Heather Shipp studied at Trinity College of Music, London and the National Opera Studio. Notable engagements include Magdalene in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Zaida in Il Turco in Italia and Wellgunde in the Ring Cycle (Royal Opera House, Covent Garden), Gymnasiast in Lulu (ROH and Teatro Real, Madrid), Carmen (title role), 2nd Norn in Götterdämmerung, Sorceress in Dido and Aeneas, Mad Margaret in Ruddigore (Opera North), Minskwoman in Flight (Adelaide Festival), April Showers in Playing Away, Moppet in Paul Bunyan, Donna in Skin Deep and Diana Devereux in Of Thee I Sing (Bregenz Festival), Girl 3 in Sawer’s From Morning to Midnight and Ofred’s Double in The Handmaid’s Tale (ENO), Carmen (Bermuda, ETO and Diva Opera), Adalgisa in Norma and Maddalena Rigoletto (Opera Holland Park).

Her interest in contemporary music was initiated by a recital for the Park Lane Group at the Purcell Room where she performed Nicholas Maw’s The Voice of Love and premiered David Matthews’ From Coastal Stations. She has since performed Miss Donnithorne’s Maggot by Maxwell Davies, Pierrot Lunaire by Schoenberg and Nouvelles Aventures by Ligeti. World premieres include Fiona in Muhly’s Two Boys (English National Opera), Donna in Sawer’s Skin Deep (Opera North and subsequently Royal Danish Opera), Eleanor in Roxanna Panufnik’s The Music Programme (Polish National Opera) and Julian Grant’s Hot House (ROH, part of London 2012 Cultural Olympiad).

Concerts have taken her across the globe, with the world’s leading orchestras. Oratorio and recital repertoire includes Elgar’s The Kingdom, The Dream of Gerontius, Chaussons’s Poème de l’amour et de la mer, Mahler’s Lieder eines Fahrenden Gesellen, El amor Brujo and Elgar’s Sea Pictures.

Recordings include the title role in Rutland Boughton’s Queen of Cornwall (Dutton), Honour in Tom Jones (Naxos) and chamber versions of both Mahler’s Fourth Symphony and Les nuits d’été (Somm).