Carolyn Sampson is equally at home on the concert and opera stage and has enjoyed considerable success in the UK, Europe and the USA.
On the operatic stage, she has sung the title role in Handel's “Semele” and Pamina in Mozart's “The Magic Flute” for English National Opera, various roles in Purcell's “The Fairy Queen” for Glyndebourne Festival Opera (released on DVD) and both Anne Truelove in Stravinsky's “The Rake's Progress” and Mélisande in Debussy's “Pelléas et Mélisande” in productions by Sir David McVicar for Scottish Opera. She has performed internationally at the Opéra de Paris, the Opéra de Lille, the Opéra de Montpellier and the Opéra National du Rhin. She also sang the title role in Lully's “Psyché” at the Boston Early Music Festival, which was released on CD and nominated for a Grammy.
In addition to her concert activities, which regularly bring her together with leading orchestras and ensembles as well as with conductors such as Sir Mark Elder, Harry Bicket, Ivor Bolton, Riccardo Chailly, Harry Christophers, Philippe Herreweghe, Andris Nelsons, Yannick Nezet-Seguin, Louis Langrée, Trevor Pinnock and Donald Runnicles, Carolyn Sampson is also active as a Lied singer, She was a featured artist at London's Wigmore Hall in the 2014/15 season and gave recitals at the festivals in Oxford and Leeds, Saintes and Aldeburgh as well as at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, in Barcelona, Freiburg, the Frankfurt Opera, the Vienna Konzerthaus and recently on her first concert tour of Japan.
In recent years, Carolyn Sampson has developed a partnership with pianist Joseph Middleton. Their debut album, “Fleurs”, was released in early 2015 with songs from Purcell to Britten and was nominated for the Gramophone Award in the “Solo Vocal” category. Since then, they have released “A Verlaine Songbook” with settings of Paul Verlaine's poetry, “Lost is my Quiet” - a duet CD with countertenor Iestyn Davies, “A Soprano's Schubertiade”, “Reason in Madness” and most recently “The Contrast - English Poetry in Song”, all for the Swedish label BIS.
In addition to her long-standing collaboration with BIS, she has released multiple award-winning recordings for Decca, Harmonia Mundi and Hyperion, including the Choc de l'Année Classica, Gramophone Magazine Editor's Choice, BBC Music Magazine's Record of the Month, an ECHO Award and a Diapason d'Or. Her recording with Ex Cathedra for Hyperion, “A French Baroque Diva”, won the Recital Award at the 2015 Gramophone Awards. Carolyn was also nominated for Artist of the Year at the 2017 Gramophone Awards. Her recording of Mozart's “Mass in C minor” and “Exsultate Jubilate” with Masaaki Suzuki and the Bach Collegium Japan also won the Choral Award.
Recent and future highlights include tours with the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra and the Bach Collegium Japan, concerts with the Boston Symphony, Philadelphia and Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestras and the Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, including at the Salzburg Festival. Highlights of her concert career include performances at the Wigmore Hall, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, de Singel in Antwerp and the Pierre Boulez Saal in Berlin.