About
Born in 1990, Australian soprano Kiandra Howarth graduated in 2010 from the Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University with a Bachelor of Music (Honours). From 2009-2012 Kiandra was a member of the Opera Queensland and Opera Australia Young Artist Programmes respectively, and made her international debut as Norina in Don Pasquale in Tokyo, 2012.
In autumn 2012 Kiandra began a one-year intensive study program at the Mozarteum University Salzburg where she performed Contessa in Le Nozze di Figaro, whilst also making her Italian debut as Belinda in Dido and Aeneas for the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma at the Terme di Caracalla. In summer 2013 she returned to Salzburg as Konstanze in Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Pamina in Die Zauberflöte, Der Friedensbote in Rienzi and Voce dal Cielo in Don Carlos as part of the Salzburger Festspiele Young Singers Project.
From 2013-2015 Kiandra was a member of the prestigious Jette Parker Artist Programme at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, during which time she performed numerous solo recitals and in main-stage productions including: Zweites Blumenmädchen in Parsifal (Pappano/Langridge), Sœur Constance in Dialogues des Carmélites (Rattle/Carsen), Echo in Ariadne auf Naxos (Pappano/Loy), Adina and Giannetta in L'elisir d'amore (Rustioni/Pelly).
During her time in London, Kiandra performed regularly at many notable concert venues, including: the role of Costanza in Vivaldi's Griselda at Cadogan Hall, Mahler's Symphony № 2 at the Barbican Centre, the title role in Hasse's Piramo and Tisbe at Cadogan Hall and a Samling Gala concert at Wigmore Hall accompanied by Malcolm Martineau and James Baillieu.
After graduating from the Jette Parker Artist Programme in the summer of 2015, Kiandra went on to make her debut in houses across Europe, the UK and Asia, notably: as First Niece in Peter Grimes at Theater an der Wien (Meister/Loy); Donna Anna in Don Giovanni in Basel (Nielsen/Jones), Nancy and Luxembourg (Gimeno/Sivadier) and Guangzhou (Grazioli/Laffargue); Zweites Blumenmädchen in Parsifal in Festspielhaus Baden-Baden (Rattle/Dorn) and at the Berliner Philharmonie (Rattle); Konstanze in Die Entführung aus dem Serail at the Grange Festival (Tingaud/Copley); La Vierge in Jeanne d'Arc au bûcher at the Spoleto Festival dei Due Mondi (Rhorer/Jacquot); Pamina in Die Zauberflöte at Teatro dell’Opera di Roma (Nánási/Kosky); Mimì in La bohème in Staatstheater Klagenfurt (Viotti/Scholz); Haydn- and Mozart-Requiem in the Château de Versailles (King); the title role in Mascagni's Iris at Scottish Opera (Stratford); Erste Dame in Die Zauberflöte at the Bayerische Staatsoper (Fisch/Everding) and Royal Opera House (Hussain/McVicar); 7 Deaths of Maria Callas at the Bayerische Staatsoper (Gamzou/Abramović); Dorota in Schwanda der Dudelsackpfeifer at the Komische Oper Berlin (Rubikis/Homoki); and Freia in Das Rheingold at Opernhaus Zürich (Noseda/Homoki).
Since the summer of 2021 Kiandra has been a member of the ensemble at the Staatsoper Hannover, and has performed roles including: Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte (Spotti/Berger), Desdemona in Otello (Zilias/Karamann), Contessa in Le nozze di Figaro (Cilona/Steier), Alcina in Alcina (Bates/Steier), Mimì in La bohème (Hendry/Alexander), Madame Lidoine in Dialogues des Carmélites (Cilona/Hilsdorf), and the title role in Rusalka (Zilias/Gürbaca).
In the 2023-24 season to date Kiandra has performed: Freia in Das Rheingold at the Royal Opera House (Pappano/Kosky), Gala concerts with the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra and The Mozartists.
Future highlights include: Desdemona in Otello (Hendry/Karamann), role debut of Regan in Reimann's Lear at the Staatsoper Hannover (Zilias/Gibbons), Freia in Der Ring des Nibelungen at Opernhaus Zürich (Noseda/Homoki) and a company debut with Victorian Opera as Magda in Puccini's La Rondine.