“Joanna Harries brought vocal warmth and flexibility to the role of Medoro.” CLASSICAL MUSIC DAILY - Medoro / Orlando (Buxton International Festival) (2023)

“Joanna Harries’ warm mezzo captured perfectly the love-deprived miseries of Lucinda…” Anthony Ogus, Opera Now columnist - Lucinda / The Power of Paternal Love (Barber Opera) (2023)

“Olivia Doutney and Joanna Harries make an ideal pair of lovers as Angelica and Medoro respectively, each producing measured tone combined with clear and emphatic dramatic performances.” THE STAGE - Medoro / Orlando (Buxton International Festival) (2023)

“A sparkling celebration of youthful talent…As for the stylish mezzo-soprano Joanna Harries, she graced two different versions of Perrault’s most popular fairy tale in conquering both the title role of Rossini’s La Cenerentola and the Prince in Massenet’s Cendrillon.” Mark Valencia – OPERA MAGAZINE (English National Opera / National Opera Studio showcase, Cadogan Hall) (2022)

“Joanna Harries is the standout amongst the support cast, her mezzo-soprano lending pathos to the daughter whose life is falling apart yet nobody is willing to speak to her.” BROADWAY WORLD - Diana / The Weekend (Highbury Opera Theatre) (2021)

"Harries sang with conviction and emotional force.” (Title role - Savitri) - Neil Fisher, THE TIMES (2020)

“Throughout the performance, Harries’s robust mezzo-soprano adroitly navigated the shifting moods and keys of the piece, letting rip in her final exchange with Death. “Give me life, life is all I ask of thee,” she implores, redolent of Salome in her final moments.” Timmy Fisher, BACHTRACK (2020)

"The level of talent displayed by the young cast – many of them taking multiple roles – holds the attention through scene after scene. Among her manifold duties, Joanna Harries displays acumen as nightclub singer Tartine.” George Hall, THE STAGE (2019)

“An outstandingly intense cast (Chiara Vinci, Joanna Harries, Peter Brathwaite)…help to evoke the manic mixture of desperation, determination and fatalistic urgency.” THE TIMES (2019)

"Another outstanding interpretation was that of Joanna Harries as Ottone. A newcomer to the Conservatoire, she has a beautifully schooled mezzo and projected each of her emotionally penetrating arias with great accomplishment." OPERA SCOTLAND (2017)

"[The cast] included some remarkably mature singers and some excellent acting. I can't possibly mention everyone, but I have to pick out Joanna Harries, as Emma Jones, the warm-hearted wiseacre of the wives - her vivid Noo Joisey tones were a delight." Robert Beale, MANCHESTER EVENING NEWS (2015)

Praised for her “stylish” singing (Opera Magazine) and the “emotional force” (The Times) of her performances, Joanna enjoys a varied career in opera, concert and recital.

Born in New Zealand and raised in Wales, Joanna was a young artist at the National Opera Studio in London and recently made her debut with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at Cadogan Hall as mezzo soloist for Mozart’s Requiem, with the London Symphony Orchestra at the Barbican as mezzo soloist in Paul Rissmann’s Through the Looking Glass suite, and with Opera Rara and the London Philharmonic Orchestra at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in Offenbach’s La Princesse de Trébizonde (Finnochini).

Recent opera roles include Medoro Orlando at Buxton International Festival, Prince/Stepmother Cinderella Opera North Little Listeners, Lucinda La forza dell’amor paterno The Barber Opera, Contessa Ceprano Rigoletto Opera Holland Park, Deborah Robinson Crusoe West Green House Opera and Tweedle-Dee Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland IF Opera. As a National Opera Studio young artist, Joanna performed scenes as Cherubino, Idamante, Ruggiero, Le Prince Charmant and Cenerentola with the orchestras of English National Opera, Welsh National Opera, Opera North and Scottish Opera.

A keen recitalist, Joanna is a City Music Foundation artist 2024-26 and a Making Music Recommended Artist 2025. She was previously a Britten Pears Young Artist, a Handel House Talent artist and an Opera Prelude Young Artist. Recent performances include Scandinavian song at the Elgar Concert Hall, Birmingham with Sholto Kynoch, a lunchtime recital at the Royal Opera House with Fran Hills, Russian song at Pushkin House with Thomas Ang, and English song at Snape Maltings as a Britten Pears Young Artist alongside Sarah Connolly and Joseph Middleton.

Her discography includes recordings with Opera Rara (La Princesse de Trébizonde) and the London Symphony Orchestra (Wonderland). Her debut song album Letters from Scandinavia with pianist Sholto Kynoch is released in 2025 with CRD Records and her second album Nightingale with pianist Jong Sun Woo will be released in 2026, featuring a new song cycle co created with composer Alex Groves and participants from Goodmayes Hospital mental health unit, supported by the Vaughan Williams Foundation, Hinrichsen Foundation, Marchus Trust and City Music Foundation.

Joanna is co-founder with Jess Dandy of SongPath, bringing together music, nature and mental health in specially curated outdoor events. Since 2019 they have worked with mental health organisations across the UK and festivals including Beverley Early Music Festival, the London Handel Festival, Oxford International Song Festival, Leeds Lieder and Ulverston International Music Festival.

www.joannaharries.com

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