Victoria Harley is a dramatic coloratura soprano from Filey, North Yorkshire, currently based in Birmingham and studying with Amanda Roocroft. She is a 2024 Artist on the Serena Fenwick Programme with British Youth Opera. She is the winner of the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire Singing Prize and she was the 2023 recipient of the St Clare Barfield Rosebowl for Operatic Distinction at RBC. In July 2024 she will sing Chorus in Birmingham Opera Company's production of Tippett's New Year. 

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In September 2023 she performed the role of La Fée in Massenet's Cendrillon (performed in English) with Bedfordshire Youth Opera. She was especially grateful for the opportunity to work with Rachel Nicholls, who was the production's vocal coach. She has also performed the role of Noémie in Cendrillon  at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire. In June 2024 she will also be performing the role of Gertrud in Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel (performed in English). 

She recently performed the title role in Janáček’s The Cunning Little Vixen (performed in English) in RBC’s 2023 Spring Opera. She has also performed the role of Nance Ferrell (Banished, Stephen McNeff) at RBC, and Musetta (La Bohème, Puccini) with City of Manchester Opera.

 

Roles performed in RBC Opera Scenes include Vanessa (Vanessa, Barber), The Governess (The Turn of the Screw, Britten), Irma (Louise, Charpentier - covered and performed), Fiorlidigi (Così Fan Tutte), Marcellina (Le Nozze de Figaro), and Una Conversa (Suor Angelica, Puccini – covered and performed). Victoria also enjoys singing on the concert platform and has sung as the soprano soloist in Brahms' Ein deutsches Requiem and Beethoven's Christus am Ölberge and Mass in C Minor.

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Victoria is passionate about contemporary opera, and debuted the role of Helena Handcart in the world premiere of Roger Simmonds' Fame and Envy with Oxfordshire Contemporary Opera, directed by Callie Nestlewroth (June 2023).  She also performed a chorus role (Tum-Tum) in the premiere of Philip Matty’s chamber opera The Jabberwocky, and Peter Bell and Alexander Kaniewski’s outdoor folklore and music project A Book of Portraits, in which the role of ‘The Lover’ was written for her.

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At RBC, she has sung in masterclasses with David Butt Phillip, Jacques Imbrailo and Susan Bickley. She has also sung with Dylan Perez in the yearly Voxbox concert at RBC. Victoria was invited to sing in a masterclass at the North Wales Opera Studio with James Black in 2022. At NWOS she was also asked to stand in last minute to sing excerpts from The Enchanted Pig, Così Fan Tutte, Die Zauberflöte, Le Nozze de Figaro and La Bohème in a Gala Concert.

 

Before attending Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, Victoria studied Music at the University of Huddersfield and a Masters in Musicology at the University of Manchester. While living in Manchester, she sang with the Manchester Chamber Choir and Halle Choir. A highlight of her time with the Halle Choir was singing at the BBC Proms in 2018. She also recently attended a short course at the National Opera Studio (2022).

 

Outside of opera, Victoria has been performing with metal bands since 2015 and has toured the UK and Europe with several bands. Most recently she was the operatic vocalist with Necronautical and recorded an album with them, as well as touring and performing at some of the largest metal festivals in the UK.