Ali Darragh

Born in County Antrim, Northern Ireland, Ali Darragh has performed with many of the leading early music ensembles. Highlights of these include performances of Bach’s St Matthew Passion (with Collegium Vocale, Gent /Philippe Herreweghe) and Blow’s Venus and Adonis (with The Musicians of the Globe Theatre, London). She has also sung frequently with the Gramophone and MIDEM award-winning Dunedin Consort in works such as Handel’s Messiah, Dixit Dominus, and Bach’s B Minor Mass, making her solo CD debut with the Consort in a recording of Bach’s St Matthew Passion released by Linn Records.

Ali is active as a soloist and recitalist, with highlights including performances at the Edinburgh Festival and in Glasgow. She has featured several times in the Early Music Wells series, including a performance of Handel’s Neun deutsche Arien, and original Handel Messiah duets with duet partner Lesley Jane Rogers. Ali was also a soloist in a Gala Concert with Wells Cathedral Choir and soloists Dame Emma Kirkby, James Bowman CBE, Daniel Norman and Neal Davies (Bach’s Magnificat and Handel Utrecht Te Deum and Jubilate). She performs regularly as a soloist with choral societies across the UK, with recent performances including Mozart’s Mass in C minor and Requiem; Haydn’s Nelson Mass; Handel’s Messiah and Acis and Galatea; Bach’s St John and St Matthew Passions, B Minor Mass and Magnificat; and Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas.

She is in demand for film music, with recent performances and recordings including the solo theme tune for the mini-series ‘Moby Dick’ (Ethan Hawkes, Donald Sutherland, Gillian Anderson, William Hurt); specialist vocal consort work for the upcoming Netflix Original ‘The Outlaw King’ (Chris Pine as Robert the Bruce); and for an exciting new project ‘The Beauty of Science’ with film composer Richard G. Mitchell. Scored for solo soprano, strings and instrumental devices, Mitchell references the original Latin extracts of Isaac Newton’s book PRINCIPIA, which was submitted to the Royal Society in 1687.

Ali is also an architectural historian, specialising in institutional buildings. As such she has worked in public and private archives, for national monuments records and for organisations such as the Bath Preservation Trust and the Royal Fine Art Commission. She has also worked in outreach and communication for charities and has been involved with Music in Hospitals, a charity whose focus in to bring high quality live music to those in hospitals and care settings.