KarenCargill

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Mezzo-Soprano
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Nicholas Moloney

Nicholas Moloney

Senior Artist Manager
Megan Steller

Megan Steller

Associate Artist Manager

Representation

Worldwide general management with Askonas Holt

About Karen

Following her critically acclaimed Brangaene Tristan und Isolde at the Glyndebourne Festival, Scottish mezzo-soprano Karen Cargill's 2024/25 season sees her return to the role with Yannick Nézet-Séguin and the Philadelphia Orchestra, and with Sir Simon Rattle and the Bayerischer Rundfunk Orchestra. She will also make her role debut as Brigitte in Die Tote Stadt in concerts with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Andris Nelsons. Karen will return to the Montreal Symphony Orchestra for Schoenberg's Gurrelieder with Rafael Payare; the San Francisco Symphony for Verdi's Requiem with Esa-Pekka Salonen; the Toronto Symphony for Mozart's Requiem with Jukka-Pekka Saraste; and the San Diego Symphony for Mahler Symphony no. 3 with Rafael Payare.

Her 2023/24 season included a revered tour of Die Walküre (Fricka) with the Rotterdam Philharmonic and Yannick Nézet-Séguin; Bartók's Duke Bluebeard's Castle (Judith) with Karina Canellakis and the Boston Symphony; Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde with the Wiener Symphoniker and Robin Ticciati; and Berlioz La mort de Cléopȃtre with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and Maxim Emelyanychev.

She is Patron of the National Girls' Choir of Scotland and in 2018 was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. She sang in the National Service of Thanksgiving and Dedication for King Charles III following his Coronation in 2023.

Karen is based in Glasgow

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Representation

Worldwide general management with Askonas Holt

Season Highlights

Jul 2024 - Aug 2024
Glyndebourne Festival
Wagner Tristan und Isolde (Brangäne) Robin Ticciati (conductor)
Sep 2024
la Maison Symphonique, Montreal
Schoenberg Gurrelieder Rafael Payare (conductor) Montreal Symphony Orchestra
Sep 2024 - Sep 2024
Davies Symphony Hall, San Francisco
Verdi Requiem Esa-Pekka Salonen (conductor) San Francisco Symphony

News

Press

  • Tristan und Isolde (Brangäne)

    Glyndebourne with Robin Ticciati
    Jul 2024
    • Karen Cargill had suffered an injury, but gamely sang Brangäne from the wings... Cargill is one of those singers whose presence on a cast list immediately inspires confidence and her warm, treacle-rich middle register was ideally suited to the role. Empathy, concern, guilt all suffused her performance as the opera unfolded.

    • Her vocal performance was thrilling...

    • Karen Cargill – injured in rehearsal... – sings Brangäne magnificently from the wings...

    • ...Cargill sings magnificently...

    • Karen Cargill may have suffered a nasty fall which impaired her mobility, but her voice remained supremely agile in her role as Isolde’s faithful maid, Brangäne. She sang with remarkable projection.