Welsh soprano Lisa Dafydd graduated with Distinction from her Masters course at the Royal Academy of Music in 2023 under the guidance of her tutors, Mary Nelson and Iain Ledingham.  

Lisa was selected to be an Alvarez Young Artist at Garsington Opera for their 2024 season. She is currently singing in the chorus of Rameau’s Platée and Verdi’s Un Giorno di Regno as well as covering principal roles. She will also take part in their community opera for the 2024 season, singing the role of Attendant in Andrew Norman’s A Trip to the Moon. 

One of many highlights from the past year was Lisa’s debut with Hampstead Garden Opera, singing the role of Poppea in Handel’s Agrippina. In 2023 she performed as a soloist with the London Sinfonietta under the baton of Martyn Brabbins, performing Fields of Sorrow by Harrison Birtwistle at the Queen Elizabeth Hall.

 In September 2022, Lisa performed in the world premiere of Gelert, an opera by Paul Mealor, in which she played one of the principal roles, Siwan. During her studies at the Academy, she sang with the Royal Academy Opera for a number of opera scenes performances, playing the roles of Norina in Donizetti’s Don Pasquale, Dalinda in Ariodante by Handel, and Second Niece in Britten’s Peter Grimes. 

 In October 2022, Lisa had the opportunity to work alongside the soprano and conductor Barbara Hannigan as a soloist in a concert alongside students from The Juilliard School, performing Delage’s Quatre poèmes hindous.

 During her undergraduate studies at the Royal Northern College of Music, Lisa was a chorus member in the 2019 production of The Pilgrim’s Progress by Vaughan Williams. She also later covered the roles of Pepík and Frog in their 2020 production of The Cunning Little Vixen by Janáček. 

 Oratorio performances include the Mozart Requiem, Bach’s Christmas Oratorio with the Royal Academy Bach Consort, as well as numerous Bach Cantatas, Haydn’s Nelson Mass, Mozart’s Solemn Vespers and Vivaldi’s Gloria.

 In the 2022 National Eisteddfod of Wales, Lisa was awarded the highly prestigious Osborne Roberts Blue Riband Memorial Award and the Violet Mary Lewis Scholarship for the most promising soprano. As part of her prize, she travelled to the USA in August to sing in the North American Festival of Wales.

Lisa works as a singing teacher with children and adults of all ages, teaching classical, musical theatre and pop repertoire. She also has a passion for music and wellbeing, and has a particular interest in music and Dementia. She has worked alongside music therapists in care home settings and as an assistant for The Wigmore Hall’s Dementia friendly choir,  Singing with Friends.