Biography
Mezzo-soprano
Karen Cargill
Karen Cargill was nominated for a Grammy Award as part of the Metropolitan Opera’s recording of Dialogues of the Carmelites and in 2018 was awarded an honorary doctorate from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. Her operatic roles include Geneviève in Pelléas et Mélisande, Judith in Bluebeard’s Castle, Mère Marie in Dialogues of the Carmelites, Dryade in Ariadne auf Naxos, Dido in Dido and Aeneas, and Anna in Les Troyens. As a Wagnerian, she regularly sings Erda in Das Rheingold and Siegfried, Fricka in Das Rhinegold, Brangäne in Trustan und Isolde, Waltraute in Götterdämmerung, and Magdalena in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg.
With her recital partner Simon Lepper, Cargill has performed at Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, Wigmore Hall, and the Concertgebouw, and regularly gives recitals for BBC Radio 3. With Lepper, she has also recorded a critically acclaimed recital of songs by Alma and Gustav Mahler and previously recorded Berlioz Les nuits d’été and La mort de Cléopâtre with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, both for Linn records. She is a patron of the National Girls’ Choir of Scotland and sang in the National Service of Thanksgiving and Dedication for King Charles III following his coronation last year. She makes her San Francisco Symphony debut with this program.
With her recital partner Simon Lepper, Cargill has performed at Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, Wigmore Hall, and the Concertgebouw, and regularly gives recitals for BBC Radio 3. With Lepper, she has also recorded a critically acclaimed recital of songs by Alma and Gustav Mahler and previously recorded Berlioz Les nuits d’été and La mort de Cléopâtre with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, both for Linn records. She is a patron of the National Girls’ Choir of Scotland and sang in the National Service of Thanksgiving and Dedication for King Charles III following his coronation last year. She makes her San Francisco Symphony debut with this program.
