BIOGRAPHY

Australian mezzo soprano Joslyn Rechter has worked extensively as a stage, concert and recital artist, and has been a soloist with Opera Australia, and the Cologne and Wuppertal Opera companies. Joslyn studied at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, gaining Bachelor of Music and a Diploma in Operatic art. Her first professional engagement after graduation was as a member of the ensemble and Madame Giry understudy in the Australian production of Lloyd-Webber's Phantom of the Opera. In 1998 Opera Australia engaged Joslyn as a member of the Young Artist program, then later as a soloist with the company, where her roles included Annio in La Clemenza di Tito, Siébel in Faust, The Fox in The Cunning Little Vixen and Mercédès in Carmen. In addition to her stage roles, she also performed in the hugely popular Opera in the Domain and New Year's Eve concerts at the Sydney Opera House. Joslyn was invited to return to Opera Australia in 2006 as a guest artist to sing Cherubino in Le Nozze di Figaro.

Joslyn was also a member of OzOpera, the touring and festival division of Opera Australia, where she played the Third Lady in The Magic Flute in locations across the length and breadth of the country , and also performed the title role in Händel's Orlando which was presented in conjunction with the 1999 Melbourne International Festival of the Arts. In May 2000, Opera Foundation Australia awarded Joslyn the Covent Garden Scholarship, allowing her to study at the prestigious National Opera Studio in London, and the following year awarded her the German Operatic Award, which included a contract with the Cologne Opera in the Young Artist Studio. Cologne Opera extended her contract with the studio for another year, and then offered her a position as a soloist with the company, where her major roles included Floßhilde in Das Rheingold and Götterdämmerung, Roßweiße in Die Walküre, Dulcinée in Massenet's Don Quichotte and a critically acclaimed portrayed of Idamante in Idomeneo, for which she was nominated as Best Up and Coming Singer by Opernwelt magazine. Joslyn was then engaged a principal artist with the Wuppertal Opera from 2005 to 2014, and sang over thirty roles with the company during her time there, with repertoire ranging from early music through to world premieres. Major roles included Penelope in Monteverdi's Il Ritorno d'Ulisse in Patria, by Händel both Ruggiero in Alcina and the title role in the Siroe, Meg Page in Falstaff, Prince Orlofsky in Die Fledermaus, Adelaide in Strauss' Arabella, Bianca in Zemlinky's Eine Florentinische Tragödie, Mrs Sedley Peter Grimes and The Maid in Fortner's Blood Wedding, which was also released on DVD.

Joslyn's concert repertoire has included performances with the Melbourne, Tasmanian and Sydney Symphony Orchestras, the Orchestra of the Welsh National Opera, The Estonion National Orchestra and with many orchestras and chamber ensembles in Germany, including Hagen, Wuppertal and the Cologne Philharmonic. Major awards have included study and performances opportunities with the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, the American Institute of Musical Studies Fellowship in Graz, and a scholarship awarded by The Wager Society in Cologne to attend performances at the Bayreuth Festival. Joslyn most recently portrayed the Countess de la Roche in Gurlitt's Soldaten with Theater Osnabrück, and has also performed for the opera companies of Essen, Karlsrühe, Bonn and Koblenz, The Young Artists Company in Freiburg and the Operette Salon in Wuppertal, with whom she has performed concert versions of Sylva in The Gypsy Princess and Evelyn Valera in Maske in Blau.

ENGAGEMENTS
2005-14		Wuppertaler Bühnen		Principal Artist
2001-05		Oper Köln		Principal Artist and Opera Studio
1997-99		Opera Australia		Principal Artist & Young Artists' Programme
1996-97		Phantom der Oper		Ensemble / Madame Giry understudy
EDUCATION and TRAINING
2001 - 03		Oper Köln		Opera Studio
2000 - 01		National Opera Studio, London		National Opera Studio Master's Course
1998		Opera Australia		Young Artists' Programme
1992 - 94		Sydney Conservatorium of Music		Diploma in Operatic Art
1989 - 92		Sydney Conservatorium of Music		Bachelor Of Music
1983 - 88		The University High School, Melbourne		Gifted Children's program / HSC Music
AWARDS / SCHOLARSHIPS / NOMINATIONS
2008		Stipendiatin		Richard Wagner Verband Köln
2005		Nominierung als Nachwuchssängerin des Jahres		Opernwelt Magazine
2001		German Operatic Award, Cologne		Opera Foundation Australia
2000		Covent Garden National Opera Studio Scholarship, London		Opera Foundation Australia
2000		Lady Galleghan Scholarship for Voice, London		Opera Foundation Australia
2000		American Institute Of Musical Studies Fellowship, Graz		Opera Foundation Australia
DANCE and MOVEMENT TRAINING
1989 - 2014		Conservatorium, Opern Studio und Engagements laufenden und spezialisierende Ausbildung für Rollen		Akido/Ballroom / Bauchtanz / Weapons Flamenco/ Harness training/Classical ballet
2000		American Institute Of Musical Studies Fellowship, Graz		Stage Combat and Fencing
1976 - 84		Victorian Ballet School, Melbourne, Australien		Classical and Modern ballet
1981		Children's Dance Theater, Melbourne, Australien		Classical and Character ballet