ABOUT
Nicola Harrison, mezzo-soprano, is a retained Lecturer in Singing and Song Interpretation at Pembroke College, Oxford where she teaches vocal scholarships and other students. Among other roles within the University of Oxford and elsewhere, she also teaches privately in London and at her studio in central Oxford.
Nicola has trained both as a singer and as a professional vocal coach. From school she won a scholarship to train with the famous mezzo-soprano Pamela Bowden. She then studied with Pamela Cook (RNCM) MBE director of the famed choir Cantamus, and the internationally acclaimed mezzo-soprano Teresa Berganza in Madrid.
She has completed extensive training in a number of performance-related disciplines with world-class pedagogues including posture, movement, percussion and dance. She has won a number of scholarships and major awards, has an array of cross-disciplinary qualifications, several languages, and a B.A. (University of Oxford), M.A. and SRN with specialisms in anatomy, ENT and Voice Clinic. She is also a qualified educator and university lecturer with a PGCE PCE in further and higher education.
She has written for a wide range of media and has created and directed a number of performance collaborations that are centred around poetry, music and song and a number of touring shows. Her two-volume series The Wordsmith’s Guide to English Song: Poetry, Music and Imagination has received widespread critical acclaim. She has recently published two small volumes of performance poetry. A new anatomy book, co-authored with Dr Alan Watson, 'The Singer's Guide to the Larynx' was published in September 2019.
A member of many organisations related to voice, literature, language and culture, Nicola is at the forefront of new developments in vocal teaching across the board. She has presented her research at national and international conferences with a focused interest on anatomy, language and imagination.
Her shows of poetry, music and song in collaboration with guitarist Gerard Cousins and other musicians have received critical acclaim and include extensive tours of the country throughout 2021. She also features in both poetry and music festivals across the UK as presenter, speaker and performer. In 2019 Nicola presented a short performance of Federico Garcia Lorca's poetry, music and song with Trio Lorca, premiered at the Flamenco Festival UK.
Watch a short documentary showcasing a previous touring show, Casa Margarita's 'House of Love' here: