An international opera soprano and educator who has performed on the world’s top concert stages has been appointed Head of Vocal Performance at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.

Jane Irwin will join Scotland’s national conservatoire in April, where she’ll guide the next generation of classical singers.

Jane’s career has taken her all over the UK, Europe and America, from New York’s Carnegie Hall to London’s Royal Opera House. She is a guest teaching artist at RCS and will join the conservatoire from her current role as Professor of Singing at the Royal Northern College of Music.

Commenting on her appointment, Jane Irwin said: “I just landed my dream job! It will be a privilege to work alongside such experienced and talented teachers, helping to nurture the next generation of singers in the safe and stimulating environment that RCS provides.”

Professor Aaron Shorr, Director of Music at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, said: “Jane Irwin’s highly distinguished career has taken her around the world, and she brings a wealth of experience from the concert stage along with her record of achievement as one of the country’s finest voice teachers.

“We are thrilled to have an artist of Jane’s calibre at the helm of our Vocal Performance department and look forward to welcoming Jane to RCS in April when she will begin her new role.”

Jane studied music at Lancaster University and singing at the Royal Northern College of Music. As a concert and recital singer, she has performed at the BBC Proms, the Wigmore Hall, the Edinburgh International Festival, the Concertgebouw, Boston Symphony Hall and the Musikverein, Vienna.

She has collaborated with the Deutsche Symphony Orchester, Orchestre de Paris, San Paolo Symphony, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Pittsburgh Symphony, San Francisco Symphony, Zurich Tonhalle and many more, with such conductors as Sir Simon Rattle, Sir Andrew Davis, Donald Runnicles, Antonio Pappano and Sir Mark Elder.

Operatic appearances have included Ring Cycles at Bayreuth, ROH and Scottish Opera, and other leading roles with Deutsche Oper, Berlin, San Francisco Opera, Chicago Lyric Opera and the major British companies.

The Vocal Performance department at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, which offers undergraduate and postgraduate degree programmes, aims to help students fulfil their potential as singers and independent, distinctive artists.

Vocal Performance graduates include Catriona Morison, Anush Hovhannisyan and Dominic Barberi who, in 2017, were finalists in the Cardiff Singer of the World competition, with Catriona winning both the song prize and the overall competition first prize, becoming the first British singer to ever win. Svetlina Stoyanova won the prestigious German competition Neue Stimmen during her studies at RCS.

Recent graduates have been offered places on the Covent Garden Jette Parker scheme, the National Opera Studio, the Welsh International Academy of Voice, the International Opera Studio Staatsoper Berlin, the Salzburg Festival Young Singers Project, Opera Studio Bregenz Festival, the Verbier Academy, as well as contracts in professional houses including the Royal Opera House, Staatsoper Berlin, Deutsche Oper Berlin, English National Opera, Scottish Opera, Opera North, Welsh National and Royal Opera Den Norske.