Emilia Bertolini is an Australian soprano of Irish and Italian heritage currently performing throughout the UK and Europe. Emilia holds a Master of Arts (vocal) at the Royal Academy of Music, where she was the recipient of the Julien Scholarship, and studied with Nuccia Focile and James Baillieu. In 2024, Emilia is set to embark on a series of exciting opportunities, including performing the Pergolesi Stabat Mater with Le Poème Harmonique, conducted by Vincent Dumestre in Nice, making her Italian debut in the role of Ninfa in Monteverdi’s Orfeo at the Teatro Ponchielli in Cremona, and performing the roles of Fortuna and Drusilla in Monteverdi’s L’Incoronazione di Poppea with La Venexiana. She will also take part in several solo recitals at the Festival Radio France Montpellier and the Nouvelle Voix en Normandie tour through Le Poème Harmonique.

Emilia has a particular affinity for music of the baroque period, and since completing her studies in 2023, she has achieved success in various baroque competitions. She secured first place in the Concours Corneille in Rouen, Normandy, advanced to the finals, and received the Young Talent Award at the inaugural Cavalli Monteverdi Competition in Cremona. Emilia also reached the finals of the Spazio & Musica competition in Vicenza and was a semi-finalist in the Cesti Competition in Innsbruck. In the summer of 2023, Emilia performed the role of Cupid in John Blow’s Venus and Adonis at the Ryedale Festival, and is looking forward to reprising the role in the Baroquestock Festival in London this summer.

Emilia boasts a wealth of experience in choral music and recently joined the choir of the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment for tours in Europe and the UK, performing Bach’s B Minor Mass with Vaklav Luks and Bach’s Christmas Oratorio with Masaaki Suzuki. She also sang with Chamber Choir Ireland for their “O my America” programme conducted by Paul Hillier. Emilia looks forward to joining the Gabrieli Consort in 2024 for the B Minor Mass in Lucerne and singing in the Choir of the Age of Enlightenment for Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 2 conducted by Andras Schiff.

During her time at the Academy, Emilia was a proud member of the Academy’s Bach series, affording her the opportunity to perform in Bach performances conducted by John Butt, Jane Glover, Philippe Herreweghe, and Masaaki Suzuki. Another highlight of her time at the Academy included a performance project of Purcell’s The Fairy Queen with Laurence Cummings. Emilia was supported by the Josephine Baker Trust and was a member of the Academy’s Song Circle. In 2022, Emilia made her debut at Wigmore Hall, performing the world premiere of Alexander Goehr’s ‘Combat of Joseph della Reina and the Devil’ with the Nash Ensemble.

Emilia was a Melba Opera Trust scholarship recipient in 2020 and 2021, receiving the Paulette Bisley Opera Scholarship and the Wright-Smith scholarship. During this time, Emilia sang as a soloist with the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra as part of the Australian Conducting Academy and won the Opera Scholars Australia Aria competition. Emilia completed undergraduate studies at the University of Melbourne, obtaining a Bachelor of Music with first-class Honours and Diplomas in both French and Italian.