Kiandra Howarth
soprano
Australian soprano Kiandra Howarth has established an impressive international career, earning recognition for her portrayals of opera’s most celebrated lyric soprano roles. Recent seasons have brought significant debuts as the Marschallin in Der Rosenkavalier, Liù in Turandot and Marie/Marietta in Die tote Stadt for Staatsoper Hannover, and the title roles in Arabella and Manon Lescaut for Bühnen Bern. In 2026/2027, she makes her house debut at New National Theater Tokyo as the Marschallin, and adds the title role in Madama Butterfly, Lisa in Pique Dame, and Queen Tye in Akhnaten to her repertoire.
Kiandra has also appeared as the Marschallin and Freia in Das Rheingold for Opernhaus Zürich, Freia for the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Desdemona in Otello for Oper Leipzig, Cio-Cio-San in 7 Deaths of Maria Callas for Bayerische Staatsoper, and Dorotka in Schwanda der Dudelsackpfeifer for Komische Oper Berlin. In Australia, she has sung the Countess in Le nozze di Figaro for Opera Australia and Magda in La rondine for Victorian Opera, while further notable appearances at Staatsoper Hannover have included Desdemona, the title roles in Rusalka and Alcina, Mimì in La bohème, Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte and Madame Lidoine in Dialogues des Carmélites.
Earlier international engagements have seen her perform Donna Anna in Don Giovanni in Basel, Luxembourg, Guangzhou, and Nancy; Konstanze in Die Entführung aus dem Serail for the Grange Festival; the title role in Iris for Scottish Opera; and Erste Dame in Die Zauberflöte for Bayerische Staatsoper and the Royal Opera House Covent Garden. For Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, she has sung Pamina in Die Zauberflöte and Belinda in Dido and Aeneas; for Stadttheater Klagenfurt, Mimì and Alcina. She also sang under the baton of Sir Simon Rattle with the Berliner Philharmoniker at the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden and the Berliner Philharmonie.
Kiandra’s concert work includes appearances in Mozart's Mass in C minor at St Martin-in-the-Fields, Britten's War Requiem and Sibelius's Mythos in Hannover, Verdi's Requiem with Bachchor Hannover, Mozart's Requiem with The King's Consort at the Royal Opera House of Versailles, and Charles Villiers Stanford's Mass Via Victrix with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, recorded live for Lyrita.
A graduate of the Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University, Kiandra was a member of the young artist programmes of both Opera Queensland and Opera Australia, making her international debut as Norina in Don Pasquale in Tokyo. She undertook further study at the Mozarteum University Salzburg and subsequently returned to the city for the Salzburger Festspiele Young Singers Project, where her performances ranged from the Countess, Pamina, and Konstanze to Der Friedensbote in Rienzi and Voce dal Cielo in Don Carlos. She later joined the prestigious Jette Parker Artists Programme at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, where she sang Sœur Constance in Dialogues des Carmélites, Echo in Ariadne auf Naxos, Zweites Blumenmädchen, and Adina and Giannetta in L'elisir d'amore.
Kiandra was awarded the CulturArte Prize at Operalia and was a prizewinner at the International Elizabeth Connell Prize for Dramatic Sopranos. She also won First Prize in the Magda Olivero International Lyric Opera Competition and First Prize in the Joan Sutherland & Richard Bonynge Bel Canto Award.
Representation: Australasia
IMG Artists: General Management
Kiandra’s Personal Site