Margaret Medlyn
Head of Voice
Senior Lecturer in Classical Performance, Voice
BMus Auck
Margaret Medlyn is Head of the Classical Voice department, teaching singing in the Classical Performance programme as well as coordinating and lecturing voice related courses.
She is well known as a charismatic singer/actress, and sings regularly with the major opera companies and orchestras in Australasia. She is a champion of New Zealand music with an emphasis on women composers.
Margaret Medlyn grew up in a family actively involved in the theatre, music and the visual arts. She graduated from Auckland University with a degree in singing, and after winning several scholarships, went to London for further study. There she was immediately employed by Kent Opera – a touring seasonal company – where she worked with such luminaries as Roger Norrington and Nicholas Hytner. Margaret Medlyn also made her debut as Octavian with Opera Viva during this time. Relocating back to New Zealand after 10 years she spent the next 10 commuting back to Europe to sing in the UK and Europe.
Margaret Medlyn has sung with English National Opera, Covent Garden, Vienna State Opera and all the companies in Australasia, and worked with leading international conductors including Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Simone Young, Donald Runnicles, Jeffrey Tate, Edo de Waart, Markus Stenz, Jaap van Sweden and Roger Norrington.
Her roles include Leonore (Il trovatore), Aida, Tosca, Turandot, Giorgetta (Il tabarro), Maddalena (Andrea Chenier), Marie (Wozzeck), Salome, Judith (Bluebeard’s Castle), Agathe (Der Freischütz), Kostelnicka (Jenufa), various Rhinemaidens and Valkyries, Senta, Sieglinde, Isolde and Kundry.
“…in Margaret Medlyn the company had an ideal interpreter[of Kostelnicka in NBR New Zealand Opera’s Jenufa]. Medlyn's voice is perfectly suited to the part, with her rich, powerful middle register combining with her secure top to provide a musically visceral account of the role. Add to that her restless acting style and the result was a near flawless performance that was both chilling and uplifting.”
(Michael Sinclair, www.TheOperaCritic.com September 20, 2008)
“...New Zealand soprano Margaret Medlyn was the superb female lead as the enigmatic and tragic Kundry [in State Opera of South Australia’s Parsifal]. The highlight of the evening was the long passionate scene of seduction and rejection between Kundry and Parsifal, with (Poul) Elming and Medlyn perfectly paired and both in magnificent voice, the orchestra swelling and falling to match their emotions."
(Tristram Cary, The Australian, September 24, 2001)
Margaret Medlyn has had a long and varied recital and concert career and is a National recording artist for Radio New Zealand and has recorded an extensive list of recital programmes. She has released a CD entitled Burning Bright featuring thework of four New Zealand Women composers under the Kiwi Pacific label.
She is an experienced voice teacher – she has taught in New Zealand and the UK in her private studio for 25 years, and at the New Zealand School of Music since 2007. She tutors every year alongside Professor Paul Farrington at the New Zealand Opera School where she works with undergraduate and postgraduate students and NBR Opera New Zealand’s Emerging Artists.
Margaret Medlyn’s area of interest is in the psychology of performance and utilising the latest research in neuroplasticity for peak performance.
Contact Details
phone: +64 4 463 9488
room: 104, 94 Fairlie Terrace, Kelburn Campus
email: margaret.medlyn@nzsm.ac.nz
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Last Updated:
January 26, 2012
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