About Anna

Irish soprano Anna Devin is widely admired for her “vocal control, artistry and musico-dramatic intelligence” (Opera News) and has gained recognition across the world for her work in the baroque and classical repertoire, particularly her interpretation of Handel’s heroines.

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Anna’s 2024/2025 season comprises of a full calendar of concert work. She will join Vladimir Jurowski and the London Philharmonic Orchestra to sing Haydn’s Paukenmesse. She will sing Handel’s Messiah in Benjamin Appl’s conducting debut with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. Anna continues her affinity for the baroque with a new programme with the Academy of Ancient Music under Bojan Čičić in London and Cambridge. She also sings Vaughan Williams’ Dona Nobis Pacem with Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra under David Hill, Haydn’s Creation at the National Concert Hall, Dublin, under Peter Whelan and Bach’s Mass in B minor with Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra under Marios Papadopoulos. On the opera stage, Anna joins Irish National Opera to sing Héro in Beatrice and Benedict conducted by Ryan McAdams.

 

As a concert performer throughout Europe and the USA, Anna’s repertoire encompasses a wide range of sacred and secular works including Handel’s great oratorios, along with Mahler, Haydn, Mozart and early Baroque. She has enjoyed enormous success on the concert platform and has appeared at the numerous prestigious venues and festivals including London Handel, Göttingen Handel, Lausanne Bach, Brighton Early Music and Belfast festivals, the BBC Proms and Carnegie Hall. She has worked with the Vienna Philharmonic, Hallé, RTÉ NSO, Royal Northern Sinfonia, Halle, Irish Chamber Orchestra, Ulster and Minnesota orchestras and Houston, Charlotte and Seattle symphonies, among others. She has worked with conductors including Sir William Christie, Laurence Cummings, Christian Curnyn, Ottavio Dantone, Ivor Bolton, Sir Colin Davis, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Sir Mark Elder and Sir Antonio Pappano.

 

Last season Anna appeared at the Royal Opera House in the role of Gretel in Hansel and Gretel, followed by her house and role debut at the English National Opera as Rosina in Il Barbiere di Siviglia. She made her stage debut as Cleopatra in Handel’s Guilio Cesare, a role she has received critical praise for ‘one of the finest London has heard’ (Opera Magazine), for Blackwater Valley Opera Festival. Anna performed with the Orquesta Sinfónica de Barcelona y Nacional de Cataluña in Barcelona in a world premier by Josep Maria Guix, toured Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater with Irish Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Christian Curnyn, and appeared at the Winter Chamber Music Festival with the Fidelio Trio in Dublin.

In the 2022/2023 season, Anna debuted as Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte with the Irish National Opera. Her concert work included Carmina Burana with National Symphony Orchestra, Dublin, Messiah with Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, her concert debut with Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment on a tour of B Minor Mass, her debut with the CBSO for New Years Galas and chamber music festivals in Ireland. In 2021/2022, Anna started the season off with a last-minute jump in to debut the title role in Handel’s Rodelinda with the Moscow Philharmonic, conducted by Christopher Moulds. She made her debut at Opera National de Lyon in Deborah Warner’s production of Messiah. She finished the season with a debut of Elisabetta in Donizetti’s Maria Stuarda for Irish National Opera. Recent season highlights, Mozart Concert Arias with the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra conducted by Harry Bicket; and a concert tour performing Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater and Mozart’s Exsultate Jubilate with Marc Minkowski and Les Musiciens du Louvre. 

In recent years, Anna’s successes on the opera stage have included Melissa in Amadigi with Garsington Opera; Almirena in Rinaldo with Glyndebourne on tour and Michal in Saul in Glyndebourne Festival and Paris Théâtre du Châtelet; the title role Calisto in David Alden’s iconic production and Celia in Lucio Silla in Madrid under Ivor Bolton; the title role of Semele with the Karlsruhe-Festspiele; Tusnelda in Arminio at the International Handel Festival in Göttingen; Michal in Saul at Glyndebourne and Cleopatra in Giulio Cesare for the Early Opera Company and Kilkenny Arts Festival. She has sung Galatea in Acis and Galatea for Mozartwoche Salzburg; Nannetta in Falstaff and Lauretta in Gianni Schicchi for Covent Garden; Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro for Welsh National Opera, Glyndebourne Tour and Scottish Opera; Sophie in Werther and Zerlina in Don Giovanni for Scottish Opera; la bergère Louis XV and la chauve-souris in L'enfant et les sortilèges for La Scala; Poppea in Agrippina for Opera Collective, Ireland; and Clotilde in Faramondo for Brisbane Baroque, which earned her the Best Supporting Singer in an Opera at the 2015 Helpmann Awards, Australia. Other roles have included Governess in Turn of the Screw, la Comtesse Adèle in Le Comte Ory, Marie in La fille du Régiment, Morgana in Alcina, and Ilia in Idomeneo. 

Anna Devin’s recordings include La bohème for Signum with Irish National Opera, Arminio and Faramondo from the International Händel Festspiele Gottingen; Mozart in London, Il re Pastore and Mitridate, Re di Ponto with Classical Opera for Signum Classics; and ‘Arias for Benucci’ with Arcangelo for Hyperion.

Along with her love of opera, Anna’s concert career has seen her travel worldwide, and most recently she has given time to developing her chamber music and recital programmes. Last season she appeared at West Cork Chamber Music Festival, Boyne Music Festival, Westport Festival of Chamber Music and collaborated with Julius Drake on a recital based on Irish Poetry. This season she makes her recital debut at Bechstein Hall and West Wicklow Chamber Music Festival.

An alumna of the Royal Opera House’s Jette Parker Young Artist programme, the Royal Irish Academy of Music, Guildhall School of Music and Drama, and the National Opera Studio.  Anna is passionate about nurturing new talent, she has given masterclasses and coaching at the Royal Academy Opera Course, London and at her Alma mater Royal Irish Academy of Music, Dublin. Along with this she continues to teach from her home studio and online.

In addition to her work on stage, Ms Devin is proud to be an Ambassador for the British Dyslexia Association. She has always been open with the public through the media and events about growing up with dyslexia, saying: “Being different is not a bad thing. Not fitting in with the crowd is a blessing as we all have our own journey, and being forced to find your own path brings originality.”