Shortlisted for a Royal Philharmonic Society Award in the category of Young Artist, Cumbrian contralto Jess Dandy has been praised for her instrument of velvety plangent timbre, and her artistic maturity of remarkable immediacy. Jess was the contralto soloist at the First Night of the BBC Proms 2021, singing Vaughan Williams Serenade to Music and a new commission by Sir James MacMillan. She has appeared on the concert platform with the Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique, The English Concert, Florilegium, BBC National Orchestra & Chorus of Wales, Academy of Ancient Music, The Dunedin Consort, BBC Symphony Orchestra, La Serenissima and Les Arts Florissants; collaborating with conductors including Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Harry Bicket, Trevor Pinnock, John Butt, William Christie, Kristian Bezuidenhout and Stephen Layton. Other recent highlights include a series of BBC Radio 3 broadcasts which included Jess’s Wigmore Hall debut, and a solo recital with Malcolm Martineau at Perth Concert Hall. Jess is co-founder of the mental health initiative, SongPath, which encourages creative and restorative connection on therapeutically curated musical walking trails in beautiful surroundings.