Idamante, Idomeno (Edinburgh Festival Fringe)
Sophie Horrocks is a French-British mezzo soprano. She currently performs with the chorus of the Opéra national du Capitol, Toulouse, and Opéra de Dijon, most recently in concerts at the Seine Musicale, Besançon Kursaal and, in 2025, in a new production of La traviata. Sophie maintains a career as a practitioner collaborating in academic research with Durham University, where she gained her PhD in musicology. She also teaches singing from her base in York, UK, and specialises in incorporating dramatic and performance coaching alongside vocal technique.
Performing
Sophie was a young artist with the Dunedin Consort, on their 'Bridging the Gap' scheme (2021/2022), and performed the role of Dorabella in a shortened Cosi Fan Tutte at the Camden Fringe, London in August 2022. She has gained a reputation for dramatic and sensitive performances on the operatic and concert stage, with other roles including Idamante Idomeneo (Aria Alba, Edinburgh Festival Fringe), Despina Cosi Fan Tutte (VoiceArc), Dido Dido (King's Opera), Siebel Faust (Brent Opera), Sally A Hand of Bridge (Grimeborn/Arcola Theatre), Nurse Filippyevna Eugene Onegin (Durham Opera Ensemble). With the choruses of Opéra de Dijon and Opéra national du Capitol, Sophie has performed in concerts of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, 'Jazz Christmas' and in Carmen, Les Pécheurs des Perles, and Tosca.
Listen
'Ah, Tanya, Tanya' (Ах, Таня, Таня) - Tchaikovsky, Eugene Onegin (Евгений Онегин)
'Ah scostati! Smanie implacabile' - Mozart, Cosi Fan Tutte
'Faites-lui mes aveux' - Gounod, Faust
'He was despised' - Handel, Messiah
Teaching
Sophie loves teaching classical singing to voices of all ages, and is available to do so in and around York (and online). Please get in touch to book a discounted trial lesson, or learn more about my teaching here.
Education
Sophie studied music at the University of Cambridge, followed by a Masters at King's College London. She can be heard as a soloist with the choir of Clare College, Cambridge on the recordings Requiem: Music for All Saints (Harmonia Mundi USA 2014) and Lux de Caelo: Music for Christmas (Harmonia Mundi USA 2013), and Handel, Peace and Celebration (Obsidian Records, 2014) a recording of performance Handel's Ode to Queen Anne during the 2014-15 European tour of the European Union Baroque Orchestra under Lars Ulrik Mortensen. She continued her training in workshops with British Youth Opera (2016), the Abingdon Summer Course (2014), and masterclasses with David Butt Phillip (2018) and Sir Thomas Allen (2019). Sophie continues to study with Stuart MacIntyre and Nicholas Powell.
Cupidon, Orphee aux Enfers, St Paul's Opera
Practitioner
As an education practitioner, Sophie has worked as facilitator in opera, drama and musical projects with Turtle Key Arts (2013), the National Citizen Service (2014), London Children's Ballet (2015) and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment (2019-20). Alongside her work as a performer, Sophie recently completed a PhD in musicology at Durham University, funded by AHRC. In her research she examines the performance practices of touring opera troupes in nineteenth-century France, the role of the stage in provincial French society, and operatic mobility and adaptation in western Europe. Sophie is currently the Artist Development Manager at the National Centre for Early Music, and has held administrative roles at English National Opera (2016-19), the Royal Opera House (freelance 2019-2020) and Live Music Now (2019-2020) working in learning participation.
As an education practitioner, Sophie has worked as facilitator in opera, drama and musical projects with Turtle Key Arts (2013), the National Citizen Service (2014), London Children's Ballet (2015) and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment (2019-20). Alongside her work as a performer, Sophie recently completed a PhD in musicology at Durham University, funded by AHRC. In her research she examines the performance practices of touring opera troupes in nineteenth-century France, the role of the stage in provincial French society, and operatic mobility and adaptation in western Europe. Sophie is currently the Artist Development Manager at the National Centre for Early Music, and has held administrative roles at English National Opera (2016-19), the Royal Opera House (freelance 2019-2020) and Live Music Now (2019-2020) working in learning participation.
