Elin returns home for leading role in operatic favourite
AN international singing star from Rhyl who has played some of opera’s greatest soprano roles is returning to North Wales to play a leading part in a new production of Carmen.
Welsh soprano Elin Pritchard, who was born in St Asaph and grew up in Rhyl, will make her Welsh National Opera (WNO) debut when she assumes the role of Micaëla in the company’s Spring Season production of Carmen.
Conducted by WNO Associate Conductor Harry Ogg, the production will see the former Ysgol Dewi Sant pupil reprise one of her earliest operatic roles.
The 36-year-old, who now travels the world as a professional opera singer working alongside some of the bestknown singing stars and orchestras, is thrilled to be returning to North Wales for the performance at Venue Cymru in Llandudno on Thursday, March 5.
Elin watched her first opera at the age of 16 – WNO’s production of Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro in Llandudno – describing it as a “mind-blowing” experience. She went on to study a BMus in Music at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama in Cardiff where she enjoyed regular trips to WNO performances at the New Theatre and the Millennium Centre.
Following the course, she completed a post-graduate diploma in performance before undertaking a Master of Opera and Master of Music at the Alexander Gibson Opera School at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.
It was while in her first year of study in Scotland she was cast as an understudy for Micaëla in a production of Carmen by Scottish Opera, Scotland’s national opera company.
“That was my first professional job and still being a student it was quite amazing,” she said.
Elin’s major break came when she was cast as Violetta in a touring production of La Traviata which she undertook on behalf of Scottish Opera while also studying at the National Opera Studio in London which she describes as a finishing school for opera singers.
Jo Davies’ vibrant new production of Bizet’s Carmen returns to Venue Cymru following a successful autumn run and features a brand new cast.
With some of the best-loved music in opera, the production is set in 1970s Central America and portrays the hardships that Carmen and her community wrestle with.
The opera also provides a new perspective on the character of Carmen, her survival instinct, and the economic and socio-political forces that drive her to use her looks and sexuality to further her cause.
Elin hopes her performance – and her meteoric success – will inspire other young singers to chase their dreams and try out opera.
To book tickets for Carmen, call Venue Cymru Box Office on 01492 872000.
For more information also go to www.wno.org.uk.