biography

 

Vox Duo is an independent musical collaboration founded in 2018 between Scottish soprano Karla Grant and British-Brazilian mezzo soprano Julia Solomon.

Praised for their blend of voices, Vox Duo put their own stamp on duets, old and new. Vox Duo are versatile artists who enjoy exploring a range of musical genres and performance settings. They work in close collaboration with pianists to present recitals of art song, opera and new works by up and coming composers. They have performed across the UK in their own Vox Duo concert series, at the Glasgow Art Club, Kodàly Erasmus+ Event in The National Piping Centre, The Wellington Arts Festival and The Linlithgow Arts Guild in St Michael’s Parish Church.

Vox Duo were proud to join Live Music Now Scotland in 2020. Together with Live Music Now they have performed for the Saughtonhall Women’s Union and Live Music Now Scotland’s ‘At Home’ series. Most recently, Vox Duo recorded a Christmas concert as part of Live Music Now Scotland for the National Galleries of Scotland in the Great Hall in the Scottish National Portrait Gallery. 

In 2021 Vox Duo began an exciting new venture collaborating with the Earthtones Trio, recording new compositions by composer Euan Stevenson. In December 2021, Vox Duo released a recording with Earthtones Trio, which has been broadcast on BBC Radio 4 Woman’s Hour. Vox Duo now work with iOcco Music as iOcco Music Artists.

Both completed their postgraduate studies at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in June 2022, having both gained a First-Class Honours Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance in 2020 also at the RCS under the tutelage of Wilma MacDougall.

 

Below you can learn a little more about each of us.

Karla Grant

Karla Grant is a Scottish soprano currently based in London, continuing her vocal development with Susan Waters. Karla studied at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and graduated with a Masters and a First-Class Honours Bachelor of Music in Vocal Studies while under the tutelage of Wilma MacDougall.

Karla’s recent engagements include soprano soloist in Haydn’s Creation with the Jersey Festival Chorus, an Emerging Artist recital at Oxford Lieder, the role of Pamina in Weimar, Germany at the Lyric Opera Studio and the role of Sandman in the Alexander Gibson Opera School’s production of Hänsel und Gretel 2022. Karla enjoys performing in choruses, most recently in the chorus of Beethoven’s Fidelio with Philharmonia Voices, conducted by Donald Runnicles alongside renowned artist Sir Willard White as part of the Edinburgh International Festival. Opera scene roles include Gretel (Hänsel und Gretel, Humperdinck) at a short course with the National Opera Studio, and Vixen (The Cunning Little Vixen, Janáček), Giulietta (I Capuleti e i Montecchi, Bellini), Susanna (Le Nozze di Figaro, Mozart), and Calisto (La Calisto, Cavalli) at the RCS. In the summer of 2020, Karla took part in a workshop with British Youth Opera and in 2017 and 2019 Karla performed in the New Generation Festival as part of the chorus in Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore and Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro in Florence, Italy.

Karla was recently awarded First Prize in the Governor’s Recital Prize for Singing, and Highly Commended in the Elgar Spedding Memorial Prize for Lieder at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. This year, Karla is a Leeds Lieder Festival Young Artist 2022 and Oxford Lieder Young Artist 2022/23. Karla has had the wonderful opportunity to perform in masterclasses with renowned artists Dame Janet Baker, Julius Drake, Simon Lepper, Mark Padmore, Chris Glynn, Susan Manhoff, Dorothea Röschmann, Graham Johnson OBE and Malcolm Martineau.

Upcoming engagements include: female chorus for Tosca and Suor Angelica at the Grange Park Opera Festival.

Julia Solomon

Julia Solomon is a British-Brazilian mezzo-soprano with a Masters in Vocal Performance at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland under the tutelage of Wilma MacDougall, having gained a First Class Honours Bachelor of Music (Vocal Studies) in 2020 also at the RCS. Now based in London, Julia is continuing her vocal development privately with Susan Waters and is currently a choral scholar for St Stephen’s Church, Dulwich 2022/23 and Sloane Square Choral Society 2022/23.

Most recently Julia performed the role of Prince Orlofsky in Strauss’ Die Fledermaus at Berlin Opera Academy. Opera scene roles include Carmen (Carmen, Bizet), Fox (The Cunning Little Vixen, Janáček), Sesto (Giulio Cesare, Handel), Idamante (Idomeneo, Mozart) at the RCS and Hänsel (Hänsel und Gretel, Humperdink) during a National Opera Studio summer course and Olga (Eugene Onegin, Tchaikovsky) at the AIMS International Music School.

With RCS, Julia has been involved in productions of Prokofiev’s The Fiery Angel (Scottish Opera 2017), Dove’s The Day After (2018), Weill’s Street Scene (2018) and the UK staged premier of Heggie’s Dead Man Walking (2019) in which she additionally performed the role of the Paralegal. Julia has also appeared in the chorus of Lucia di Lammermoor (Donizetti, Dorset Opera, 2019), Nabucco (Verdi, Dorset Opera 2019), and Le Nozze di Figaro (Mozart, The New Generation Festival, 2019).

In 2020 Julia was a finalist in the AESS Courtney Kenny Award and the Governors’ Recital Prize for Singing. In 2022 she was awarded Highly Commended in the Elgar Spedding Memorial Prize and 3rd Prize in the International Concurso Brasileiro de Canto Maria Callas in São Paulo. Julia has been honoured to perform in Masterclasses with Malcolm Martineu, Karen Cargill, Ralph Strehle and Chris Underwood.

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Media & Recordings

Here you will find recordings and video of vox duo performances