English soprano Carolyn Sampson studied music at the University of Birmingham and has gone on to perform a wide range of musical styles both on the opera stage and the concert platform throughout the UK, Europe and America. Although she enjoys singing music from many different eras, her speciality is Baroque. During her time at Birmingham University, she was a member of the choral group Ex Cathedra, with whom she later won a Gramophone Award for her album 'A French Baroque Diva' (2015) celebrating the performances of French soprano Marie Fel.
After graduating, Sampson performed in several operatic roles, the first being at English National Opera where she played Amore in Moneverdi's 'L'Incoronazione di Poppea' (2005). Other roles included Susanna in Mozart's 'Le Nozze di Figaro' at the Montpelier Festival (2006) and the title role in Lully's 'Psyché' at the Boston Early Music Festival in 2007. This was later recorded and nominated for the Gramophone Award for Best Opera Recording.
Sampson has also performed a variety of music on the concert stage, including Handel's 'Messiah', Haydn's 'Die Schöpfung' and Bach's 'St. Matthew Passion' and 'Christmas Oratorio. She has performed with many notable orchestras in the UK, like The Hallé, The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Britten Sinfonia and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. She has travelled to Europe and America, performing with orchestras including Bergen Philharmonic, Freiburg Baroque Orchestra, Vienna Symphony Orchestra, San Fransisco Symphony Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra and Boston Symphony Orchestra.
In 2005, Sampson made recordings of the Bach 'Cantatas' with Collegium Vocale, conducted by Phillippe Herreweghe, and a recently discovered Bach Aria 'Alles Mit Gott und Nichts Ohn' Ihn, BWV 1127' with Bach Collegium Japan, conducted by Masaaki Suzuki (2006). She also recorded Mozart's 'Exsultate Jubilate!' with the King's Consort, conducted by Robert King. As a recitalist, Sampson was a featured artist at London's Wigmore Hall in 2014/15 and has given concerts throughout the UK, Europe and Japan. She has formed a musical partnership with pianist Joseph Middleton with whom she has released several albums, the first being 'Fleurs' in 2015, featuring songs on a floral theme by Britten, Chabrier, Schubert, Schumann, Gounod, Strauss and Fauré. Since then they have released 'A Verlaine Songbook' (2016), 'Lost Is My Quiet' (2017) with countertenor Iestyn Davies and 'A Soprano's Schubertiade' (2018). In 2019, Sampson and Middleton released the album 'Reason in Madness', which showcases songs by composers as a response to stories of vulnerable women.
