Corona Serenades: Q&A with Naomi Rogers, mezzo-soprano (UK)

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Meet Naomi Rogers, mezzo-soprano (UK), singer for Corona Serenades

Naomi Rogers holds bachelor and master degrees from the Royal Northern College of Music. A student of Louise Winter, she is a participant in the Opera North Mentorship Scheme, an associate artist for SoundUp Opera and a bursary recipient of the Opera Awards Foundation. Recent performances at the RNCM include Poulenc’s Dialogues des Carmélites (Soeur Martha), Vaughan Williams’s The Pilgrim’s Progress (Madam Bubble), Puccini’s Suor Angelica (Maestra della Novizie), Offenbach’s La Vie Parisienne (Clara), Kurt Weill’s Street Scene (cameo role) and Benjamin Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Peaseblossom). Naomi has worked for the Buxton Festival in Georgiana (multiple composers) covering the role of Grey. She also created the title role of Gary Lloyd’s Dotter Of Her Father’s Eyes by Gary Lloyd at the Dublin 2019 WorldCon and has worked with Opera North in Britten’s Turn of the Screw. This native of Suffolk appeared at the 2019 International Opera Awards at Sadler’s Wells; in Mozart with the Hallé Orchestra; and in Falla’s Siete canciones populares españolas with the ArkEnsemble. Naomi was a finalist in the Frederic Cox competition and has made her recording debut in Sullivan Songs alongside David Owen Norris.

How has Covid-19 affected you?

This pandemic has taken all of my engagements away from me. In the early stages of my career, I need this time to secure connections and establish myself in such a competitive industry. Taking away all of my streams of income is of course extremely scary, but what is just as frightening is that there is no end date to this pandemic, meaning that I may not be able to continue in my career for a very long time, a career that was only just beginning. On the upside, I have been exploring how music can be made through technology, and it gives me hope that this evolving world may be able to evolve the music industry too, in the most interesting and creative ways.

What are your five favorite operas?

La Bohème for the passion, La Traviata for the tragedy, Carmen for the power, The Marriage of Figaro for the humour and The Magic Flute for, of course, the magic.

What are your dream roles?

Cherubino. He is naughty and full of energy, gets in trouble and can’t control his pubescent yearnings. But most of all Hansel in Hansel and Gretel. What a FANTASTIC opera, to be exploring a fairytale that has hidden darkness and the opportunity to eat cake… who wouldn’t love that part!

What movies, books, TV shows would you recommend?

I’m such a sucker for a movie that makes me dream big, but also has truth behind it, like The Wolf of Wall Street. But then again I love movies such as The King’s Speech, Darkest Hour and The Revenant. My favourite series has to be Friends, there’s not one bad episode.

Why have you signed on to work with the Corona Serenades project?

This project is such a fantastic way of supporting artists and creating opportunities that would not have come about if the pandemic was not here. As soon as I saw this, I was so excited, this dedication to music and artists is something that we should be seeing so much more of. I am proud to be a part of this.