Karen Cargill Suggest updates
Born Arbroath.
Scottish mezzo-soprano.
Early career
Karen Cargill studied at the RSAMD in Glasgow, then at the University of Toronto and the National Opera School in London, where she was joint winner of the 2002 Kathleen Ferrier award.
She quickly built up a thriving international concert career in Britain, France, Germany, Denmark and Canada.
Operatic roles
Cargill's operatic roles range from Mozart and Rossini (Rosina and Isabella) with Scottish Opera to Waltraute in Götterdämmerung, the role of her New York Met debut in 2012. This was quickly followed by a re-engagement at the Met as Anna in Les Troyens (2013), then Magdalene in Die Meistersinger to open the 2014/15 season. She returned in 2019 as Mère Marie in Dialogues des Carmélites, an opera she first tackled in her student days in Glasgow.
Cargill's debut at Glyndebourne in 2018 was as Geneviève in Pelléas et Mélisande. More recent work in Scotland includes Judith with Scottish Opera, and Berlioz with the SCO.
Edinburgh Festival concerts range through works by Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Wagner, Verdi, Mahler, Elgar and Schoenberg.
Roles in Scotland
- Madame de Croissy Mother Henriette of Jesus, the old prioress
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Dialogues des Carmélites 2001
- Lucretia wife of Collatinus
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Rape of Lucretia 2001
- Third Lady in attendance on the Queen
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Zauberflöte 2003
Zauberflöte 2004
- Mezzo
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Essential Scottish Opera 2004
- Third Maid
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Elektra 2006
- Rosina Bartolo's ward
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Barbiere di Siviglia 2007
- Isabella the Italian Girl
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Italiana in Algeri 2009
- Béatrice Leonato's niece
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Béatrice et Bénédict 2013
- Alto
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Messa da Requiem 2013
- Mary Magdalene
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Apostles 2016
- Wood-Dove Waldtaube
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Gurrelieder 2016
- Fricka Wotan's estranged wife
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Valkyrie 2017
- Judith Bluebeard's new wife
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Duke Bluebeard's Castle 2017
- Alto I
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Symphony no8 2018
- Waltraute a Valkyrie, Brünnhilde's sister
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Götterdämmerung 2019
- Second Norn
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Götterdämmerung 2019
- Angel
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Dream of Gerontius 2022
- Princess Zia Principessa, Angelica's aunt
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Suor Angelica 2023
- Alto
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Symphony no9 'Choral' 2023
- Angel
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Elijah 2025
- Geneviève mother of Golaud and Pelléas
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Pelléas and Mélisande 2026