Louise Winter was born in Preston, Lancashire, and studied at the Royal Northern College of Music. She made her début in 1982 with Glyndebourne Touring Opera as Dorabella Così fan tutte and subsequently sang Tisbe La Cenerentola, Zerlina Don Giovanni, and Rosina Il barbiere di Siviglia for the company.
In recent years roles have included Marcellina (Royal Opera House/Grange Festival), Governess Queen of Spades (Royal Opera House), Mistress Quickly (Scottish Opera/Opera North), La Frugola Il Tabarro and Zita Gianni Schicchi (Scottish Opera), Maya in Howard Moody’s Agreed and Gertrude in Brett Dean’s Hamlet (Glyndebourne), Madame Larina Eugene Onegin and Háta The Bartered Bride (Garsington Opera).
Louise Winter created the roles of Pilar in David Sawyer’s The Skating Rink (Garsington Opera), Susan in Huw Watkins In the Locked Room (a co-production between Music Theatre Wales and Scottish Opera), and gave the world premiere of Charlotte Bray’s Out of the Ruins for mezzo-soprano, youth chorus and orchestra at a Gala Concert for the Royal Opera House. She sang Wife in Mark-Anthony Turnage’s Greek with Music Theatre Wales at the Linbury and on tour in the UK and Korea.
Previously she sang title role Carmen and Marguerite La Damnation de Faust (English National Opera), Olga Eugene Onegin (ROH/Canadian Opera Company/Glyndebourne), Sesto La clemenza di Tito, Edwige Rodelinda, Varvara Katya Kabanova, Pauline Queen of Spades (Glyndebourne), Brangäne Tristan und Isolde, Venus Tannhäuser and Lady Macbeth in Ernst Bloch’s Macbeth (Frankfurt), and Preziosilla La Forza del Destino (Rouen).
Louise Winter has sung with many of the world’s leading orchestras and conductors including the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra under Sir Simon Rattle, the BBC Symphony Orchestra under Sir Andrew Davis, the Hallé Orchestra under Mark Elder, the Philharmonia Orchestra under Sir Charles Mackerras, and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra under Carlo Rizzi. She has taken part in many BBC Proms concerts. As a recitalist, she has appeared at the Wigmore Hall, St John’s, Smith Square, the Théâtre du Châtelet, the Bath, Belfast, and City of London Festivals and at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw.
Her recordings include the complete songs of Frank Bridge for Hyperion, and Haydn Masses under Richard Hickox for Chaconne. Performances on DVD include the Goddess Diana La Calisto conducted by René Jacobs.
Louise Winter is the Founder and Artistic Director of the Ashburnham English Song Awards.
Il Trittico/Scottish Opera
“…Louise Winter’s happy-go-lucky La Frugola is particulary memorable…..while such expert character singers such as…Louise Winter (Zita)…add to the brilliance of the entertainment.” The Stage
“…a brilliant ensemble cast, with impressive performances from…Louise Winter (Zita). The Scotsman
Falstaff/Scottish Opera
“But this is a triumph of teamwork, not least from a dynamic female cast whose connivances are the engine room of Falstaff’s debunking…There’s a chirpy matronliness in Louise Winter’s Mistress Quickly, deceptively devious…” The Scotsman
“..Louise Winter’s comic tour-de-force as Quickly…” Spectator
“Falstaff is above all an ensemble comedy and Scottish Opera has assembled a cast to do it justice; Elizabeth Llewellyn (Alice Ford), Sioned Gwen Davies (Meg Page) and Louise Winter (Mistress Quickly) the trio of sharp-witted women who outwit the rather slower men….” Guardian
“The cast of his Falstaff is universally marvellous….Louise Winter’s busy go-between Mistress Quickly.” Telegraph