Praised by the Guardian as being ‘magnificent’, Opera Magazine as singing ‘with magnetic allure’, the Observer as having a voice with 'rich, dramatic potential' and noted for her clarity of diction as well as her ‘vibrant and bright tones’ by Opera Now and noted in the German press in a recent production of Elektra for her clear German diction and ‘organ-like tones’ as Klytämnestra, Gráinne Gillis is an Irish-American contralto who is increasingly being recognised for how she inhabits roles in opera. She read Music at UCC and graduated from the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School.

 

Career highlights have included singing the aforementioned Klytämnesra in Elektra  Madame Flora in Menotti’s The Medium, the Mother in Hansel and Gretel, and Pierrot Lunaire, all at Grimeborn, working with Sir Peter Hall on a sold-out US tour of As You Like It, and three seasons with Pavilion Opera on Die Zauberflöte, Macbeth and La Traviata respectively. Equally at home in straight theatre and opera, Ms Gillis is that rare artist – a contralto who can act. 

 

In 2018/19 she sang Flora in the Olivier award-winning King’s Head Theatre’s production of La Traviata and opened the London Song Festival.  This season also included her one-woman show Mezzo Sings The Bard (which she will reprise at WAF 2022) Hélène in Faust et Hélène, the Old Woman in Candide and La Zia Principessa in Suor Angelica at the Llangollen International Eisteddfod. That summer she also studied with Dolora Zajick and organised a 100-strong chorus for the Women’s March London as part of their ‘Bring The Noise’ event.

 

In 2019/20 she made her Irish debut as Ruth in The Pirates of Penzance at Cork Opera House, and sang as Vampyrmeister/Suse in a new version of Der Vampyr for Gothic Opera (Offie-nominated).

 

COVID cancellations in 2020 included a national tour of Ireland with Sea Trilogy as well as 1st Magd/cover Klytemnestra in Elektra. During the pandemic, Gráinne has been involved in a number of online projects including No Room No Room No Room for Opera Harmony, aired on Operavision,  Last Party on Earth on film and at Tête-à-Tête 2020, Bread and Circuses (Tête-à-Tête 2020), Random Opera’s Gianni Schicchi (Zita) and La Femme Lunatique’s Elizabeth Bishop project.

 

Roles in 2022 included working on a new opera called Morrigan at the Cork Opera House, as well as singing the She-Ancient for Regent’s Opera in Tippett’s The Midsummer Marriage in April 2022. She narrated, co-composed and sang on a soundscape project, Utterances I, commemorating the women who founded the Irish Free State. In 2022, Gráinne also performed at WAF 2022 in London with two shows (Mezzo Sings the Bard and The Contralto Cabaret) under the umbrella term Process: Dress.

 

In 2023 Gráinne sang the role of Schwertleite in Regent’s Opera Die Walküre (this will continue in 2025 with a full Ring Cycle). She also worked with soprano Laure Meloy and Femme Lunatique on a concert project called Disturbing the Peace and sang Emilia to Nadine Benjamin MBE’s Desdemona in a recital about Shakespeare in music in London. She reprised her role as Baba in The Medium with conductor Matthew Toogood (Komische Oper) in Berlin. Work in 2023/24 included Margret in Wozzeck as part of Regent’s Opera’s Orchestral Study weekends.  She was also a mentor on the Engender Mentoring Programme at the Royal Opera House, London. 

 

For 2024/25 she is devising a show about Richard Wagner’s influence on Augusta Holmès, which is part of Zeitgeist Irland 2024, kindly supported by Culture Ireland and the Irish Embassy in Berlin. In the 2023/24 season, Gráinne made her German theatre and role debut at the Brandenburger Theater in Richard Strauss’ Elektra, and reprised her role as the Vampyrmeister (sung role) to critical acclaim at Grimeborn. In the 2024/25 season, work includes Schwertleite for New Palace Opera and Regent’s Opera in London.  In addition to her opera work, Gráinne is also a voiceover artist.