Cumbrian born Jess Dandy is the foremost British contralto of her generation and has been praised for her instrument of velvety plangent timbre, and her remarkable artistic immediacy.
This 2023/24 season Jess sings Elgar's Sea Pictures with Tokyo Symphony, Mozart's Requiem with Tampere Philharmonic, Handel’s Messiah with Hallé, Royal Northern Sinfonia, The Glyndebourne Sinfonia and Il Gardellino, Julia Perry's Stabat Mater and Bach's St John Passion with the BBC Philharmonic. Jess will also appear at the London Handel Festival for the Brockes Passion with the English Concert and Handel's Esther (Mordecai) with the London Handel Orchestra and Singers.
Recent highlights have included Micah in Handel’s Samson at the BBC Proms with the Academy of Ancient Music, Bach’s Heilig ist Gott with the Dunedin Consort at the BBC Proms, the world premiere of a new opera, All Seas, by Josephine Stephenson at Opéra Grand Avignon, a new commission, Spell of Creation, by Alissa Firsova with the BBC Philharmonic, Bach’s Weinachtsoratorium with Salzburg Kulturvereinigung and Bach’s St Matthew Passion with Concertgebouw Amsterdam and Dunedin Consort.
Jess finds a natural habitat on the recital platform and enjoys working with a range of pianists, including Martin Roscoe, Dylan Perez, Malcolm Martineau, Chris Glynn, James Baillieu, Julius Drake, Gary Matthewman, Keval Shah, Ian Tindale, Sholto Kynoch, Anthony Hewitt, Gavin Roberts, Iain Burnside, Simon Lepper, Huw Watkins and Wolfram Rieger.
In 2021, Jess was shortlisted for a Royal Philharmonic Society Award in the category of Young Artist. She is a multi-faceted artist with a keen interest in ecology, body psychology and spirituality. She is the co-founder of SongPath, a mental health initiative creating musical walking trails in nature for better mental health. With composer Alex Mills, she developed the Music & Being Collective, an open laboratory space exploring music and our sense of self through interdisciplinary dialogue.
