"Brilliant and rich, comfortable even in stratospheric heights" (BBC Music Magazine), British soprano Harriet Burns is in demand for her "polished, witty, expressive and sweet toned" (the Times) singing both in recital and on stage. An acclaimed interpreter of song, Harriet has performed at Wigmore Hall, Philharmonie Luxembourg, Oxford International Song Festival, Leeds Lieder Festival, International Lied Festival Zeist, Ryedale Festival and de Singel with pianists including James Baillieu, Imogen Cooper, Christopher Glynn, Graham Johnson, Sholto Kynoch, Malcolm Martineau, Joseph Middleton, Ian Tindale and Michael Pandya. With her regular duo-partner, Ian Tindale, she released an album of Schubert Lieder Love's Lasting Power to critical acclaim with Delphian Records in January 2024.
On the operatic stage, recent roles include King Harald's Saga (Judith Weir) for Waterperry Opera, Sifare (cover, Mitridate, re di Ponto, Mozart) and Oriana (cover, Amadigi, Handel) for Garsington Opera, Sister Grace (The Angel Esmeralda, Lliam Paterson), Nerina (La Fedeltà premiata, Haydn), and Aminta (Aminta e Fillide, Handel) with Guildhall Opera. In concert, she has sung Thea Musgrave Songs for a Winter's Evening with the Southbank Sinfonia and Gabriella Teychenné, Bach Magnificat and Vivaldi Dixit Dominus with Nicholas McGegan and the Royal Northern Sinfonia at Sage Gateshead, Strauss Four Last Songs with the Oxford Millennium Orchestra, and Handel Messiah with the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, and the Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra.
Harriet is a laureate of numerous international competitions. Successes include 2nd prize and German Lied Award at 2022 Concours Musical International de Montréal (Art Song division) where she also won a Vocal Residency at McGill and Montréal Universities. In 2019, she was awarded 2nd prize at the Wigmore Hall/Independent Opera International Song Competition, the Compulsory Song Prize and Recital Prize at the International Vocal Competition in 's-Hertogenbosch and 1st prize at the Maureen Lehane Vocal Awards at the Wigmore Hall. She is proud to be a City Music Foundation Artist, Samling Insitute Artist, and a Britten-Pears Young Artist. Harriet was a member of the Guildhall Opera School where she graduated with Distinction on the Artist Diploma programme and in 2023 was elected an Associate of the Royal Academy of Music.