Biography

Hannah Bennett is a British mezzo soprano from Luton, Bedfordshire, now based in London. She is an alumna of the Royal Academy of Music, Royal Conservatoire of Scotland Opera School, a Leeds Lieder 2019 Young Artist, an Opera Holland Park 2021 Young Artist and a 2023 Alvarez Young Artist with Garsington Opera. This summer, Hannah returns to Garsington Opera as a 2024 Alvarez Young Artist and will be singing the role of Second Bridesmaid in their production of Le nozze di Figaro.

Onstage, recent roles include: Lazuli L’Etoile (Chabrier) RCS Opera, Olga Four Sisters (Elena Langer) RCS Opera, Alice Rip van Winkle (Planquette) Gothic Opera and Marcellina Le nozze di Figaro (Mozart) Opera Holland Park - 2021 Young Artists Scheme. Previous roles include: Flora The Enchanted Pig (Dove) Hampstead Garden Opera, Sesto Giulio Cesare, in English (Handel) King’s Opera, and Tisbe La Cenerentola (Rossini) London Young Sinfonia. Last year, Hannah worked with Garsington Opera as a 2023 Alvarez Young Artist, Waterperry Opera Festival, and has also previously worked with Nevill Holt Opera and the National G&S Opera Company. Hannah will be returning to Waterperry Opera Festival in “Nights Not Spent Alone”, a staged production of Jonathan Dove song cycles for mezzo soprano and piano.

In performances of operatic scenes, roles include; Concepcion L’heure Espagnole (Ravel), Angelina La Cenerentola (Rossini), Cherubino Le nozze di Figaro (Mozart), Charlotte Werther (Massenet), Fox The Cunning Little Vixen (Janacek) and Dorabella Cosi fan tutte (Mozart).

In September 2023, Hannah performed in Stravinksy’s Les Noces at Sadler’s Wells as part of English National Ballet’s triple bill production “Our Voices”, conducted by ENB Principal Guest Conductor, Gavin Sutherland, in partnership with Opera Holland Park. In concert, Hannah has performed at the Oxford Lieder Festival, the Amersham Music Festival and was a 2019 Leeds Lieder Festival Young Artist. In December 2021 she was a soloist for the World Premier of Aileen Sweeney’s Breathing Space with Helensburgh Oratorio Choir conducted by Susannah Wapshott which was recorded for BBC Radio 3.

Hannah recently completed her training on the Alexander Gibson Opera School course at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, studying under Scott Johnson. She is an alumna of the Royal Academy of Music where she completed her Master of Arts (Distinction, DipRAM), studying with Yvonne Howard, and Bachelor of Music (First Class Honours), studying with Kathleen Livingstone. Whilst at the Academy, she was a member of the Song Circle; with whom she performed in recitals at Oxford Lieder, a Schubertiade in partnership with Leeds Lieder and the Wigmore Hall. She was also a Bach Cantata Scholar, featuring as a soloist and regular chorus member for the RAM / Kohn Foundation Bach Cantata Series and a regular soloist for oratorio work supported by the Josephine Baker Trust.

In masterclasses, Hannah has worked with Louise Winter, Chris Purves, Donald Maxwell, Susan Bullock CBE, Joseph Middleton, Anne Howells, Amanda Roocroft, Ann Murray DBE, Justus Zeyen, Marcus Farnsworth and Christopher Glynn.

Her studies at the RCS were generously supported by the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and she was a grateful recipient of awards from the Opera Awards Foundation Bursary, Help Musicians UK Sybil Tutton Opera Award, the Aspinwall Educational Trust, the Harpenden Music Foundation and the Clemence Charitable Trust.


As a soloist for oratorio works, her repertoire includes works such as Bach B Minor Mass, Christmas Oratorio & Magnificat, Bruckner Te Deum, Chilcott Christmas Oratorio, Duruflé Requiem, Handel Dixit Dominus, Haydn Nelson Mass, Mozart Mass in C Minor & Requiem, Rossini Stabat Mater & Petite Messe Solenelle, Tippet A Child of Our Time and Vivaldi Gloria.

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“…mezzo Hannah Bennett stepping into the trouser role with a breezy confidence and strong rich voice.”

  • David Smythe, Bachtrack

“As Lazuli, Hannah Bennett has a rich, auditorium-filling mezzo voice”

  • Simon Thompson, The Times

“Hannah Bennett made the most of her solos in the trouser role of Lazuli, creating a sympathetic character of fibre and romantic candour while singing with a purity of timbre that brought Frederica von Stade to mind.”

  • Andrew Clark, Opera Magazine

Photo credit - Robbie McFadzean -
RCS Opera production of Chabrier’s L’Etoile