Jessica Harper graduated summa cum laude with a Postgraduate Concert Soloist Diploma from the Royal Conservatoire of Antwerp in 2022 and obtained a Bachelor of Music Performance with First Class Honours from the Australian National University. That year she also made her debut at the Semperoper in Dresden, performing the lead role of Schein/Ego Fluens in the opera Chasing Waterfalls. Her operatic repertoire is versatile and includes the roles of Donna Anna (Don Giovanni), Rosalinde (Die Fledermaus), Casilda (The Gondoliers), Lisa (La Sonnambula), Mrs Norris (Mansfield Park) and the title role in Miss Brill by Ben Hoadley, an opera written especially for her. She is currently part of the choir of the Royal Walloon Opera in Liège and was understudy for the roles of Mathilde (Guillaume Tell) and Contessa (Le Nozze di Figaro).
In 2018, she received the prestigious Dame Nellie Melba Scholarship from the Melba Opera Trust and was supported in 2021 and 2024 with Alumni Scholarships from this trust. In 2024, she additionally received a scholarship from the Richard Wagner Stipendienstiftung.
Jessica also feels at home in the concert repertoire. In 2022, she sang the soprano solo in Mahler's Fourth Symphony at the Staatstheater Magdeburg. She has also sung the soprano solos in major oratorio works such as Handel's Messiahand Bach's St John Passion, which was broadcast on ABC Classic FM in Australia. In spring 2024, she performed the Vier Letzte Lieder of Richard Strauss with the University Symphonic Orchestra of KU Leuven conducted by Edmond Savenirs.
Jessica is also active as a song singer and has given recitals in several cities, including regional New South Wales, Sydney, Antwerp and several European cities. She has participated in song master classes with renowned musicians such as Malcolm Martineau, Maciej Pikulski, Hans Eijsackers and Thomas Hampson. In 2023, together with her pianist, she won Anna Alvizou during the Young Artist Platform of International Song Festival Zeist the award for the best interpretation of the compulsory work Sensation (Martin Fondse). Moreover, in June 2024, they won second place at the International Lied Competition Bolko von Hochberg in Görlitz, Germany.
In February 2025, the duo participated in a master class with pianist Anne le Bozec at the International Hugo Wolf Akademie Lied Meisterkurs and were invited to join Friends of Song after their successful audition in January 2025.
Jessica has won first or second place or been a finalist in every major Australian singing competition. In 2019, she won the AIMS in Graz and the Opera Foundation's Sundell Awards for Young Australians. Internationally, she was a finalist for the Vienna State Opera Award and the Deutsche Oper Berlin Award in 2023. She was also a finalist in the Vincerò Competition in Verona (2023), semi-finalist in the Glyndebourne Cup (2020), the Tenor Viñas Singing Competition (2021), the Éva Marton Competition (2021) and the Internationaler Mozart Wettbewerb (2023). She won second prize in the International Rita Gorr Competition in Ghent (2022) and represented Australia in the final of the International Vocal Competition Hertogenbosch (2024). In addition, she was invited to participate in a master class by renowned soprano Roberta Alexander.
Jessica Harper, soprano
Anna Alvizou, piano
The programme Nocturne explores the secrets, feelings, creatures and beauty of the night. The poetry you will hear reflects much of the human condition and has inspired composers over the centuries to create some of the most compelling works we still cherish today. We have carefully put together a programme of songs by lesser-known female composers, complemented by some works known to a wider audience. Much of the programme focuses on English-language repertoire, as this is Jessica's mother tongue. We are particularly pleased to perform a work by Australian composer Sally Whitwell and present works by Rita Strohl, which have not been recorded before.
Click through for the full programme and the explanation.
English
