Allison Bell

2019 - 2020

During the COVID-19 lockdown, Allison Bell will continue to give her "Opera for All" classes, as one-to-one sessions online (complying with self-isolating protocols). She will also be giving one-to-one lessons in the outdoors - remote spaces in the Tasmanian wilderness, using nature as a powerful, restorative forum to connect through song (complying with social distancing protocols). If you are interested in participating in either of these contact Allison at voice@detached.com.au

Allison Bell, the Tasmanian-born, internationally acclaimed soprano, is currently in residence at Detached Cultural Organisation, in The Old Mercury Building.

Allison is a leading performer of 20th and 21st century operatic, orchestral and chamber vocal music. She has given world premieres of works by composers including Peter Eötvös, Unsuk Chin, Sir John Tavener, Gerald Barry and Brett Dean, and is a champion of new music and innovative, interdisciplinary concert programming. She has collaborated with artists as diverse as the Quay Brothers, Simon Callow, Anna Chancellor, Dominic West, Chulpan Khamatova, Rufus Norris, Silvio Pucarete, Zenaida Yanowsky and Scottish Ballet.

Allison gained international renown for her performance in the world premiere of Peter Eötvös’ opera, Love and Other Demons - based on the novel by Gabriel Garcia Marquez - at Glyndebourne under Vladimir Jurowski. This began a close artistic collaborative partnership with Jurowski, which over the past decade has seen performances in London, Paris, Berlin and Moscow of works from Shostakovich to Gerard Grisey. 

Allison has been a soloist with orchestras including the London Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, London Sinfonietta, Britten Sinfonia, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Ensemble Linea, Orchestre national de France, Rundfunk Sinfonieorchester Berlin,West Deutschland Rundfunk Sinfonieorchester, Iceland Symphony Orchestra, Russian National Orchestra (Svetlanov) and Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. She has performed opera roles with houses including Royal Opera House Covent Garden, English National Opera, Glyndebourne Festival, Opéra national de Montpellier, Gran Teatre del Liceu, Opéra-national du Rhin, Bolshoi Opera and the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées.

During her residency at Detached, Allison will recalibrate The Old Mercury Building into becoming an acoustic space. Adding voice and sound to the tensile atmosphere of the building and the artworks will offer the possibility for new modes of reception.

Allison will be using her residency to experiment, rehearse, collaborate, and mentor. This may include a number of performances, private and public, both scheduled and impromptu, costed or gratis. 

More information about Allison here