Download Erica Eloff Biog 2013

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.