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From Pamina to Anne Frank

Polly Ott in Grigory Frid's The Diary of Anne Frank at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2016
Credit: Mario Bergmann

Christchurch Arts Excellence Award recipient coloratura soprano Polly Ott graduated with Distinction with a Master of Arts in Opera from Die Universität der Künste Berlin in 2015 and has had a full diary since then. Here she sends an update from the Edinburgh Fringe.

As I write this, we are now into our last week of performances at the the Edinburgh Fringe Festival! It’s been an exciting time performing the mono-opera ‘The Diary of Anne Frank‘ by Grigori Frid. The opera was produced by About Turn Theatre, whose aim is to provide emerging artists with opportunities to help bridge the gap between university and the professional market. As one of my strengths and passions is contemporary music, I was thrilled to have been selected to play the role of Anne Frank.

It has been a very rewarding challenge preparing and performing this work. For forty-five minutes I am on the stage alone, reciting twenty chosen chapters out of Anne Frank’s diary. With huge critical success, including a five star review from the Herald Scotland, About Turn Theatre intend on putting on more performances later this year in London and I would love to be able to perform this work someday in New Zealand.

It’s been a fantastic year including my debut performance of Pamina in Die Zauberflöte in Hamburg, a lovely recital for the Christchurch Music Centre, a holiday at home in New Zealand, and I was honoured to perform at this year’s ANZAC Day ceremony organised by the New Zealand Embassy in Berlin.

Upcoming performances include concerts with guitarist Stefan Degel throughout Germany, followed by a production of Haydn’s ‘Il mondo della luna‘ with the Kammeroper München (Munich Chamber Opera), where I will play the role of Clarice. I look forward to sharing more updates again soon! Please feel free to follow me on Facebook at Polly Ott Soprano and via my website at www.pollyottsoprano.com.

“Soprano Polly Ott is a fantastic communicator, simultaneously radiating the exuberance and vulnerability of a young teenage girl, with an alluring voice... ”

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