{{short description|Irish soprano}} {{blp refimprove|date=January 2022}} {{use dmy dates|date=January 2022}} {{use Irish English|date=January 2022}} '''Virginia Kerr''' (born 14 May 1954)<ref>''The Encyclopaedia of Music in Ireland'', ed. Harry White & Barra Boydell (Dublin: UCD Press, 2013), p. 565.</ref> is an Irish soprano who appears frequently in concerts, opera, oratorio and recitals.
She has sung with many of the world's leading orchestras, including the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, The Hallé and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestras. Her operatic and concert performances have also taken her to Far East, Russia and North and South America.{{cn|date=January 2022}}
At the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden she has sung the roles of Jennifer in ''The Midsummer Marriage'', Frau in ''Erwartung'', Ortlinde in ''Die Walküre'', Guinivere in ''Gawain''. She has also sung with Opera Theatre Company, Opera Ireland, Leipzig Opera, Scottish Opera, Opera North, Opera de Nantes and the Glyndebourne Festival Opera. She sang with the Glyndebourne Festival Opera at the BBC Proms at the Royal Albert Hall.{{cn|date=January 2022}}
Kerr is a keen advocate of contemporary music. She sang the role of Antonia Frieth in the European and Italian premiere of Michael Berkeley's opera ''For You''. The libretto was written by the British author Ian McEwan.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.michaelberkeley.co.uk| title = Michael Berkeley - composer & broadcaster}} </ref>
As of March 2024, Kerr was listed as a Professor of Vocal Studies at the Royal Irish Academy of Music.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date= 4 September 2019|title=Virginia Kerr {{!}} RIAM |url=https://www.riam.ie/about/our-people/virginia-kerr |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240329032748/https://www.riam.ie/about/our-people/virginia-kerr |archive-date=2024-03-29 |access-date=2024-03-29 |website=Royal Irish Academy of Music |language=en}}</ref> She was formerly the chairperson of the Opera Theatre Company.<ref name=":0" />
==Discography== *''My Heart and I'', solo CD *''Ultima Rerum'', Gerard Victory *''Requiem/The Veiled Prophet of Khorassan'', Sir Charles Villiers Stanford
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *{{official|https://www.virginiakerr.ie/}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Kerr, Virginia}} Category:1954 births Category:Academic staff of the Royal Irish Academy of Music Category:Alumni of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama Category:20th-century Irish women opera singers Category:Irish operatic sopranos Category:Living people Category:21st-century Irish women opera singers Category:Musicians from County Meath Category:People from Dunboyne