Deborah Humble

Deborah Humble began her musical education in Adelaide and continued her studies in Melbourne completing a Master of Music and Diplomas of Arts and Education. In 1995 she was a Young Artist with the Victoria State Opera and in 2002 became a principal artist with Opera Australia where her roles included Dido (Dido and Aeneas), Mercedes (Carmen), Clarissa(The Love For Three Oranges, recorded for Chandos Records), Sonyetka (Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk), Rosette (Manon) and the title role in Gilbert and Sullivan’s Iolanthe.  In 2004 she was awarded the prestigious Dame Joan Sutherland Scholarship and, the following year, became a Principal Mezzo with the State Opera of Hamburg.

It was for her Wagner roles in Hamburg’s Ring Cycle that she received international acclaim.Conducted by Simone Young and directed by Claus Guth, Deborah began with Erda in Das Rheingold in 2008 and went on to sing Schwertleitein Die Walküre, Erda in Siegfried and both 1st Norn and Waltrautein Götterdämmerung.  She recorded these roles for the Oehms record label and, in early 2011, repeated the roles in two complete cycles.  In 2008 she was a finalist in the International Wagner Competition held in Seattle.  International engagements have included appearances at the Edinburgh Festival, Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, Salzburg Easter Festival, and with Singapore Lyric Opera, Seattle Symphony, Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra, Stuttgart Philharmonic, Hamburg Philharmonic, London Mozart Players, British Youth Opera and the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris.