London-based mezzo-soprano Rosie Middleton specialises in new music, her artistic practice stretching across experimental sound, opera and performance art. Her extensive list of collaborators includes hcmf// featured artists Laura Bowler and Riot Ensemble, plus the likes of Phaedra Ensemble, Esin Gunduz and Mira Calix. She counts the 2020 Michiko Hirayama Prize for experimental vocal music among her awards.
Performing as part of the hcmf// shorts programme in 2023, Rosie presented Use of Plastic May Cause Suffocation, an excerpt from her ‘opera about opera’, PLASTIC BODIES. The work engages the role of the audience as both participant and voyeur, shining a blacklight on hidden abuse in the industry of opera. Co-created with Amy Bryce, Maya-Leigh Rosenwasser and Catherine Valve, this darkly funny yet brutally grounded multimedia work combines voice, film, electronics and verbatim text in its portrayal of intimacy, ‘femininity’ and power as Rosie gives voice to experiences in an industry yet to face up to #metoo.
Photo: Rosie Middleton © Bobby Shoebotham