Biography
Eloise Irving maintains an extensive record of live engagements across multiple continents along with a substantial body of recorded work, while also maintaining parallel careers as a harpist and stage performer. She further composes original material, at times creating soprano-and-harp pieces designed for her own recitals. Her vocal range encompasses Baroque repertoire, jazz standards, and musical-theater roles. In 2024 she contributed to Royal Throne of Kings, Ralph Vaughan Williams’s compilation of incidental music written for Shakespearean productions.
Born near 1985 in Cuckfield, West Sussex, England, Irving was listed as age 13 when she captured the BBC Choirgirl of the Year title in 1998. Training in both voice and harp began in childhood. The award led directly to an appearance with the BBC Concert Orchestra at the Royal Festival Hall during the 1998 holiday season. Vocal studies took place under Eileen Price, first at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and later at King’s College, University of London. She also completed a bachelor’s degree in acting at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama.
Her recording career opened in 2012 with participation on Isles of Wonder: Music for the Opening Ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games. The next year brought a contribution to the soundtrack of the film Stoker, followed in 2015 by her debut as a classical soloist on Signum Classics’ release of Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas with the Armonico Consort.
Irving’s activities span an unusually broad spectrum. She has toured and recorded with numerous British vocal ensembles, chiefly though not solely those specializing in early music, including The Tallis Scholars, Tenebrae, the Monteverdi Choir, and the Eric Whitacre Singers. She appears regularly at Royal Hospital Chelsea. Programs she presents as a singer-harpist draw on musical theater, classical literature, jazz, and folk sources. Appearances aboard Cunard Queen Elizabeth and Swan Hellenic vessels have carried her through Europe, the United States, and Asia. Operatic engagements include Longborough Festival Opera in Handel’s Rinaldo, the Armonico Consort in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas, Chilmark Opera in Handel’s Acis and Galatea, and additional houses; she also portrayed Clara Schumann in Sound Music Theatre’s touring production of Duet. By the mid-2020s her discography had grown beyond fifteen albums, several devoted to Ralph Vaughan Williams; one such release was Royal Throne of Kings: Ralph Vaughan Williams and Shakespeare, issued on the Albion label in 2024.
Born near 1985 in Cuckfield, West Sussex, England, Irving was listed as age 13 when she captured the BBC Choirgirl of the Year title in 1998. Training in both voice and harp began in childhood. The award led directly to an appearance with the BBC Concert Orchestra at the Royal Festival Hall during the 1998 holiday season. Vocal studies took place under Eileen Price, first at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and later at King’s College, University of London. She also completed a bachelor’s degree in acting at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama.
Her recording career opened in 2012 with participation on Isles of Wonder: Music for the Opening Ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games. The next year brought a contribution to the soundtrack of the film Stoker, followed in 2015 by her debut as a classical soloist on Signum Classics’ release of Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas with the Armonico Consort.
Irving’s activities span an unusually broad spectrum. She has toured and recorded with numerous British vocal ensembles, chiefly though not solely those specializing in early music, including The Tallis Scholars, Tenebrae, the Monteverdi Choir, and the Eric Whitacre Singers. She appears regularly at Royal Hospital Chelsea. Programs she presents as a singer-harpist draw on musical theater, classical literature, jazz, and folk sources. Appearances aboard Cunard Queen Elizabeth and Swan Hellenic vessels have carried her through Europe, the United States, and Asia. Operatic engagements include Longborough Festival Opera in Handel’s Rinaldo, the Armonico Consort in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas, Chilmark Opera in Handel’s Acis and Galatea, and additional houses; she also portrayed Clara Schumann in Sound Music Theatre’s touring production of Duet. By the mid-2020s her discography had grown beyond fifteen albums, several devoted to Ralph Vaughan Williams; one such release was Royal Throne of Kings: Ralph Vaughan Williams and Shakespeare, issued on the Albion label in 2024.
Albums
