Vocal Consultant, Répétiteur

Brenda Hurley

Norma

Biography

Brenda Hurley is vocal consultant for the Irish National Opera Studio and is a member of the vocal staff of the Royal Irish Academy of Music. She is also Professor of Opera Mentoring at the Royal Academy of Music in London and is regarded as one of the leading vocal coaches of her generation. In the course of a long international career, she has worked with many of the world’s leading conductors, directors and singers. From 2012-20 she directed the International Opera Studio in Zurich and from 2020-24 she was the Head of Opera at the Royal Academy of Music in London. As pianist and vocal coach she has worked at the Metropolitan Opera New York, Salzburger Festspiele, Wexford Opera Festival, Scottish Opera, Teatro Massimo di Palermo, Opera North, the Dutch National Opera & Ballet, English National Opera, Opéra national de Paris, the Ruhr Triennale, Opera Zuid and Glyndebourne, where she received the Janni Strasser Award for the best répétiteur. As a passionate advocate of young singers, Brenda coaches for training programmes at Salzburger Festspiele’s prestigious Young Singers Project, the Royal Ballet & Opera, The National Opera Studio, the Young Artists Training Programme, Tokyo, Jerwood Young Artists Programme, Glyndebourne, the Opera Academy Teatr Wielki in Polish National Opera and the Opera Studio of the Dutch National Opera in Amsterdam. She is a regular jury member of international singing competitions, including the Moniuszko International Singing Competition, Warsaw and the International Opera Awards and she is Artistic Advisor to Longborough Festival Opera.

May 2026