Elisabeth Harris IS “engaging and charismatic, possessing a voice of tonal quality that brought to mind that of the great Tatiana Troyanos”
Fred Plotkin, “Prick Up Your Ears” mention in the 2019 Annual Excellence in Opera Awards.
Considered one of New Zealand’s most promising young mezzo sopranos, Elisabeth Harris is a dynamic and engaging performer successfully pursuing a dual operatic career in the United States and her home country. Ms Harris is a recent graduate of Manhattan School of Music, where she earned a Master’s of Music degree under the tutelage of Professor Shirley Close. Previous operatic credits include: La Clemenza di Tito (Annio); Emmeline (Aunt Hannah); Così fan tutte (Dorabella); La Cenerentola (Tisbe); Le nozze di Figaro (Cherubino); Eugene Onegin (Madame Larina); Die Fledermaus (Prince Orlofsky); Dido and Aeneas (Witch I), and partial roles in Gianni Schicchi (Zita), Falstaff (Mrs Meg Page), and Iphigénie (Iphigénie, cover). On the concert platform, Ms Harris has performed as a soloist with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra; Auckland Choral; Orchestra Wellington; the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra; Napier Civic Choir; and the Kāpiti Chamber Choir in works including: Handel’s Messiah; Beethoven Symphony No. 9; the Mozart Requiem; Haydn’s Paukenmesse; Mendelssohn’s Elijah; Donizetti’s Messa Di Requiem; Schumann’s Requiem; Brahm’s Liebeslieder Waltzes and Bach’s B Minor Mass. In July 2019, Ms Harris made her debut with the Martina Arroyo Foundation in New York as Prince Orlofsky in their production of Die Fledermaus.
Likened to the ‘great ones’ such as Tatiana Troyanos and Kathleen Ferrier, "Elisabeth’s tremendously rich voice, within which she moves with consummate ease throughout her substantial vocal range," has also been widely recognised on the competition circuit.
In 2016, Ms Harris was awarded First Place in the Dame Malvina Major Aria competition in Christchurch; she received the 2014‘Runner Up’ Award for the Dame Malvina Major Aria in Wellington; and was a 2016 finalist for the New Zealand Aria Competition in Rotorua. Ms Harris is a recipient of a Dame Malvina Major Canterbury Arts Excellence Award and wishes to gratefully acknowledge the significant support of the Foundation for its ongoing role nurturing her vocal career.
Ms Harris has been an experienced chorus member with the New Zealand Opera company; is an accomplished actor, notably performing the roles of Ophelia and Emilia; and has considerable experience as a conductor, musical director and private voice & piano teacher. Recent engagements include: the role of Annio in the Bronx Opera’s Production of La Clemenza di Tito; performing as a soloist in the Gateway Classical Music Society’s Fifteenth Anniversary benefit concert; Handel’s Messiah with the Christchurch City Choir and Symphony Orchestra; and reprising her award winning role of Orlofsky with Opera Project Columbus.