Felicity Buckland

Felicity received a BMus 1st Class Hons at the RNCM where she won the Eunice Pettigrew Prize, and on ENO’s Opera Works programme. She studies with Mary Plazas.

After welcoming her first child with her husband, tenor Jonathan Cooke in September, Felicity was back onstage 4 weeks later with performances of Mendelssohn Die Erste Wahlpurgisnacht, Handel Messiah, and Tippett's A Child of Our Time across the UK. In Spring 2023 she will return to ENO and to Philip Glass as a Daughter of Akhnaten in Phelim McDermott's celebrated production. 

Felicity has a keen interest in music education and community engagement. She has developed a relationship with Baseless Fabric Theatre, a company specialising in creating free promenade opera in public community spaces, and opened their inaugural show as Sadie in new commission Drifting Dragons in 2016, returning in 2017 and 2018 as Dorabella in Cosi fan Tutte. For English Touring Opera she sang Mama in Dust Child, a specially-composed opera for children with special educational needs, and was a chorus mentor for Birmingham Opera's ambitious production of Tippett's The Ice Break. She performed as Cherubino, Hansel and Orfeo in Trouser Power as part of Pride Family Sunday at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, and sits on the audition panel and as a vocal tutor for the National Youth Choirs of Great Britain. She has sung in online concerts in care homes for Constella OperaBallet’s Connecting Stars programme, and has run opera taster workshops for thousands of young people in primary and secondary schools across the country. Felicity has taught at Blackheath Conservatoire since 2010.

Though the Covid-19 pandemic stalled many of her 2020/21 plans, Felicity was still lucky enough to complete several exciting engagements: she spent the Autumn of 2020 in Vienna, singing the role of Lily alongside chorus in Porgy and Bess at the Theater an der Wien, and in 2021 sang Wellgunde in The Rhinegold for Birmingham Opera. The 2021/22 season saw her make her English National Opera solo debut as Kasturbai in their critically acclaimed production of Philip Glass’ Satyagraha. Other engagements included chorus in Tosca and Peter Grimes at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Parsifal for Opera North, and the title role in Carmen for Baseless Fabric Theatre/Grimeborn at the Arcola, alongside several solo oratorio concerts including Verdi Requiem and The Dream of Gerontius.

Since performing in the Olivier Award-winning ensemble and covering Lily in ENO's smash-hit Porgy and Bess, Felicity has enjoyed many engagements at the Coliseum, including understudying roles in Carmen, The Valkyrie, the Mask of Orpheus (Birtwistle), and Orpheus in the Underworld.

Past operatic highlights include: Carmen (Kentish Opera), Rosina The Barber of Seville (Surrey Opera), La Cenerentola (High Time); Cherubino The Marriage of Figaro (Opera Up Close); Olga Eugene Onegin (Opera Up Close, Opera South East, and Mid Wales Opera cover); 3rd Lady The Magic Flute (Opera Up Close); Rossweisse Die Walküre (Grange Park Opera); Maddalena Rigoletto (Park Opera); and Paquette Candide and cover Suzuki Madama Butterfly (West Green House Opera). She has sung chorus for Opera North, Opera Holland Park, Grange Park Opera, English Touring Opera, Cantiere Internazionale D'Arte, and Opéra de Baugé.

Solo oratorio highlights inclue Elgar The Dream of Gerontius, Handel Messiah & Dixit Dominus, Mozart Requiem, Verdi Requiem, Bach St Matthew Passion, Rossini Petite Messe Solennelle, Haydn Nelson Mass & Theresien Mass, Durufle Requiem, Vivaldi Gloria, Mendelssohn Elijah, Rutter Feel the Spirit, Smythe Mass in D and Jenkins The Armed Man, conducted by the composer at Royal Festival Hall. She also performs and records as a professional consort and session singer, including appearing on Eric Whitacre’s Grammy Award-winning choral disc, Light and Gold.