Praised for her ‘breathtakingly perfect vocal performance’, the New Zealand mezzo soprano Bianca Andrew has been a member of the Ensemble at Oper Frankfurt since 2019. Following acclaimed performances as Sesto in Händel's Giulio Cesare in Egitto and as Aurelia in Vito Žuraj's Blühen, Frankfurt audiences this season will hear Bianca give her role debuts as Bizet’s Carmen and Charlotte in Werther.
‘What a voice! Tall, slender, yet still possessing a full-blooded beauty in the dramatic moments, her mezzo-soprano voice…recommends her as a first-class virtuoso’ – Kirstin Liese, Klassik begesitert 2024
New Zealand-born mezzo-soprano Bianca Andrew is a member of the Ensemble at Oper Frankfurt, where she recently made critically acclaimed debuts as Sesto in Nadja Loschky’s production of Giulio Cesare in Egitto and as Aurelia in Vito Žuraj’s opera Blühen (Opernwelt Uraufführung des Jahres 2023), directed by Brigitte Fassbaender.
Renowned for her ‘fascinatingly believable character portraits, crowned by a breathtakingly perfect vocal technique’ (Der Opernfreund), Bianca makes important role debuts in the 2025/26 season at Oper Frankfurt, including the title role in Barrie Kosky’s production of Carmen, and Charlotte in Werther, opposite tenor John Osbourne. Earlier this season, Bianca also appeared with the WDR Sinfonie Orchester as the Page in Salome, under the baton of Christian Măcelaru at the Philharmonie Köln and in Bucharest at the Enescu Festival.
Bianca has portrayed many notable roles at Oper Frankfurt since she joined the Ensemble in 2019, including La Cenerentola, Xerxes and Hänsel und Gretel, as well as Adalgisa Norma, Bonté Guercoeur, the Tsarina Christmas Eve, Preziosilla La forza del Destino, Suzuki Madama Butterfly, Enrichetta di Francia I Puritani, Tebaldo Don Carlos and Gymnasiast Lulu.
Bianca’s engagements outside Frankfurt include roles such as Fricka in Brigitte Fassbaender’s production of Der Ring des Nibelungen for the Tiroler Festspiele Erl; Angelina in La Cenerentola for Staatstheater Stuttgart, Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro with New Zealand Opera, Flamel in Offenbach’s Fantasio for Garsington Opera, and Bernardo in Beatrice Cenci for the Bregenzer Festspiele.
Described by the Frankfurter Rundschau as ‘One of the most vivacious and passionate perfectionists imaginable on the operatic stage’, Bianca is also a keen recitalist and recently presented a Liederabend titled ‘Ages of Woman’ for Oper Frankfurt together with pianist Anne Larlee. In her home country of New Zealand, Bianca toured with the contemporary music ensemble STROMA and writer Alex Ross (author of The Rest is Noise) with a programme of 20th-century chamber compositions, including Berio’s Folksongs, a work which she subsequently recorded in 2020 for Oper Frankfurt.
Bianca began her operatic career as an Emerging Artist with New Zealand Opera and in undergraduate vocal studies at the New Zealand School of Music with Margaret Medlyn. She later received a scholarship to study at London’s prestigious Guildhall School of Music & Drama under the tutelage of Yvonne Kenny, where her roles included Händel’s Radamisto and Philomène in Martinu’s Alexandre bis. Bianca was the winner of the Song Prize in the 2016 Kathleen Ferrier Awards in London, the Garsington Opera Leonard Ingrams Award, and the 2021 Anny Schlemm Prize in Frankfurt. Throughout her studies and career, Bianca has been generously supported and mentored by Dame Kiri Te Kanawa and the Kiri Te Kanawa Foundation.