Dame Sarah Patricia Connolly was born on 13 June 1963 in County Durham, England, and studied piano and singing at the Royal College of Music in London. She began her professional career as a member of the BBC Singers before moving into solo work, and made her English National Opera debut in the 1990s. Her repertoire has centred on Baroque and Classical roles, particularly the trouser roles of Handel and Monteverdi, while extending to Wagner, Berlioz and twentieth-century music. She was appointed CBE in 2010 and Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2017 for services to music.

Connolly is regarded as one of the leading British mezzo-sopranos of her generation and a central figure in the modern performance of Baroque opera. Her portrayals of Handel roles such as Giulio Cesare and of Purcell’s Dido have been widely recorded and broadcast, and she has appeared at the Royal Opera House, Glyndebourne, the Metropolitan Opera and the Bayreuth Festival. She is also an established concert and recital artist, with a substantial discography of English song, Mahler and Elgar. Her 2009 Last Night of the Proms appearance brought her to a broad general audience in Britain.

Sources:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Connolly