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Er ica Eloff Biography Soprano Erica Eloff first came to public attention in the UK when she performed the role of Fiordiligi in Cosi fan tutte for British Youth Opera and subsequently for Garsington Opera. She has since sung the First Lady and the Queen of the Night Die Zauberflöte, Violetta La Traviata, Tatyana Eugene Onegin, Kate Pinkerton Madama Butterfly and Belinda Dido & Aeneas. Before leaving South Africa for the UK in 2003, she performed the roles of Barbarina Le Nozze di Figaro, Despina Cosi fan tutte, Adéle Die Fledermaus and Adina L’elisir d’Amore. Conductors she has worked with include Steuart Bedford, Simon Over, Paul McGrath, Jonathan Lyness and Eric Rycroft. As a concert artist, Erica's wide ranging repertoire includes the major repertoire by Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, Fauré, Handel, Haydn, Mozart, Orff, Rutter, Verdi and Vivaldi. Some of the lesser known works she has performed are the Gounod Messa di St. Cecilia; Schubert's Mass in G major; Vaughan Williams' Benedicite, Hodie and Serenade to music; Dvorak's Te Deum and the Requiem of the South African composer Martin Watt. She has performed with, amongst others, the Chamber Orchestra of South Africa, Magogo Kamerorkest in the Netherlands, London Mozart Players, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Southbank Sinfonia, Camerata Tinta Barocca and the New London Sinfonia. Ms. Eloff has been fortunate to collaborate with conductors David Gibson, Arjan Tien, Mark Forkgen, Janet Lincé and Wolfgang Abendroth and continues to work with them on a regular basis. Ms. Eloff is a passionate performer of Lieder. Since her student days she has often taken part in projects and concerts to expose audiences to the art form. Always keen to challenge her audience, Ms Eloff regularly programmes audience favourites together with lesser known pieces in order to expand the audience’s knowledge and appreciation. She has presented recitals at venues ranging from a cattle market in Groot Marico, to all the major South African Arts Festivals, and podia across the UK, and in Belgium. Among her regular collaborators in recital are Mark Nixon, Bernarda Vorster, Els Flement and James Baillieu with whom she had the privilege of presenting two Wigmore Recitals. Erica's debut CD 'Songs' was released in 2010 with pianist Mark Nixon. As an active chamber musician, Erica has presented world premiers of works by South African and English composers, including works specifically written for her by the composers James Wilding and Hannes Taljaard. Among a number of collaborators she has enjoyed working with are the brilliant young and upcoming Baroque group Amaranthos. Erica has also been extremely fortunate to collaborate with Lawrence Cummings and the London Handel Players on several occasions, including performing Handel's Messiah in his own church. Other highlights include performing Handel’s solo cantatas in his London home as well as Handel's Messiah in the Royal Albert Hall under the legendary sir David Wilcocks. Erica was born in South Africa where she received her first music lessons in piano and violin from her mother from a very young age. She later exchanged these instruments for singing, and went on to pursue her musical studies at the Potchefstroom University where she obtained a Bachelor's degree and Post Graduate Diploma in Performance (Cum Laude), studying singing with Werner Nel. In the UK Erica has studied with Lillian Watson and she continues to study with Sheila Barnes. Ms. Eloff has been fortunate to receive master classes from, amongst others, Elly Ameling, Susan Bullock, Helmut Deutsch and Joan Rodgers. During her studies Ms. Eloff is awarded several prizes and scholarships by her university and various national institutions. She is a laureate of several national and international singing competitions, and first prizes include the London Handel Competition, the UNISA National Singing Competition, the UFAM Concours Internationaux de Chant, and ATKV Forté. Erica is also very grateful to Making Music who selected her as a Philip and Dorothy Green Young Concert Artist. Looking ahead, Erica's future engagements include various concerts and recitals throughout the UK an Europe, as well as Meleagro Atalanta for Cambridge Handel Opera.