Norma Burrowes facts for kids

Norma Burrowes (born April 24, 1944) is a talented Irish singer. She is known for her beautiful, high voice, called a coloratura soprano. She was especially famous for singing in operas by composers like Handel and Mozart.

Norma Burrowes' Musical Journey

Norma Burrowes was born in Bangor, County Down, Northern Ireland. She loved music and studied at The Queen's University of Belfast. Later, she went to the Royal Academy of Music in London to learn more about singing.

Her first professional performance was in 1970. She sang the role of Zerlina in an opera called Don Giovanni. This was with the Glyndebourne Touring Opera Company. In the same year, she also performed at the famous Royal Opera House in London. She also sang at the Glyndebourne Festival as Papagena in Die Zauberflöte.

Norma also performed with the English Opera Group. She sang in famous operas like The Fairy-Queen, King Arthur, and Dido and Aeneas by Henry Purcell.

In 1971, Norma joined the English National Opera. Soon, she began to sing all over the world! She performed at big festivals like the Salzburg Festival and the Aix-en-Provence Festival. She also sang at the Paris Opéra. In 1979, she made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City. She sang the role of Blondchen there.

Norma started her career singing roles called soubrette roles. These are often for young, playful characters. Some of these roles included Blonde in Die Entführung aus dem Serail and Susanna in Nozze di Figaro. As she grew as a singer, she took on more challenging roles. These included Adina in L'elisir d'amore and Marie in La fille du régiment. She also excelled in operas by Purcell, Handel, and Haydn. You can hear her on many recordings of these works.

Norma Burrowes had a clear, bright voice and was great on stage. She stopped performing in 1982. She later became a vocal coach, helping other singers. She taught at the University of Saskatoon and now teaches at York University in Toronto.

Recordings

Norma Burrowes recorded many operas and classical pieces. Here are some of them:

• Purcell The Fairy Queen: English Chamber Orchestra/Benjamin Britten; rec. 1970 (Decca)
• Vaughan Williams The Pilgrim’s Progress: LPO/Adrian Boult; rec. 1970-71 (EMI)
• Holst The Wandering Scholar: English Opera Group/Steuart Bedford; rec. 1974 (EMI)
• Purcell Dido and Aeneas: Aldeburgh Festival Strings/Steuart Bedford; rec. 1975 (Decca)
• Orff Carmina Burana: Brighton Festival Chorus, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra/Antal Doráti; rec. 1975 (Decca)
• Poulenc Gloria: CBSO/Louis Frémaux; rec. 1976 (EMI)
• Fauré Requiem: CBSO/Louis Frémaux; rec. 1977 (EMI)
• Handel Acis and Galatea: English Baroque Soloists/John Eliot Gardiner; rec. 1978 (DG Archiv)
• Mozart Die Entführung aus dem Serail: The Academy of St. Martin in the Fields/Sir Colin Davis; rec. 1978 (Philips)
• Handel Semele: English Baroque Soloists/John Eliot Gardiner; rec. 1983 (Erato)