs Symfoniker, Junge Deutsche Philharmonie, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, Balthasar Neumann Ensemble, Slovenian Philharmonic, and the Orquesta Sinfonica del Principado de Asturias.
Fleur Barron is committed to the various ways Music facilitates cross-cultural dialogue and healing. She is passionate about curating inclusive chamber music programming that amplifies the voices of diverse communities. Born in Northern Ireland to a Singaporean mother and British father, Fleur grew up in Hong Kong and later New York. She holds degrees from Columbia University (B.A. Comparative Literature) and Manhattan School of Music (M.M. Vocal Performance).
2024/25
August 2024