Recognised as „a name to watch“ (The Times, 2023), British-Pakistani soprano Mimi Doulton has recently made debuts at the Royal Opera House Linbury Theatre in the world premiere of Oliver Leith’s critically-acclaimed Last Days, and at the Bamberger Symphoniker as Max in Oliver Knussen’s Where the Wild Things Are.
She begins the 2023/24 season making her debut with Birmingham Contemporary Music Group, performing works by Harrison Birtwistle, Julian Anderson and Hannah Kendall. She will also make debuts with the Los Angeles Philharmonic in the US premiere of Leith’s Last Days, under the baton of Thomas Adès, at Staatsoper Stuttgart in Kurt Weill’s Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny, and at the Salzburg Taschenoper Festival in the world premiere of a new one-woman opera by Bernhard Gander, conducted by Peter Rundel. Concert appearances include Handel’s Messiah at Snape Maltings, recitals with regular pianist collaborators Dylan Perez and Ben Smith, and voice and harp collaborations with Olivia Jageurs and Héloïse Carlean-Jones. Mimi will be developing new works with the composers Neil Luck and Alison Bauld, and undertaking recording projects with Rasmus Zwicki, Stephen Barchan and Oliver Leith.
In the 2022/23 season she made concert debuts in Germany at Schloss Solitude and Sommer in Stuttgart with Neil Luck and Ensemble Ascolta, in the UK at the Southbank Centre’s Purcell Room with Jane’s Minstrels and with pianist Ben Smith at Spitalfields Festival, and Ny Musik I Birkerod, Denmark. She created the role of DHL Driver in Oliver Leith’s Last Days at the ROH Linbury, and premiered Jasmin Kent Rodgman’s What the dog said to the harvest, which toured to Shubbak Festival London and Liverpool Arab Arts Festival. Mimi made role debuts as Gretel in Humperdinck’s Hänsel und Gretel at Theater Pforzheim, and as Miss Wordsworth in Albert Herring with New Palace Opera. She commissioned and premiered new works by Michael Finnissy and Rasmus Zwicki, which were broadcast on the BBC Radio 3 New Music Show – her radio debut. She was also a 2022/23 Opera Awards Foundation bursary holder; received support from the Guildhall Futures Fund to conduct a research tour in Serbia, Croatia and Slovenia; and had a residency at Fondation Royaumont with composer Omar Shahryar.
Highlights of recent seasons include the world premiere of Giorgio Battistelli’s Wake with Birmingham Opera Company, directed by the late Sir Graham Vick; her acclaimed debut at the Wigmore Hall performing Brian Elias and Elisabeth Lutyens; concert appearances at Café OTO and London Contemporary Music Festival; and winning second prize at the 2021 John Cage Interpretation Awards, Halberstadt. She was also a finalist in the 2022 Royal Overseas League Annual Music Competition. Mimi is a former Young Artist with Britten Pears, Leeds Lieder, Park Lane Group, Live Music Now, Longborough Festival Opera and Opera Prelude.
Mimi is actively involved in commissioning and developing new work. She has developed new operas with Mahogany Opera, the Royal Opera, Snape Maltings, Birmingham Opera Company and Graeae, working with composers including Samantha Fernando, Philip Venables, Rakhi Singh, Richard Baker and Errollyn Wallen. In 2020/21 Mimi developed ‘Disruptions’ with Jonathan Higgins on a Wild Plum Arts Made at the Red House residency, touring the work throughout the UK and Germany. She is a Trustee of Eye Music Trust, and curated a programme for their 2022 Clapham Common Festival celebrating the life and career of the late Jane Manning, Mimi’s former mentor.
Mimi holds a BMus in Music and Languages from King’s College London and a Masters in Vocal Performance from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. She is a laureate of Fondation Royaumont and Academie Aix-en-Provence. She is currently based in Stuttgart, Germany.
Please email mimidoulton@googlemail.com for an up-to-date biography for inclusion in concert programmes and elsewhere online.