Dame Joan Alston Sutherland

Biography by Pia

When was she born?/Early years.

• Joan Sutherland was born to in Sydney.

• Attended St Catherine's School.• Her mother, a mezzo-soprano,

had taken voice lessons.• Sutherland was 18 years old

when she began studying voice lesson with John and Aida Dickens.

• She went to London to study at the Opera School of the Royal College of Music.

Why is she famous?• One of the most remarkable female

opera singers.• She possessed a voice of beauty and

power.• Combining extraordinary agility,

accurate intonation, pinpoint staccatos.

• A splendid trill and a tremendous upper register.

• Music critics often complained about the imprecision

Career highlights• Her double LP set won the Grammy Award for Best Classical

Performance – Vocal Soloist in 1962.• She sang Lucia to great acclaim in Paris at La Scala and the

Metropolitan Opera. • Also in 1960, she sang a superb Alcina at La Fenice, Venic,• where she was nicknamed La Stupenda ("The Stunning One").

Retirement and Death

• Announced retirement in 2007.• Since then , Sutherland made relatively

few public appearances, preferring privacy.

• Won the Royal Philharmonic Society's gold medal.

• Sang in The Cardiff Singer of the World competition.

• On 11 October 2010, Sutherland died in her home at Les Avants in Switzerland.

Bibliography• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joan_Sutherland• http://www.google.com.au/imghp?hl=en&tab=wi