Winner of the Czech Song Prize at the Emmy Destinn Young Singer’s Award and Finalist for the Wagner Society of England’s Singing Competition, Australian Soprano Tanya Hurst is a graduate of the Royal Northern College of Music gaining a Master of Music with Distinction.
Last year she continued performances with Oper Bonn as Nedda and was to be covering the title role for Welsh National Opera’s Jenůfa (postponed Spring 2022). Current and future engagements for 2021 include Scottish Opera (cover Alice Ford) and English National Opera (cover Gerhilde).
Tanya made her debut with English Touring Opera in 2019 sharing the role of Lady Macbeth for their Spring tour alongside the role of Lady-in-Waiting. In the latter half of the year, Tanya headed to Europe for her German debut in Pagliacci as Nedda at Oper Bonn.
2018 saw Tanya return to Grange Park Opera to cover Amelia in their Summer production of Un Ballo in Maschera and to Iford on the Iford Arts New Generation Artists Programme (IANGA) covering Cio-Cio San Madame Butterfly. Later Tanya covered the role of Kundry for Saffron Opera Group‘s Parsifal. In 2017 Tanya performed at Grange Park Opera as Gerhilde for Wagner’s Die Walküre and competed as a Semi-Finalist for the Elizabeth Connell Prize for Dramatic Sopranos and was selected as a Finalist for the Fulham Opera Robert Presley Memorial Verdi Prize.
Tanya has appeared with English National Opera, West Green House Opera, Grimeborn Festival, Grange Park Opera, and Festival d’Aix-en-Provence. Operatic credits include Cio-Cio San Madame Butterfly, Ellen Orford Peter Grimes, Gerhilde Die Walküre, Leonore Fidelio, Lady Macbeth, and Lady-in-Waiting Macbeth, Kundry and Flowermaiden Parsifal, Fox Cunning Little Vixen, Nedda Pagliacci, Marenka Bartered Bride, First and Second Ladies Die Zauberflöte, Musetta La Boheme and Annina La traviata.
Her concert performances have involved Strauss’ Vier Letzte Lieder at St James’s Piccadilly, 4 Primo Levi Settings by Simon Bainbridge at Wigmore Hall, and Beethoven’s 9th at Colston Hall.
Tanya has performed with English Voices at Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, in Zürich with the Zürcher-Sing Akademie and has toured throughout the UK with the Armonico Consort.
Tanya was a Finalist for the Joyce and Michael Kennedy Prize for the singing of Strauss held at the RNCM. She is the winner of the Armstead Award and was a Finalist for the 3MBS Young Performer of the Year Award. Tanya completed her time at the RNCM on a high after being awarded the Claire Croiza Prize for French Song.
She has participated in the British Youth Opera workshops and has been involved with The Divas and Scholars Masterclass & Co. and Opera Prelude.
Tanya holds a Post Graduate Diploma in Performance from the University of Melbourne and a Bachelor of Music from the Queensland Conservatorium. During her studies at The University of Melbourne, Tanya was an Associate Artist with The Melbourne Opera Studio now called Gertrude Opera Studio.
Her studies have been generously supported by the Lady Turner Exhibition, Clarice Malyon Middleton Scholarship, A E Floyd Memorial Scholarship, Joan Sutherland Society Study Grant, Opus50 Charitable Trust, PPCA Performers’ Trust Foundation, a Tait Memorial Trust grant to attend the London Master Classes and the ‘Mona McGlone Scholarship’ awarded to her from the RNCM.
