Elizabeth Dobbin

The soprano Elizabeth Dobbin began her musical studies from an early age with piano. She was awarded a Law degree from the University of Sydney with first class honours, an Arts degree specialising in French and English literature and a diploma in piano performance with distinction. A keen interest in 17th and 18th century music led her to undertake advanced vocal studies in the performance of baroque and classical music at the Royal Conservatorium in Den Haag, the Netherlands. There she took lessons with Michael Chance, Jill Feldman and Peter Kooij and attended masterclasses with Emma Kirkby, Isabelle Desrochers, Christophe Rousset and Paul Agnew and in 2008 she was awarded a masters degree in singing.

She was a founding member of the ensemble Le Jardin Secret, with whom she won the first prize and audience prize at the 2007 International Young Artists’ Early Music Network Competition in York, England. The group’s two CDs on the Coro label attracted instant praise in the press, winning a 5 star review in the prestigious Goldberg Early Music Magazine and Editor’s Choice in Early Music Today.

Elizabeth works extensively across Europe and appears regularly as a soloist in oratoria and as a chamber musician in festivals such as the Resonanzen Festival Vienna, Innsbruck, Donaufestwochen, Jeunesses Musicales Vienna, the London Handel Festival, the Lufthansa Baroque Festival, the York Early Music Festival, the Festival van Vlaanderen, the Early Music Festival in Bruges, the Festival Oude Muziek Utrecht, Itinéraire Baroque, Festival de Musique Baroque d’Ambronay and the Kilkenny Music Festival Ireland. She has appeared as a recitalist in concerts in Japan and America and has worked with conductors such as Christina Pluhar, Richard Egarr and William Christie. Forthcoming highlights include concerts and a residency in the 2014 Trigonale Early Music Festival, Austria and musical direction of a concert of French baroque opera arias for the Brighton Early Music Festival. As well as numerous radio broadcasts, her discography includes recordings for the Coro label, Alpha, Pentatone Classics, Aliud Records and ORF.

Her docARTES doctoral defense took place on January 28, 2021 at Leiden University.