British soprano Elisabeth Meister began the 2011-12 season in the title role Aïda for the Teatro Municipal de Santiago, and followed with First Lady Die Zauberflöte and cover title role Ariadne auf Naxos at Lyric Opera of Chicago, both under Sir Andrew Davis. She returns to Santiago de Chile later in the season to perform the title role Lucrezia Borgia and Elisabeth Tannhäuser, followed by a return to London to perform in the Royal Opera’s Der Ring des Nibelung as Helmwige and cover Sieglinde Die Walküre, and Third Norn Götterdämmerung.

A former member of the Jette Parker Young Artists Programme, Miss Meister’s roles for the Royal Opera include Pale Lady The Gambler, Fox The Cunning Little Vixen (a cover role in which she unexpectedly went on for the complete run of performances, under the baton of Sir Charles Mackerras), High Priestess Aïda, Costanza L’isola Disabitata, First Lady Die Zauberflöte and Dama Macbeth. In addition, she covered the title roles Der Rosenkavalier, Aïda and Anna Nicole, as well as Polina The Gambler and Ellen Orford Peter Grimes.

Other operatic roles include Fiordiligi Cosí fan tutte and Elisabetta Maria Stuarda (cover) for English Touring Opera, Countess Le Nozze di Figaro for Amici Opera, Mimí La Bohème for Opera Barga in Tuscany, and Woglinde Das Rheingold in concert in Oxford.

As a recitalist for the Royal Opera, Miss Meister has performed Britten’s Cabaret Songs, Grieg’s Opus 48, Strauss’ Opus 48, Ebel’s As I Walk From Her Grave (world premiere), Wagner’s Wesendonck Lieder, Csanyi-Wills’ The Last Letter (world premiere) and Berg’s Sieben Frühe Lieder.

A well-established concert artist in the British Isles, her appearances include Dvořák’s Stabat Mater, Elgar’s Dream of Gerontius and The Kingdom, Haydn’s Creation (with the Ulster Orchestra) and Nelson Mass, Jenkins’ A Mass for Peace, Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Mozart’s C Minor Mass, Rossini’s Stabat Mater, Tippett’s A Child of our Time and Vaughan Williams’ A Sea Symphony. At St John’s, Smith Square, she has performed Orff’s Carmina Burana with baritone Christoper Maltman, and Rossini’s Petite Messe Solennelle among many other works.

At the Royal Albert Hall Miss Meister has performed Mozart’s Requiem under Sir David Willcocks and Mahler’s Eighth Symphony under Jeremy Backhouse; Verdi’s Requiem at Canterbury Cathedral under Richard Cooke and at Cadogan Hall under Dominic Grier. She has recorded Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms with Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra under Marin Alsop for Naxos and Mozart’s Requiem under Jeremy Summerly for Hyperion. Recent successes include her debut at the Royal Festival Hall in the UK premiere of Torsten Rasch’s song cycle Mein Herz Brennt, with Rene Pape and the London Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Vladimir Jurowski.

Miss Meister was born in Bristol and was educated at Backwell School before moving to London to train at the Royal Academy of Music and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. She sang with the Glyndebourne Festival Opera and Welsh National Opera choruses before continuing her development at the Cardiff International Academy of Voice, where she studied with Dennis O’Neill CBE. She continues her studies at the Royal Opera with Paul Farrington and Andrew Watts.