Voice Category: Soprano
Born: 11 September

One of the most versatile singers before the public today, Catherine Bott is equally celebrated as a virtuoso of early vocal music as well as the most taxing contemporary scores. It is a luminous voice allied to a rare intelligence. Bott began her career in a traditional way with studies at the Guildhall School of Music in London with renowned teacher Arthur Reckless. However, she graduated at a time when the early music movement was taking off and she found she had an affinity for this special repertoire which demanded flexibility and a sense of improvisation not cultivated by strictly 'classical' opera singers.

The demands of making her way as a young professional also brought Catherine Bott into the world of modern music and soon she found herself in demand not only by the likes of Philip Pickett and the New London Consort, but also by cutting edge composers Michael Nyman and Michael Torke, among others.

Bott has concentrated on orchestral, chamber and recital programs although she has participated in opera recordings, most tellingly in the L'Oiseau Lyre recording of Purcell's Dido and Aeneas with Christopher Hogwood. Her recording career on the Universal labels has included no fewer than four solo recitals and scores of ensemble recordings.