ABOUT
Berkshire-based mezzo-soprano Louise Ashdown is quickly gaining recognition for her warm presence, rich timbre, and expressiveness. Hailing from Edmonton, Canada, Louise completed her Master of Music in Performance (Distinction) at the Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM) and currently studies with Welsh contralto Hilary Summers.
Excelling as a choral and ensemble singer, Louise recently completed a choral scholarship with the Oxford Bach Soloists and regularly sings with Kantos Chamber Choir, the Oxford Oratory Choir, and the Cathedral Choir at Christ Church, Oxford. She has also sung with Salford Cathedral Choir, the University of Alberta Madrigal Singers, and as a Choral Fellow at the Yale School of Music Norfolk Chamber Music Festival.
As a soloist, Louise has most recently been heard in Mozart's Requiem and Bach's Magnificat with the Formby Choral Society, Vivaldi's Gloria with Northern Chamber Orchestra, Bach's St Mark Passion with New College School and The Instruments of Time & Truth, and Vaughan Williams' A Serenade to Music with the Healthfield Choral Society. She has also been featured in Purcell's The Fairy Queen as Summer with the RNCM Orchestra, as well as the Live from RNCM concert series performing Avril Coleridge-Taylor's 'Winds'. In Canada, Louise has been heard in Brahms' Neue Liebeslieder at the University of Alberta and made her Messiah debut in 2018 with the VoiceScapes Chamber Orchestra.
Operatic highlights include Hen (Janáček's The Cunning Little Vixen) and Fidalma (Cimarosa's Il Matrimonio Segreto) with the RNCM, Nancy (Britten's Albert Herring) and The Boy (Weill's Der Jasager) with the University of Alberta Opera Workshop, and Vincenette (Gounod's Mireille) with the Franco-American Vocal Academy in Périgueux, France. Louise was also a member of the Edmonton Opera chorus for their 2018-19 season, performing in Verdi's La Traviata, Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel, and Rossini's Le Comte Ory.
In addition to performing, Louise has a passion for connecting with others through music. She regularly leads Songs and Stories sessions for parents and babies at The Base, Greenham and enjoys leading singing sessions for people living with dementia and their families/careers at the Corn Exchange and Fair Close Centre in Newbury.
Louise was a recipient of the James and Mary Glass Scholarship Award and the Jacob Marsland Award from the RNCM, as well as the Government of Alberta Arts Graduate Scholarship and a grant from the Alberta Foundation for the Arts. Her continued studies have been supported by the Winspear Fund Scholarships for Advanced Classical Music.
Louise completed her Bachelor of Music (with Distinction) in 2017 at the University of Alberta where she studied as a soprano under John Tessier and Shannon Hiebert.