Praised for her ‘pure and vibrant’ timbre (Olyrix), British soprano Alysia Hanshaw is a member of the 2023-25 Opera Studio at the Opéra National du Rhin.

Highlights from her past season at the Opéra National du Rhin include performing the roles of Nerea in Porpora’s Polifemo with Le Concert d’Astrée, conducted by Emmanuelle Haïm and Ombre d’une Vierge in Guercœur by Albéric Magnard, conducted by Ingo Metzmacher; a breakthrough production which was awarded the Prix du Syndicat de la Critique, given to exceptional artists, shows and creatives in France. This season she will perform in OnR productions of Peer Gynt by Grieg (Solveig) and Les Noces by Stravinsky, as well as covering the roles of Giuditta and Anita in Giuditta by Lehar. Alysia will sing in Mozart’s Mass in C minor with the Orchestre Symphonique de Mulhouse and appear in recitals in Strasbourg, Colmar and Mulhouse.

Alysia made her Glyndebourne Festival Opera debut in 2023 as Soeur Antoine in Dialogues des Carmélites and in the ensemble of L’elisir d’amore. Past opera roles include Une Pastourelle and La Chauve-Souris in L’enfant et les sortilèges, The Dew Fairy in Hansel und Gretel, Soeur Constance in Dialogues des Carmélites (Scenes), Héro in Béatrice et Bénédict and Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro (Scenes). She created two roles in new chamber operas written for the 2022 Tête-à-Tête Festival, in Darren Sng’s My Days as a Zombie and Michael Hughes’ Cue Action. In 2022 she was a young artist at the Lyrique-en-mer Festival in Brittany, performing in Gluck’s Orphée, Dvorak’s Stabat Mater and Handel’s Messiah. In 2020, she took part in a residency at Opera North working on the role of Tytania in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

An experienced song performer, Alysia has appeared in recitals throughout the Alsace region of France at the Opéra du Rhin, Château Pourtalès, Théâtre Municipal de Colmar, Comédie de l’Est, La Filature and Théâtre de la Sinne. She was a member of the RCM’s SongPlus scheme with whom she performed recitals for International Women’s Day and an American song collaboration with the Juilliard School, curated by Simon Lepper. In 2022, Alysia was a Young Artist on the SongEasel programme, performing in a French song masterclass at the 1901 Arts Club. 

Her past recital engagements also include Britten’s Songs from the Chinese with the RNCM Songsters and Copland’s Poems of Emily Dickinson at the RNCM Chamber Music Festival, for which her performance was described by the Sunday Times as “a high point of a fascinating group-recital”. 

Alysia’s recent concert work includes Mahler’s 4th Symphony with the Royal College of Music Orchestra, Brahms’ Ein Deutsches Requiem in Ripon Cathedral with Orchestra D’Amici and Bach’s Magnificat with the Bournemouth Bach Choir and Orchestra.  

Alysia was a finalist in the 2023 RCM Concerto Competition, performing Kaija Saariaho’s Leino Songs. In 2021, she was awarded 2nd prize at the Courtney Kenny Award held by the AESS and she is an award holder from Leverhulme Arts, Help Musicians UK and The Countess of Munster Trust. Alysia completed her studies at the Royal College of Music and the Royal Northern College of Music and has performed in masterclasses with celebrated artists including Sarah Connolly, Edith Wiens, Mary Bevan and Michael Chance.