The President and Committee of Newcastle Music Festival are delighted to announce that mezzo soprano Deborah Humble has accepted our invitation to become our first Festival Patron. Deborah Humble has had a warm and dedicated association with Newcastle Music Festival since its inception in 2016 when she opened the festival with its very first concert at Christ Church Cathedral on August 11, 2016, singing works by Brahms, Wagner and Lehár. She then conducted the first vocal masterclass for the festival, a welcome inclusion which was repeated for the next two years. In 2017 Deborah, by then a Newcastle resident, appeared with Orava Quartet presenting Britten’s Sea Pictures. Other performances were with guitarists Andrew Blanch and Ariel Nurhadi in 2018, and in the Festival Finale in 2019, singing de Falla’s Spanish Songs and “Dido’s Lament” from Dido and Aeneas. An enthusiastic attendee at many concerts, Deborah provided tremendous inspiration and support to the committee. The appearance and support of such a noted internationally known artist greatly assisted in bringing the festival into greater national prominence.

Deborah has also appeared in recent years with the Newcastle Youth Orchestra, demonstrating her ongoing commitment to supporting music and music education in our city. In response to our invitation, Deborah wrote “I have always believed in the importance of bringing high quality music to local communities, and the hard-working people behind the Newcastle Music Festival have certainly achieved that. Providing important performance opportunities for Australian artists, and showcasing some of the world’s best musical talent, the festival has successfully brought our city into the national and international spotlight.”

British-Australian mezzo-soprano Deborah Humble is known internationally for her commanding performances of the dramatic and Wagnerian repertoire. In 2025, she sings Verdi’s Requiem with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra.

Her extensive appearances in Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen include Erda and Waltraute in three full cycles with Melbourne Opera—roles also performed in multiple productions for Opera Australia, alongside her recent role debut as Fricka. She sang Erda in Siegfried (Boston Symphony, Hong Kong Philharmonic, Halle Opera), Erda in Das Rheingold (Hong Kong Philharmonic, Saffron Opera Group), and Wellgunde in Götterdämmerung (Saffron Opera Group), with further complete cycles in Bari and Ludwigshafen. For Hamburg State Opera, she sang Erda, Waltraute and Schwertleite. Deborah also performed Waltraute in Die Walküre with Sydney Symphony.

Deborah’s Australian roles include Amneris in Aida and Brigitta in Die tote Stadt (Opera Australia), and Dalila in Samson et Dalila and Magdalena in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (Melbourne Opera). In concert, she sang the Princess in Suor Angelica with Melbourne Opera and performed Clairon in Capriccio and Clytemnestra in Elektra with Victorian Opera. Internationally, she has appeared as Mary in Der fliegende Holländer (Opéra de Lille and Hamburg); Suzuki in Madama Butterfly, Hänsel in Hänsel und Gretel, Olga in Eugene Onegin (Hamburg); and Alisa in Lucia di Lammermoor (Hamburg and Teatro Mario del Monaco). She sang Brangäne in Tristan und Isolde with the Mexico City Symphony and Brigitta in Die tote Stadt with the Auckland Symphony Orchestra.

A frequent concert soloist, Deborah’s performances include Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 with Sydney Symphony under Simone Young, celebrating the reopening of the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall (broadcast live on ABC TV and recorded for Deutsche Grammophon), and Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 with West Australian Symphony and at Singapore’s Esplanade Theatre. She has sung Schoenberg’s Gurre-Lieder (Sydney Symphony), Verdi’s Requiem (Sage Concert Hall, UK and Orchestra Wellington), Elgar’s The Kingdom (Melbourne Bach Choir), Mahler’s Symphony No. 3 (Queensland Symphony), Rossini’s Petite messe solennelle (Melbourne Symphony Orchestra), Handel’s Messiah (New Zealand Symphony Orchestra), and the Wesendonck Lieder (Orchestra Wellington).

Her recordings include The Love for Three Oranges with Opera Australia (Chandos, cond. Richard Hickox); and Der Ring des Nibelungen with Staatsoper Hamburg (Oehms, cond. Simone Young) and Hong Kong Philharmonic (Naxos, cond. Jaap van Zweden).

Deborah received critical acclaim and a Green Room Award nomination for her performances as Clytemnestra (Elektra, Victorian Opera) and as Erda and Waltraute in Der Ring des Nibelungen (Melbourne Opera).

© Patrick Togher Artists’ Management 2025